Do you listen to music in a foreign language that you don't understand?

[Otter74]

Your post reminded me that, before she became big, Bjork recorded (with local jazz musicians) a jazz album of standards, show tunes, etc. (for example, 'You Can't Get A Man With A Gun', from 'Oklahoma!') with new, completely unrelated, lyrics written and sung in Icelandic. I first heard it while having dinner in the restaurant in the Alvar Aalto-designed cultural center in Reykjavic. Never having really listened to Bjork, I had no idea it was her until I asked.

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Most of the world does that... They listen to english language music and most people don't speak a lick of it. Also in other countries there is more exposure to foreign music due to proximity - for instance it's not uncommon for an italian or spanish hit to be #1 in France or whatever.. All I can say is in the USA, people sure missed out on a lot of good music over the decades, simply because it's in other languages and not quite "accepted" for prime time on radios etc... The reverse is not true.. That is changing with streaming.

Over the years many non-english hits were redone in english and nobody is the wiser... A non fashionable but maybe one of the most recoognized songs out there would be Sinatra's "my way". Not a Sinatra song - it's french, LOL.

If you don't know of him, try Zucchero (italian), one of my fav foreign language singers. Mana (band) also has had some really good rock hits (in spanish)... Telephone (in french) also.. A song caught my ear on FLying wild alaska (TV show), I thin it 's in icelandic or something... sounds like the guy it cleaning his thoat at times, and yet it's lovely (Sinnattut by Peand L) - I guess it's a matter of exposure.

[red-beard]

Toukan Toukan

Le Monde of Change (The World of Change)



Take Control



mmmmm Spicy Lotus....

[JavaBrewer]

LESIEM multiple styles and sung with Gregorian chant (from the Fundamentum album). No idea what they are singing, perhaps kill everyone in a sword fight. I have a few of their songs on my playlist when I am on my motorcycle. Not something I listen to regularly but when the mood is right. My MC playlist is 300+ songs and I play it on random on my bike.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by Dixie

I have enough trouble with the languages I do speak. For years I thought Manfred Man Earth Band was singing, "wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night." Decades later I learned the lyrics were actually, "Revved up like a deuce in the middle of the night." Ugh!

Revved up like a duece, another runner in the night.


https://youtu.be/xhYMjwQb0Xo?si=7nzKcqHtyLCGcUcL

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[IROC]

I know ein bisschen German so listen to some German music. This song is awesome:

[skinnerd]

Why wife is from Thailand, so we listen to a lot of her music in the car and she plays a lot of it in the house.
No clue what they are saying for the most part as my Thai is limited.
Some I do like quite a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJfZG3Bs_90

[masraum]

Here's the one that was discussed earlier. It sounds like someone singing in English, but there are no English words, and it's not in a foreign language. It's just someone singing gibberish.

[flatbutt]

Here's a prime example of the style known as "vocalize". No words.

[red-beard]

[ramonesfreak]

Tons

Love African music…Ali Farka Toure, king Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, Chief Ebenezer Obey….I could list a dozen more favorites…..and a more recent discovery is Mdou Moctar - wow he is good and what band. Hypnotic

Love all the Buena Vista Social Club artists, especially Eliades Ochoa

Probably one of my all time favorites is Manu Chao. Been a fan a long time and was very fortunate to see him at Lallapalooza 2006. I’ve seen a hell of a lot of concerts and no one has come close to that show. I was at the downtown Tower Records in NYC 1999 and his CD Clandestino was in the listening station and I happened to listen by chance. I won’t go so far as to say it changed my life but it sorta did.





I’ve got both the above shows on DVD and have lost count of how many times I’ve watched them and all the fun and beers and puff puff :-) enjoy

[Rawknees'Turbo]

In addition to the Russian metal singer I noted earlier, I also like many of the Japanese all-female metal bands of the past ten years or so. Some sing in English, and like my Russian crush, the Japanese fems simply sound much more natural in their native language, even though I don't understand a word of it.

Mary's Blood is a good example . . .



Another good one is Nemophila (same lead guitarist as in Mary's Blood - named Saki). There is quite a bit of Slipknot influence in many of their songs, which is fine by me since I've loved that band for decades.

[serene911]