What songs do you like that are in a language which you don't speak?
What songs do you like that are in a language which you don't speak?
What songs do you like that are in a language which you don't speak?
Rammstein
Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano
This is the most correct answer
A language that no one can understand.
Snow - Informer
(reluctant upvote)
So many. I like music and I like languages so when there are lyrics there's a good chance it's not English.
There are so many more. I didn't even touch Caribbean patois or Arabic or Polynesian languages etc. I'm very big on global music though, especially with a strong beat and lyrical themes on anti-colonialism...
I got really into German punk a few years ago. Some of my favorites.
Die Ärzte Schrei nach Liebe
Wizo Raum Der Zeit
Die Toten Hosen Hier kommt Alex
Die Ärtze are cool. I like many of their songs, but I DO speak (some) German so I couldn't list it here.
Escapado is very underrated.
Manu Chao - clandestino
That whole album is amazing.
Numa Numa Yay, Numa Numa Yay, Numa Numa Numa Yay!
Bella Ciao
Eivør - Trøllabundin
I have listened to it so much that I know the lyrics perfectly, and it's even possible my pronunciation is close to correct, yet I don't speak a word of Faroese.
The entire sound track for FLCL by The Pillows.
When that show was new, I could sing them all. Kinda. I certainly had no idea what the words were, but I listened to them enough that I could fake it lol
Just rewatched the first season this past weekend, the soundtrack for that show is absolutely incredible
Anything by stromae really. In some of his songs you can even hear the emotion he conveys without understanding any French
France Gall - Ella, Elle L'a
Tunak Tunak Tun will forever be a banger.
I still get it stuck in my head every once in a while -- certified ear worm.
Stromae - Papaoutai (I found out it existed because Pentatonix did a cover of it)
That guy's also got some other interesting songs, with quite a bit of social commentary: carmen, Fils de joie, tous les mêmes, Santé
I suppose it's time to learn French
J'apprends la français depuis trois ans. (Mais pas a cause de la chanson.)
I also really like Alors on Danse from Stromae
Nier Replicant & Nier Automata soundtracks
All in chaos language (a.k.a. pure gibberish).
yes, I am obsessed with songs with non-language lyrics! I know of four sources (including Nier) that does it and I just love it
Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisencolinensinainciusol:
Both the name of the song and its lyrics are gibberish but are intended to sound like English in an American accent.
Celentano's intention with the song was not to create a humorous novelty song but to explore communication barriers. The intent was to demonstrate how English sounds to people who do not understand the language proficiently.
Is Cult of the Lamb soundtrack in that list?
do you like fingerbang
Have you listened to Hanezeve Caradhina from Made in Abyss? https://youtube.com/watch?v=sFzDQ2OjFko
The anime is really dark, but have some bright and hopeful moments which this song captures so well.
Anything by Sigur Ros.
Seconded
La Bamba
I think that would describe half my catalog :-/
Kind of a joke but the song is catchy.
The guy is a Norwegian comedian I think & he bet his friends that he could get a dumb song into the Billboard top 10 or something. I believe he succeeded in a few European countries.
The song is absolutely ridiculous considering he doesn’t speak Spanish, but it’s just a funny story.
Any from the Buena Vista Social Club, album is beautiful, their song Chan Chan is one of my all time favorites:
All of Warduna and Heilung. Don't understand a single word but love the music.
Yes!! I absolutely adore all of their stuff! Heilung has been on repeat the past few years.
Gangnam Style
I'm a Eurovision Song Contest fan, though I only came to it in the last few years, so I have a ton of good songs for this question!
ESC 2021
ESC 2022
ESC 2023
ESC 2024 is in National Finals season now, where each country chooses their entry, usually with a reality show contest. The semi-finals are 7 and 9 May and the Finals will be on 11 May. You can stream on Peacock, or hop on a VPN and watch the live feed from Sweden or Denmark or somewhere.
