Is there a song in a foreign language you like the melody to but didnt know the lyrics?
For me i’d say vocaloid when i was younger. No clue about now, maybe some russian songs like igorek.
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For me i’d say vocaloid when i was younger. No clue about now, maybe some russian songs like igorek.
99 Luftballons was the first one that came to mind.
I love that song
https://youtu.be/yx5xhlwUxxA
There were A LOT of songs about nuclear war in 80s music. German youth in the 80s was very aware that in nuclear war Germany (being a huge part of the east west border) would just be ground zero to be vaporized in WW3.
Thinking about Germany people associate the Autobahn, what some don't know - there were pre-built detonation chambers so key sections and bridges could be mined with atomic demolition munitions in order to stop the east bloc tank armies from advancing.
ChatGpt translation of the song lyrics:
When in the Canale Grande submarines drop anchor
And on St. Peter’s Square in Rome missile launch pads stand
When a carpet of bombs floats over the bazaar of Ankara
And from the hills of Olympus a Pershing II rises
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
In front of the old Cologne Cathedral a mushroom cloud rises into the air
And the sky is filled with the scent of neutron waffles
When in Paris the Eiffel Tower bows westward in a final salute
And near Big Ben a gentle Alpine glow appears
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
When haute cuisine turns into a witch’s cauldron
Where the cook from overseas flambés his old world
There’s laughter and applause, even the waiter gets a kick
What’s left to us but culture — we wish you bon appétit
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
Yes, then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
As long as it still stands, as long as it still stands
As long as it still stands, as long as it still stands
I've been a fan of Rammstein for many years. I know the gist of what each song means and know a few words of German. But I can't translate word for word.
Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone, though I think I heard it on NicoNico Douga before it became known as the NumaNuma Song.
A banger!
Prisencolinensinainciusol! That song rocks.
All right!
Agreed!!
Does it count if nobody knows the words?
Of course!!
I dunno, sounds like english to me.
Came here to say this. If you haven’t heard this remix yet do check it out!
https://youtu.be/oJhayhBh5JM
Kind of a weird one, but the beginning theme to the original Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has stuck with me.
The song is called "Inner Universe," but the lyrics are Russian.
https://youtu.be/dP4t_GGl3Es
Wolf Totem by the Hu. In fact, their entire discography. The heavier stuff is great at the gym
My first introduction to them was Yuve Yuve Yu, also a banger.
I got a little hyper fixated on throat singing one week and they popped into my feed. Bike rides and road trips have never been the same.
Mayeeaheeeeee mayeeeaaahhooooo mayeeeeaaaa ha ha!
Dragostei din tei(sp) or so, by Romanians O-Zone?
Most anime OP's I like I have no idea what they're saying and that's probably for the best.
Leek spin https://youtu.be/GCO62VNm67k
Which is actually the Finnish song "Ievan polkka" and not just scatting/jibberish as I always naively used to think
Except, it is mostly scat/jibberish! Just in Finnish! Most of the song is nonsense lyrics.
Except it is just scatting. The leekspin version and the Miku version of the song is just the scatting parts of the Loituma arrangement. The full Loituma version, Korpiklaani version or one of the many recorded versions from Finnish folk singers have the actual lyrics. They do actually include a scatted part, usually after every verse, but Loituma atleast extended it for a full verse of scatting, which the Miku version made into a full song.
For the record, the lyrics are about the main character of the song dancing polka with the girl he loves (Ieva), whose "proper" and religious parents don't approve of the mc or dancing in general. So after they dance and go home, the mom of Ieva catches them and makes Ieva cry, the mc threatens the mom to leave them alone and professes his love for Ieva. Then they go on to dance more polka. It's great.
Einstürzende Neubauten: Nagorny Karabach https://youtu.be/hd-6WweqD0Y
(With subtitles in English)
Polish cow song. The melody itself is from another song, "How long - Lipps, inc" apparently. But both songs do well with that beat.
I non-ironically quite like the leek spin song (Ievan Polkka).
Anything from the hu
That is some seriously addictive stuff. Good call.
I don’t speak French and the soundtrack of the game Clair obscur expedition 33 is all in French and I can’t stop listening to it. So I have no idea about the lyrics but it sounds so pleasant to the ears.
"S’iomadh Rid" ("The Dhith Om / Clamor A Ni Mi") sung by Rhiannon Giddens
That’s not really fair: Giddens could make coughing up phlegm sound amazing.
Tons of songs from the Eurovision song contest. I was rocking out to this one from Estonia today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htPAhtVgKsI
I still have Sweden's song stuck in my head
And just from reading that, It's now playing in my head too
And mine. I only ever partly learned the dance. I did eventually get The Roop (2021/2022)'s dances, and of course Konstrakta's.
