1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Songs in languages other than English

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by LaEsmeralda, Sep 18, 2016.

  1. LaEsmeralda

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2014
    Messages:
    353
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    UK/Ireland
    Gender:
    Female
    English is the language we're most used to listening to in popular music. Many bands whose first language isn't English will still record a lot of their lyrics in English to appeal to a larger, international market.

    Do you listen to music that has lyrics you can't understand? Is understanding the lyrics of a song essential to enjoying a song?

    If you do listen to music in other languages, what are they? Do you have a favourite language?

    Here are some of my favourites in Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Old German (I think) and French. French is a surprisingly good rap language :lol:

    [YOUTUBE]h5S24lklHlw[/YOUTUBE]
    [YOUTUBE]Dsp_8Lm1eSk[/YOUTUBE]
    [YOUTUBE]T7BFAUeRfOI[/YOUTUBE]
    [YOUTUBE]Fq_YVbWo_48[/YOUTUBE]
    [YOUTUBE]OC2R5fvJsxo[/YOUTUBE]
     
  2. killswitch0029

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    1,084
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    New England
    I don't really go out of my way to listen to music in other languages, but I'm in to anime so I hear a lot of Japanese metal songs, some of which I actually look into and listen to in full. "Unravel" from Tokyo Ghoul season 1 is definitely IMO a masterpiece.
     
  3. jaska

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2014
    Messages:
    519
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    new zealand
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I like songs in Gaelic cos it's a beautiful language. I also like a Spanish band called Extremoduro. But if I had a choice I'd definitely rather listen to music in English so I can understand it.
     
  4. LaEsmeralda

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2014
    Messages:
    353
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    UK/Ireland
    Gender:
    Female
    Are we talking Irish Gaelic? If so, I can't resist sharing this.

    [YOUTUBE]2KpNzalFKPo[/YOUTUBE]
    Is maith liom :thumbsup: It was also featured in The Patriot Games, one of my favourite films of all time.
     
  5. Lawrence

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2014
    Messages:
    2,134
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Do you listen to music that has lyrics you can't understand?
    Yeah

    Is understanding the lyrics of a song essential to enjoying a song?
    Nope

    If you do listen to music in other languages, what are they?

    The German language, the Russian language, the Swedish language, the Finnish language, and the Japanese language (I've listened to even more languages than that but not enough to justify including them in the 'often listened to' list)

    Do you have a favourite language?

    The German language
     
  6. Geek

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2013
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    All but family
    It's funny because I started to a couple weeks ago on accident. I was listening to Spotify and Oye (Listen) started playing. I thought "dang! She sounds like Beyoncé". I Check and sure enough, she records some tracks in Spanish. It was the first time I heard Listen in any language which is why I didn't recognize it right away. I still thought it was beautiful nonetheless.

    I really like some spanglish & Spanish remakes.

    [YOUTUBE]5VvmQH_T0a8[/YOUTUBE]
    [YOUTUBE]aqhkpt3IqiA[/YOUTUBE]
    Full Studio Version
    [YOUTUBE]7xwwuH_Z3WA[/YOUTUBE]
     
  7. theskylitup

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2015
    Messages:
    137
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    NW Indiana
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Sigur Rós <3
     
  8. bubbles123

    bubbles123 Guest

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2015
    Messages:
    934
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    New England, US
    I love the singer Stromae who's French.
     
  9. guitar

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    2,062
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Southern Ontario, Canada
    I listen to a TON of Japanese metal so I could go on and on about that. (Personal favorite: Siam Shade)
    One of my favorite bands is from France and sings in French, called Sortilege. Rammstein are a must as well and they're almost entirely in German with little English parts here and there.
    There are a lot of European folk metal bands who sing in their native tongues.
     
  10. CJliving

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2014
    Messages:
    1,036
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    All but family
    Japanese, German (although really, who doesn't listen to Rammenstein?), a few Russian songs (+the Anastasia soundtrack in Russian...), and French. I love listening to languages so it follows that I'd like music in not-English as well. Understanding isn't important, but I do want to speak most of the languages I listen to, eventually. Japanese and French songs I do kinda try to understand.