Not a huge ESC fan usually, but I did love the 2021 edition for the proprtion of native language songs, both in total and among the top spots
It makes me happy to see songs in their natives languages, but since the rules changed to allow more English songs, we see countries sending them with the assumption that they'll get more attention from countries other than their own.
The most important rules change to me would be to revert the 2020(?) loosening of recorded vocals restrictions. In the last two or three years we've noticed lots of countries where the recorded "background vocals" include the lead part to cover up bad live performances. Heck, I'd even support live instruments too.
All of Sigur Ros. Makes me want to move to Iceland and be confused all day long.
I loved Sigur Ros when they first broke the scene around 1999. I thought it was so beautiful, and angelic, and weirdly transcendent. I wondered what beautiful poetry was being sung in this mystical Icelandic language I did not speak. Then, I learned that it’s not Icelandic. It’s not anything. It’s a made up language that means nothing. It shouldn’t really bother me, but I felt like I had been tricked, and haven’t been able to get past it.
It depends on the song. Many of their songs are Icelandic and a few are even in English.
Hijo de la Luna - Mecano
Dragostea Din Tei (aka, the "Numa numa" song) is always a hit.
Basically anything Sigur Rós does.
Though, half of their music is in a "language" nobody speaks.
If you find novel use of language fun, I'd recommend the Cocteau Twins.
It's English, but the words aren't used for their meaning. More for tonality and cadence.
It's not something I'd put on normally, and I don't really listen to them much, but I found it interesting enough.
I recently found this song, Kai Tangata, by Alien Weaponry. They're a New Zealand band, and the song features a lot of Maori warriors and the entire song is sung in Maori. Really amazing imagery in the video, shows off a lot of combat and Haka.
My playlist of Armenian music is inappropriately huge. You will regret asking this question.
I have many, MANY more. I am not remotely Armenian, just a huge SOAD fan who fell down a youtube rabbit hole one day...
In case you haven't seen this one yet - If System of a Down were from India
Love this thread. Here are some of my favs off the top of my head. My music tastes are all over the place.
searched for Elis Regina - Aguas de Marco before I posted it, glad to see it's here. such a beautiful song
Ave Maria
I quite like stromae on occasion. And I'm a fan of rammstein, but while I don't speak German I do understand it reasonably well so I'm not sure that counts
Discovered Leningrad - Fish
in a similar post on Reddit a while back
Leva's polka
Divydivydelando
Äppelknyckarjazz by Movits! Such a great album.
Aah nice to be reminded of this album! Fun indeed!
Camille - Ta douleur
Wow haven’t that in years.
I listen to a lot of K-pop. I don't know more than a very small handful of Korean.
Surprised there are no mentions of BTS more generally, lol
Although I guess for most they are a bit of a "gateway drug" to the K-pop genre.
My favorite song by BTS is probably Spring Day (although I'm not really a massive kpop listener)
"Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano. I don't know if we could really say what language it's in, but I definitely don't speak it.
I have shown this to so many people. I guess it's not harder to learn nonsense words than words in a language you don't know.
Yelle - A Cause Des Garçons (Tepr Remix)
some of the ones that spontaneously come to my mind are:
99 luftballons
Ievan polkka
Cannabis
Naruto's second opening
Anything from Ningen Isu.
I'm partial to Klingon Opera.
I combine that with some Vogon poetry
Great thread - I'll throw in a few although I'm late to the party.
Gaspar Nali - Abale Ndikuwuzeni
Anything from the Afro-Cuban All Stars or Buena Vista Social Club albums
Orchestra Baobab - Sey
Mory Kante - Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor mix)
Lexicon Avenue - Here I Am (Rutabaga mix)
I can't barely converse in Spanish, but I've been playing Buena Vista Social Club for like the last 15 years, such great music.
Yeah, it's wonderful. If you like that definitely check out the Afro-Cuban All Stars one I linked, more great stuff.
Rammstein - all songs 🙂
The whole genre of City Pop is awesome.