A great song from Sweden - the only song in Swedish at Melodifestivalen (the national final) and KAJ are actually Finnish! They're of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.
A bunch of songs from various Hololive JP talent :)
This is a significant fraction of my music collection.
Mundian to Bach Ke by Punjabi MC (and famously remixed with Jay Z)
I’ve played a lot of Korean games since way back, and there are plenty of songs I like — even though I have no idea what they’re saying.
I still play games like DJMAX and EZ2ON, and I just enjoy the vibe without understanding the lyrics.
The band Creepy Nuts is a Japanese rap(?) group that did the Dandadan opening, but I also really like their opening for Mashle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLW35YMzELE
I think they also did the opening and closing for Call of the Night, but of which are also great.
historical example: Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto – released in Japan in 1961 under “Ue o Muite Arukō” – released in US in 1963 under “Sukiyaki” because that was about the only Japanese word Americans knew …
I loved his cover of “Calendar Girl” sung in Japanese.
You can't hear it from there, but I am screaming in non-native English speaker.
Or, to put it another way, every single song you know released before 1995.
Everything by Wardruna. Gregorian chant and medieval music, particularly by Hildegard von Bingen. Music by Enya in Gaelic.
99 luftballoons!that's it, until I learned german
There's this Norwegian metal band called Kvelertak and I absolutely love their sound, but have no idea what the lyrics are about as I don't speak the language.
There's a Mexican metal band Ladrones that I have the same issue with.
I did not expect to find a Kvelertak fan in this thread! Cool!
If you ever decide to learn a little to understand them, know that the dialect in Stavanger is very different to what you normally learn.
Baba Yetu, the Swahili opening to the game Civilization 4. Wikipedia says it's the first song made for a video game to win a Grammy.
https://youtu.be/IJiHDmyhE1A
I basically love city pop cus it has great groove, rhythm and usually the few English words in the lyrics reassuring me that it’s usually about love or a metaphor of it.
https://youtu.be/zafm7q7lbl8
I really enjoy Pourquoi by Eths, but I have no idea what's being said
Yes
中西 圭三 - Woman
Nakanishi Keizō - Woman
(Japanese; my Japanese only good enough to catch a few snippets)
One I came to love because the guy in the room next to me when I lived in Japan kept playing it over and over until I did. Also featured in my first (and last!) attempt at doing karaoke in front of Japanese people.
https://youtu.be/xYe0d9QFLIA
Время и Стекло - Тролль
Vremya i Steklo - Troll
(Russian)
The Ukrainian crunk equivalent of "No Scrubs"? (IIRC read an article explaining how the song is about terrible men hitting on her)
https://youtu.be/q--5Ht49vNY
Anders Nelsson - 鬼新娘
Anders Nelsson - Ghost Bride Song
(Cantonese)
From the soundtrack of 殭屍先生 (Mr Vampire, 1985), Hong Kong horror-comedy about the hopping dead.
https://youtu.be/q9DHRNREzlk
Tabou Combo - Konpa Mania
(Haitian Creole & English; I only know a few words in Creole)
A konpa track I think sampled by Wyclef Jean. https://youtu.be/McUmXoB_9yw
The classic answer is La Bamba. Love the song, no idea what the lyrics are.
Many songs if I like enough I figure out some of the words when looking for the title. Otherwise I remember them then forget them for a while. A couple famous examples I like:
Dschinghis Khan - Moskau, it's a bop, i know the melody but lyrics I only know parts of.
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tea - this one of course I know front to back but I don't know what a single word means.
I like several songs by Stromae and don't understand French.
That's a solid "The entire Caramba" album.
You might've heard (of) Habba Habba Zoot Zoot; well, they made an entire album of "plausible sounding" songs in German, Japanese, Finish, American, Russian, etc. It's really quite hilarious.
Here's a Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/57BijyLUDfabkaaSwZsxsS
Buenisima by Vakero! I don’t know Spanish and haven’t found lyrics online to translate it unfortunately.
That Russian song that sounds like Joy Division on MDMA. I'm told the lyrics are very depressing but it's absolute fucking fire.
Oye Como Va - Santana
I know enough Spanish to understand the lyrics now, but loved that song before I knew what it was saying.
J'en parlerai au diable • Johnny Hallyday
A lot of classical music
Any song that's on my playlist and not german or english ;)
Though specifically Akatsuki Records (JP), CrazyBeats (JP), several Vocaloid produces I can't remember.