    Songs I'd recommend:
    c.h.a.o.s.m.y.t.h. - One OK Rock (Japanese)
    Shine - Leo Ieiri (Japanese)
    Esli v serdce - Yulia Savicheva (Russian)
    Crier tout bas - Coeur de pirate (French)
    Staring at the Sun - Mika (half French, half English)
    Sonne - Rammenstein
     
  11. Makoto

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2016
    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Wales
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    A few people
  12. Caecilian65

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2015
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    North Burnett, Queensland
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    Other
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    A few people
    Do you listen to music that has lyrics you can't understand?
    Yes it is and I love hearing music in other languages. It brings a smile to my face.:slight_smile:

    Is understanding the lyrics of a song essential to enjoying a song?
    Not necessarily but I do like to try to learn when I have time. Sometimes they help me learn part of a language.

    If you do listen to music in other languages, what are they?
    The mains one I listen to have been: French, Italian, Greek, Australian Aboriginal Languages eg. Wiradjuri and Arrente and a bit of Latin. Some like Greek I want to listen to as my grandparents on that side of the family use to speak those languages and I never met them. Others like French and Latin, I have sung in choirs or through song groups and whenever I hear them brings back good performance memories.

    Do you have a favourite language?
    Hard to say but I would really like to work more on Modern Greek and Arabic but I also want to learn a bit of Maltese too.
     
    #12 Caecilian65, Sep 21, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2016
  13. Quem

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2014
    Messages:
    1,288
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I listen to a lot of songs in languages other than English. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: And no, those songs are not in Dutch haha.

    If I think of songs I really like a lot, I come up with the following languages that are included at least once: Albanian, Estonian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Macedonian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Slovenian. Including languages of songs I like, I can go on for a long time. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

    I'm particularly fond of Estonian songs, it's an amazing language that really sounds well when being sung (in my opinion). The majority of the songs I like are in Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese (other than English). =]

    I really like La Tortura as well. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
     
  14. RainbowsFactory

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2016
    Messages:
    154
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Switzerland
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
  15. Lazuri

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2015
    Messages:
    2,710
    Likes Received:
    17
    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    I used to listen to a lot of J-rock. Hizaki Grace Project was my jam.

    Generally, I enjoy music in almost any language as long as it sounds good.

    I will however stick by my belief that mexican rap is a fucking abomination and needs to be destroyed with EXTREME prejudice.
     
    #15 Lazuri, Sep 21, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2016
  16. Asexual Pirate

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2015
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Chattanooga, Tennesee
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Some people
    You can never go wrong with 99 luftballons, one of my favourite German songs

    [YOUTUBE]La4Dcd1aUcE[/YOUTUBE]
     
  17. soner

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2016
    Messages:
    104
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    criciuma
    Gender:
    Male
    Out Status:
    A few people
    KOREAN MUSIC

    [YOUTUBE]E0Y3ABqK7M4[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]dISNgvVpWlo[/YOUTUBE]

    CHINEASE/TAIWANESE MUSIC

    [YOUTUBE]c86t8hoVw8E[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]aD9iXnMfQTg[/YOUTUBE]

    FRENCH MUSIC

    [YOUTUBE]K5KAc5CoCuk[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]EC7Re8cczj0[/YOUTUBE]


    Hope you enjoy (!) they all are very different!
     
  18. Makoto

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2016
    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Wales
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    A few people
  19. RainbowGreen

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    44
    Location:
    Québec
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I have song in many languages on my phone. Since French is my first language, I make an effort to add some songs that are in it as well. I also listen to some songs in Spanish, Italian and German, among others. However, that doesn't mean I can't understand them. That's the benefit of being a language student, after all :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

    Even if I don't understand it however, I will still enjoy a good song :slight_smile:

    Some examples of what I listen to:

    German:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmpSR1PUJ6I
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED3xIrkBn7I

    Italian:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IjJav7xbg

    Spanish:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b82ajEN9aIg
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbmEv8NhYTs

    French:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGBQUcQZmYQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i6TUoJt_sY (From Quebec, of cours :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9KRsH_iXz4 (Still from Quebec!)
     
  20. JAlfred

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2016
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Colorado
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    I've always liked La donna è mobile, even though to this day I have no idea what they lyrics mean. Sometimes I'll turn my car radio to the local Spanish station because the music is nice, and its fun to see how much I can remember from my high school spanish classes.