Spyke
asklemmy·AsklemmybyYaksPT

What are some of your favorite songs in a language you do not speak?

I like to listen to music that has a great feel to it and in languages I do not speak or understand. That way I can enjoy it without the burden of terrible lyrics. ☺️

I have a few that I listen to a lot:

Amatz by Shanti Dope - Filipino rap

Mundian To Bach Ke by Punjabi MC - upbeat Bollywood style

Life on Mars by Seu Jorge - just him and a guitar

Update: I have created a Spotify playlist with the songs so far. I will continue to update the list as new songs get added. If you find your song on the list but meant a different version please DM me a link to the one you want. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5MpR8Tio1klnb85LLqimgX

Update: Thanks to all who have participated so far! The playlist is getting long and very eclectic. I am being introduced to what will soon become some of my favorite songs and styles. I will keep updating the playlist as new music is added.

View original on sh.itjust.works
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Comments118
LeTak
feddit.org

Dragostea din tei (română) from O-Zone Heard it a lot when I was junger.

22
ValiantDust
feddit.org

As a younger millenial I can't help it – Gangnam Style was and still is great

16
CetaceanNeededreply
lemmy.world

I've never really been into pop music but Gangnam Style was just so much fun and musically interesting.

1
AndyMFK
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Not individual songs, but Kraftwerk and Rammstein come to mind.

Alien weaponry have a track called Kai Tengata that includes Maori vocals

Although I listen to quite a lot of music from countries where English is not the native language, most bands just sing in English anyway

10
Gekireply
lemmy.ml

Kraftwerk is such a gem. They sound exactly like a 80s computer in music form, and I love it.

4
Cavemanreply
lemmy.world

Fuck I just discovered Kneecap from the song "Get your Brits out" that was featured on the show Guinness. They did a collab with one of my fav drum and bass artist Sub Focus with "No comment" and it's an absolute banger.

2
grue
lemmy.world

I'm a basic bitch, so some of the first that came to mind have already been mentioned by others:

To those, I'll add some other meme songs / songs that have been used in English-speaking media:

Also the ultra-popular ones everybody already knows and I won't bother to link, such as Bad Apple, Gangnam Style, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack, etc.

6
onemancult
crazypeople.online

I believe the appropriate response is Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam. No but seriously. Band Maid, Die Antwoord, The Hu, all great bands that sing on different languages. Oh also The Warning.

6
Treczoks
lemmy.world

"Baba Yetu" - we learned it for the choir. Luckily, i found a translation, so we now know that we are not ordering fridges or something. Look for "baba yetu stellenbosch" for a nice version.

5
ImminentOrbitreply
lemmy.world

This was the intro song for civ 4. It is "the Lord's Prayer" in Swahili I think? I'd sometimes just both it up to hear the intro, lol

2
Treczoksreply
lemmy.world

Yep, both correct. Singing it is rather difficult, as noone here speaks Swahili, and we have to learn the right intonations and pronunciations from YT videos.

1
NABDad
lemmy.world

I don't speak Portuguese, but sometimes I get in a mood to listen to bassa nova. I like the rhythm.

Mas Que Nada - probably my go to. I listen to that enough to annoy people around me.

I also like Águas de Março, particularly Elis Regina's duet with Jobim.

5
isyasadreply
lemmy.world

The lyrics of Rouge no Dengon are really good. It's about a woman who's on a train, leaving town to get away from her cheating husband. She left a "message in rouge" for him to find in the bathroom, that she won't be back until he changes his ways. She's actually going to his mother's house, and she'll have his mother call him to scold him in the morning.

If you're familiar with the song as the opening theme to Kiki's Delivery Service, it really really fits Kiki's character as she listens to the song while leaving home for the first time. You might get the feeling that the themes of the song are things relates to herself: independence, anxiety, maturity, and female solidarity. And of course, if you watch the movie, those are all things she experiences in her new town.

Basically it's a REALLY REALLY good song and absolutely perfect choice for the movie it's in. I also love the singer's other Ghibli movie song you mention, Contrails/Hikoukigumo.

3
emergencyfoodreply
sh.itjust.works

absolutely perfect choice for the movie it's in.

I'm aware of the meaning, but I actually found it strange that they put a song about cheating in a film aimed at children.

3
isyasadreply
lemmy.world

I think it's in part because the song is slightly too mature for her that it appeals to Kiki, and maybe to the younger audience who relates to her.