Pretty partial to Japanese pop myself. I'm learning Japanese partially so i can understand the songs. Yoasobi's songs are a good general recommendation, I would recommend Yoru ni Kakeru, Gunjou, and Seventeen.
There are a lot of operas that I thoroughly enjoy that are largely in Italian that are just incredibly moving. Pavarotti singing Pagliacci is insanely moving, as one example.
Indian Folk Metal -- Bloodywood - Dana Dan
Rammstein - Du Hast
Too much kpop and jpop to list, but Kent (swedish) has a lot of good songs: Stanna Hos Mig, 400 Slag
Ederlezi
Tanz mit Mir by Faun
I love a lot of Faun's work. If you haven't heard it, Rosenrot is good too :)
I have an entire playlist for this. But the my favorite ones are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7cuTnbF-2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J9FuvPmMoI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbaAxgufFA8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nfziCIMrHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvfFJGeZH_w
Cocteau Twins. I'm pretty sure she just gave up using actual words entirely at some point.
French?
I was on hols in France and this song kept coming on the radio: Vianney - Je Te Deteste
Asilos Magdalena by Mars Volta
I like all their stuff, but that’s the only one I can think of that is completely in Spanish
The entirety of NieR and NieR Automata's vocal tracks. Most of them are actually just gibberish.
Jane Air, Junk
Rammstein, Moskau
Afterhours, Vedova Bianca (There's an English version that was used in Mr. Robot)
La Vie en Rose - Eddie Piaf
Ievan Polka
Du Hast - Rammstein
I think that's a pretty good spread
Malagueña Salerosa from the Kill Bill soundtrack.
I listen to quite a decent amount of French music
https://open.spotify.com/track/5exiWZkZho6AvCGkabEMeA?si=YRhnFPEHSfuxozVZSoVkSQ
This, which I remember from the FIFA 06 soundtrack: https://youtu.be/M-rZ3602Lm8?feature=shared
Dude so many! I'll link some favorites old and new.
All things Rammstein. I speak an elementary amount of German so maybe this doesn't count. If you only know Du Hast, you really should check out more of Rammstein. These are a few of my recent favorites. (each video is probably nsfw if you have a puritanical office.)
Sigur Ros
Sakanaction is a great Japanese band that a friend introduced me to years ago.
Tiziano Ferro (bit older song but I still dig it)
Las Ketchup (It got old fast for me but this was a huge hit at the time)
King and Jester
Hikaru Utada
Juli (Love her voice. One of my favorite voices)
Annenmaykantereit (Told myself if I ever learn piano this would be one of the first songs)
Mylene Farmer
Grand Corps Malade & Camille Lellouche (Had this one on loop for awhile when I first found it)
Passi
Panzer AG
That's a decent list of some of my favorites. (please excuse the wonky formatting. I can't get it to behave.)
Taikatalvi by Nightwish
I've only heard the Gypsy Kings/Alabina version https://youtu.be/WDqMjvBvEBU?si=MEeUp7kR-d5L33QA
It's p good. Got it on a CD-R in my old binder!
I really like the French national anthem.
Anything by kælan mikla out of Iceland is good. Definitely Draumaudis/dream dance
Aural Vampire from Japan is a lot of fun too. Hard to pick just one. But kerguelen vortex is a good starting point.
Gangnam Style
Jonas Dichoso - Empilight
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=kENZU2VKrf4&si=9B86AAEYqA6ZO9Vl
Starts off in English but really kicks in when it turns Welsh.
Who killed UN Owen https://youtu.be/eCyf9C6dHYE?si=IcV5ZkNFNGBexBey
Jamal Kudu
Mostly songs from C. Tangana , especially the songs from his "concert" on TinyDesk.
Ruina Imperii by Sabaton
Wen Bie by Jackie Cheung
A lot of j-pop
I really like Hippie Hourrah out of Montreal - this song has been on repeat in my house for a while now:
https://hippiehourrah.bandcamp.com/album/exposition-individuelle?t=2
I've got quite a bunch, in multiple languages and genres. Here are a few. Let me know what you think.