Mari Hamada • アイレ可愛や (Aire Kawaiya) Autechre remix
DakhaBrakha • Vesna
BKO Quintet • Kononale
Tamikrest • Dihad Tedoun Itran
Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares • Pilentze Pee
Paolo Modugno • koumbi saleh
Hector Zazou • iacoute song [feat. Lioudmila Khandi]
Hedningarna • Viima [Cold Wind]
A lot of songs come to mind, actually.
But if I had to pick just one, it would be MC Solaar's Carpe Diem.
My French is shaky at best, so back when I stumbled upon MC Solaar (maybe it was via Bearshare), I could barely understand the gist of what was said - and even with a much better understanding, many of the "retro" references in this song specifically would have made no sense to me.
But it evoked a weird sense of nostalgia in me - a longing for a time/things, that I had no connection to (so I shouldn't even feel any nostalgia):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6-YCancrrBI
PS: If I had to pick something more popular, it would be Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi (got recommended by YouTube back when it made its first comeback wave in 2011, I think).
Always liked the melody to this 王七七Wang QiQi song:
https://youtu.be/8VzNV0YDhuA
The artist Lescop is great. I know some french but not enough to really 100% follow the lyrics
MONO NO AWARE - かむかもしかもにどもかも！
No clue on the lyrics but the melody along with the lyrics are excellent
Sometimes you get helpful subtitles such as Benny Lava. (Indian.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyC1BrQd6g
A jetpack operation?
Also Yatta (Chinese)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJIpTIPnRs
https://open.spotify.com/track/1LuPrOdGp4NSWVsJ2sPJOx
flying duck by cherryfilter. I know only enough Korean to pick out a few words here and there, but have never bothered to look it up.
Kaisers Orchestra - Bak et hallelujah
All of Francoise Hardy's album Soleil. Absolutely lovely singing voice.
Locutorio - Sara Socas (España)
If I like a song, I make a deliberate effort to learn the lyrics and what they mean. People wrote those lyrics for a reason.
Or do you just want to dance?
Songs from Negura Bunget, First Fragment, and newer stuff from Vildhjarta
Brutal 6 - Todo en mis Manos.
Olivia Lufkin - Stars Shining Out.
Anna Tsuchya - Kuroi Namida
Lots of Polish music:
Sexy Doll by Republika
Mówię Ci, że by Tilt
Fajki i Alkohol by Andy
Zima by Natalia Szroeder
Gdzie jest biały węgorz ? by Cypis
I gave up trying to learn Polish because of its immense difficulty. I only speak English fluently but I've taken up an interest in Esperanto.
A bop is a bop
Ay Que Doler by Los Chunguitos. Such a banger and I always sing along but no idea what they're saying
Blueprint Supreme
SKAI ISYOURGOD & AR LIU Fuyang
I have no idea what they're saying, but I know it slaps.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yWT-UopFlAs
“Fighting in Built-up Areas” by Ladytron. Sung in Mira Aroyo’s native Bulgarian.
AcidWolf: Cherokee Lectro Mix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iPaC0kQLVs
Some of them are:
Clouseau - Passie (Dutch)
5MIINUST x Puuluup - (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi (Estonian, from 2024 Eurovision)
I like vocaloid music, but many of the songs are in Japanese which I don’t speak
I always thought Regin Smidur by Týr captured exactly the kind of vibes I'd expect from Viking metal. But I've never known what the lyrics are about, and probably don't want to.
Bad Apple!! by Alstroemeria Records featuring nomico
Yeah!
I've had "V blbym veku" from Xindl X in a playlist for 10 years.
I don't understand a single work, but it just speaks to me for some weird reason.
I'm surprised that people can answer with only one or a few songs. I don't "discriminate" music by language at all, I listen to a ton of music from all over the world in more languages than I can say. One very good place to find good international music is the YouTube channel My Analog Journal: https://youtube.com/@myanalogjournal
Everything in Drakenier's Chaos Language.
Pretty much the whole soundtrack to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It's all done up in French and I only know bonjor, baguette, and fromage. But it just sounds right for the mood of the game :o
https://youtu.be/4FIMsKKvBRM
This song in some Cyrillic language: https://open.audio/library/tracks/102128
Does this count?
I don't speak Spanish, but when I heard Colores by Ska-P ("Por la libertad es fundamental la diversidad") I was instantly in love. The music is great and the lyrics seemed straight up fire.
Then I translated their songs and now they are my second favourite band, after RATM.
A Chitón - On repression and censorship in the name of security
El Vals del Obrero - The Workers Waltz, on unity of the working class
I caught some Icelandic rap the other night on that global radio website and now I need to find it. I caught some Algerian rap - rap again, even though it's usually not my thing - a few months back, too, and it was awesome.
Are you talking about radio.garden?