3
beccaboben
lemmy.world

Lisa LeBlanc - self titled album, heard about her from the show Letterkenny, in French.

4
Quilotoa
lemmy.ca

Baby Yetu, theme from Civilization 4, won a Grammy ( a first for a video game). It's the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

4
white_plume_m0th
lemmy.ml

if anyone here likes goth music, i highly recommend:

  • she past away, most of their discography tbh (turkish)
  • lebanon hanover (german, some of it)
  • στο σκοτάδι (sto skotadi) by selofan (greek)
  • nasha by aurat (urdu)
  • reflejos by vacíos cuerpos (spanish)
  • fantasmas by twin tribes (spanish)
  • à contrecœur by hante. (french)
4
spicy pancakereply
lemmy.zip

these are perfectly drenched in sorrow. i saved every one that I've not heard before 🤌

2
GaumBeist
lemmy.ml

Con Te Partirò - Andre Bocelli
遙か彼方 - ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
アイワナビー - Stance Punks
I Samma Bil - Bo Kaspers Orkester
A 67-Es Út - Republic
Papaoutai - Stromae

4
pillowtags
lemmy.dbzer0.com

I married an Indian woman and have been getting into Bollywood music, and honestly there’s so many good songs!

Two of my favorites are:

Qaafirana

Khuda Jaane

3
zemon
lemmy.ml

Pentagram - Bir (Turkish metal) Arkona - Yarilo (Russian folk metal)

3
Rich_Benzina
feddit.it

A lot of Kino songs:

Группа Крови

Восьмиклассница

Место для шага вперёд

Перемен

3
yilian
sopuli.xyz

Liu Yuning - Unintentional Big Dream (Fangs of Fortune OST)

刘宇宁 - 无心生大梦

This song is a departure from LY’s usual genre. It goes hard and is so exciting. All my friends know this song and can sing the chorus because I made them listen to it many times.

3
Hasherm0nreply
lemmy.world

This is what I came here to post. Bonus for it being in a dead language (Gaulish).

1
YaksPT
sh.itjust.works

I am going to make a playlist just from this thread, thank you all who have participated so far.

2
osanna
thebrainbin.org

kate ryan - desenschantee. (no idea how to spell it)

Lafee - prinzeschen

rammstein - du hast

2
tangiblereply
piefed.social

If you like Kate Ryan's version I can also recommend the original by Mylène Farmer.

3
TheRagingGeek
lemmy.world

I often take little exploratory searches for some of my favorite genres in foreign languages, though the ones I remember the most tend to split between English and the other language. Stuff like Tomcraft and Sido

Metal Band-maid

bloodywood

Just some incredible and fun music out there when you explore the world.

2
maegul (he/they)
lemmy.ml

Ya Rayah by Rachid Taha

wikipedia page

Loved it on first listen and it made me a fan of Taha’s. It’s kinda Arabic pop rock but with traditional instrumentation.

If you like this, maybe checkout the album Diwan 2 afterwards.

2
Left as Center
jlai.lu

First that come to mind:

Afrobeat/pop : great Xhosa rap/singing by moonshine sanelly (English tracks too)

Prog rock: magma creates their own language

Pop: Jay Chou has great tracks in Mandarin

Punk rock: exists in most local languages

Jazz: Avishai Cohen has tracks in ladino.

Electro song: Omar Souleyman has a very interesting background and tracks a nice, sung in Arabic.

Industrial : einsturzende neubauten sings mostly German.

Neu Deutsch Harte : Rammstein is the most known example.

Electroacoustic : Gedalia tazartes, includes vocals of diverse origins

2
southsamurai
sh.itjust.works

Dude! I love mundian to bach ke!

But most of my "foreign" language music pleasures are less identifiable.

Like, there's a lot of zydeco that's in French that I love, but it's hard to find recordings of any kind, much less digital options.

And I can essentially endlessly listen to what's called throat singing, but have no idea what titles would be to recommend. Almost all that I have is Mongolian or tuvan, and didn't come from a CD.

2
YaksPTreply
sh.itjust.works

I love tuvan throat singing! I always recommend Tuva Groove off the album Back Tuva Future for an easy intro to the music and style. I'll add it to the playlist.