Culcha Candela x HBz - Hamma 2k22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q9fD6UA4xs
Tacabro - Tacata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqFtayBRdfs
Shiva - Auto Blu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGlWbPR6SjA
t.A.T.u. - Malchik Gay
Blümchen - Heut' ist mein Tag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXay1pdfQpI
G-Dragon - Butterfly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98qqghzKAMM
I liked t.A.T.u. 's album with Malchik Gay. I found it as a teen and thought "hot (fake) lesbians" but the music is still really good as I've matured (slightly).
A bunch of Japanese Metal...
Band Maid - Domination
Neophila - AMA-TE-RAS
Ningen Isu - Heartless Scat
Maximum the Hormone - Koino America
Sunrise from the Final Fantasy 14 soundtrack.
There's a bunch of hardbass I like that's usually in Russian or some other slavic language Mostly listen to Uamee
Nearly all songs by Akatsuki Records, Ado, CrazyBeats, Hololive productions, MoeShop and some other japan based Artists.
I was once exploring Greenlandic music and Nanook was my favorite artist.
I would normally just go with an Infected Mushroom tune (there are a few in Hebrew like Lost in Space which also has Arabic at the end), but I challenged myself to think beyond my regular playlist, and Disko Partizani was the first that came to mind (partly in English, but otherwise in Romanian, I'm pretty sure).. Great tune and it's been ages since I gave it a listen, so thanks for the reminder!
I'm sure there are more examples, but my mind is drawing a blank right now.. This is going to bug me all evening lol
Most things by Snow Tha Product - start with 'Butter' or 'No Cap In My Captions'.
ATARASHII GAKKO! My uncle told me to check them out and I've like them a lot.
(French) Meryl - Coucou https://open.spotify.com/track/3kiTnvHHKipoAwa40GTGGy?si=hjnmnrfbTEOoypCdxLeSOw
(Twi) Kato Change, Winyo: Abiro (with Winyo) - Afro House https://open.spotify.com/track/3dC7XCt0E0bJG53Tdp6AkC?si=_1lzZa8BTlGXD4ZgFgcL2A
(Russian) Erik Lundmoen - Яд (Yad) https://open.spotify.com/track/59vIllaE2ottAAAtAiAuLt?si=qomTpbPuQi2A_TZZ7y105A
(Chinese, assuming Mandarin) Xian (from Daily life of the immortal king, a good song) https://open.spotify.com/track/4wS9qzjqOEZdZqpTQpUvzp?si=rAGehbsWQR60flO9eROk2Q
(Japanese) Hatsune Miku x STEAKA - Doping Dance https://open.spotify.com/track/42pjAjhZQG4BGmOmAhgwbP?si=MwOf09VlTdKP1y5WuWDo9Q
(Brazilian Portuguese) DJ Gudog - Beat Mágico que mexe a sua mente https://open.spotify.com/track/6nluwwQLiTI2ExXtWm81w6?si=ovRzolZcREqzdAd4RGob8A
(Spanish) Kali Uchis x Peso Pluma - Igual que un Ángel https://open.spotify.com/track/6XaJfhwof7qIgbbXO5tIQI?si=vxm3V8hOTYKYqZ9jk0qBQg
(Assuming Hindi) Mitraz - Akhiyaan https://open.spotify.com/track/2l3dFxtoSMgMQVyRIUHjpz?si=UyhBbaHiQLuJCbaNFpmY9w
Shchedryk (Ukranian original version of Carol of the Bells) comes to mind. Folk rhymes better with their original tongue in general
Gangnam Style, O Fortuna (Carmina Burana), stuff by Hildegard von Bingen
Anything by:
Dir En Grey
Yoshida Brothers
Mungkin Nanti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWcMwUySDvI
Traicionera by Sebastian Yatra.
"Teresa Rampell" by Manel. It's in Catalan.