3
AlexLost
lemmy.world

Seu Jorge's full album of Bowie covers is so epic. Love it, and really adds to the Life Aquatic

2
Dämnyz
lemmy.ml

Anything by Maximum the Hormone and Band-Maid to be honest, but I like "F" and "Different" most :D

2
Caveman
lemmy.world

I speak/understand Spanish, Icelandic, Dutch, Arabic and German but I ended up listening to Estonian music for a bit and they have some bangers there.

🇪🇪 Alüspukse by 5MIINUST

🇪🇪 push it by nublu

🇪🇪 kanuu by säm

Also, fun note, for a country og 400k Iceland has 3 entries here.

2
HubertManne
piefed.social

I love good lyrics so am not wild about listening to music in a language I don't understand but its kinda common to have songs with english and another language so the stuff I don't understand is just kinda dispersed. Also since I watch animes Im used to having songs that are in a lnguage I don't know. Don't really have a favorite though. All my favorite songs are in english.

1
ClownStatue
piefed.social

Malagueña Salerosa by Chingon from Kill Bill

ETA: +1 for Carmina Burana, and I’ll add Hall of the Mountain King, & Beethoven’s 9th for good measure!

1
orgrinrt
lemmy.world

Wardruna - Helvegen (and the Kalandra cover) Bendik - Stille (all of the old albums before the style pivot are amazing)

Those are immediately on my mind and needed to share them in case someone else might enjoy! There is a lot more, those just popped right up without even thinking

Edit: Ekkolodd - Perler too, Asgeir - Heimförin!

These four songs are a solid intro to the bands if anyone’s interested!

Edit2: Well fuck me, I did mention Kalandra, but the absolute best from them in my opinion happens to be in Norwegian (I think?): Kalandra - Virkelighetens Etterklang!

Tldr:

Wardruna - Helvegen

Kalandra - Helvegen (cover of above)

Bendik - Stille

Ekkolodd - Perler

Asgeir - Heimförin

Kalandra - Virkelighetens Etterklang

1
HighLagLowLife
lemmy.ml

Mahlalela by Letta Mbulu from South Africa

I don't really know what language that is. If somebody could provide a transcription of the lyrics, I would be very happy to finally be able to translate and understand it.

1
Sarothazrom
lemmy.world

For metal - Utsu-P. He's a Vocaloid metal artist and his stuff absolutely slays.

Highlights: Pure White Poison, Sugarcoat of Love, Harakiri, Gorgon, and really anything he writes using Gumi.

1
Zombiepirate
lemmy.world

I've been a bit obsessed with one of Cleopatra's arias from Handel's Giulio Cesare, Se pietà di me non senti. She's bummed that she thinks her brother is going to have her killed.

Se pietà di me non senti giusto ciel io morirò.

Tu da' pace a' miei tormenti o quest'alma spirerò.

Just heaven, if you feel no pity for me, I shall die.

I shall give up the ghost if you do not pacify my torment

1
ctrl_alt_esc
lemmy.ml

Lewa lesu mai - classic Fijian song don't know who the original artist is

Also anything from Altin Gün

1
agamemnonymous
sh.itjust.works

Rush Job - Sheena Ringo

Swamp - Mid-Air Thief, but the whole album Gongjoong Doduk is pretty good.

Dixie - Harmonium

Le tombeau est vide - Chromb!

For fun:

El Corazón - Hard n Phirm

Honorable mention that might not technically count:

Prisencolinensinainciusol - Adriano Celentano

1
lattrommi
lemmy.ml

El Coo Cooi - Voodoo Glow Skulls

Liebeslied - KMFDM

[온스테이지2.0] 이날치 - 범 내려온다(with 앰비규어스 댄스컴퍼니)

1
HiddenLayer555
lemmy.ml

Dragostea Din Tei ("Numa Numa") is unironically one of my favourite songs. It wouldn't have blown up as a meme if it didn't go so hard.

Pepas by Farruko is another bop.

1
corsicanguppyreply
lemmy.ca

Came here for numa-numa. I.T in my region has a large number of Romanians, and I was glad to know it wasn't a cookie recipe or something.

2
eightpix
lemmy.world

Seven Seconds by Youssou N'dour and Neneh Cherry (French and English)

  • this was my first foray into "world music" in, like Grade 7.

Sadeness by Enigma (Latin and French)

Miserere by Arvo Pärt (Latin)

The Expanse by Clinton Shorter (Old Norse?)

Disappointment by Moon (Russian?)

Also, I lived in Korea when Gangnam Style dropped. It was magical at the outset, but now... well, hyperexposure is a real thing. But, good on Psy for his work.

1