I know a song in Catalan too > Rosalía - Milionària
I like most songs by Carla's Dreams (Romanian/Moldovan + Russian). From eurovision, Shum (Ukrainian) and My sister's crown (English+Ukrainian+Czech+Bulgarian) are pretty good. Slavic languages just sound nice in songs.
Also most pop in catalan (eg. La sortida, escriurem, Ara!).
For something rarer check out Pat Boy who sings in Mayan.
Kasa no Hone - Anathallo
Pretty much anything by Sigur Ros
Amatz by Shanti Dope https://g.co/kgs/wkcx8Wj
No idea what this song name is Infected Mushroom - תרקוד לנצח. It's in Hebrew I believe. No idea what it's about, but I think it sounds great. Also Leonard Dembo - Mutadzi Ngaaregererwe. It's just super chill. It's in an African language, can't remember which.
Both albums are pretty great all the way through though.
Hislerim - Serhat durmus
Land of the Heroes (Arabic Version) - Alan Walker
There's a really solid Country Roads cover in the film Whispers of the Heart from studio ghibli
The Snake by Lana Lubany
I'm enough of a lyrics person that the language barrier is a pretty big issue when it comes to music but HATRIÐ MUN SIGRA and I si demà no tornara are both undeniable bangers
Aaand now onto Bollywood...
Literally anything by Thievery Corporation, though a lot of their music is in English
Dame veneno by Los Chunguitos.
"Ari Im Sokhag", Serj Tankian (system of a down) and Larisa Ryan, very beautiful Armenian song
Olivia Lufkin - Stars shining out
Pretty much anything from Frontside, but especially their album 'Sprawa jest osobista". I have no idea what those poles are singing about, but you can just taste the thick sarcasm through kick ass guitar riffs.
DIEGO ALIONE CANTA: "A RAMBO NO LE GUSTA LA GUERRA" I kinda understand it :)
Any Song I listen because I don't like songs in my language. I don't know why.
Anything Jam Hsiao works, but I really like his song A Love Song For You. I also found out about a group called 製燥者StoryMaker and I absolutely love their song Sin of Sloth. I have so many different songs, mostly vocaloid and other related software, songs that I like that are in Chinese, Japanese, some in Korean, and even a song in Ukrainian that I like, but I ain't doing a super list of songs.
September by Mariya Takeuchi.
I like a good amount of Japanese music but that makes my top five songs.
From the angel beats anime it's about the only non english track on my playlist. Actually got a few dif versions.
Well I do speak some Spanish but Del Castillo Rios Misticos is such a banger whether you can understand it or not.
The song Inta Omri is gorgeous, look for a Um Kathoum version.
Chinese football - goalkeeper https://youtu.be/643pBp99gSE?si=73jauYhyWqHx1o5T
[Bratisla Boys - Stach Stach
](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0mv7ljo9x0g)
I think that for this one we can all agree on "not speaking the language"
In the early 200x, I was listening to an Argentinean punk rock group called Dos Minutos.
None of the song names really stick out to me (of course), but here's a link to one.
The gipsy kings cover of Hotel California.
Sarà perché ti amo
Na Laetha Geal M'Oige - Enya
Sidi Mansour (any version)
The Vietnam National Anthem
Voyage Voyage - Desireless
Xoris Esena - Despina Vandi
Epic of Gilgamesh
This Frederic song was on my feed one day. I had to hunt it down later that week and fortunately it was easy to describe because I found a thread of someone trying to find the same song.
indihome packet phoenix
I read further down that a user even has a dedicated playlist for these kinds of songs. I should probably start my own.
And I'm afraid this thread is going to keep me busy for a while...
Here are a few examples from my "favorites" playlist:
Youssou N'Dour - Undecided (Japoulo)
Basshunter, obviously.
I love several songs by Welle:Erdballs
Here are a few songs that I started listening to:
Reading through these comments make it look like most people here are teenagers.
Neat
99 Luftballoons - Nena https://open.spotify.com/track/2IJftBfq7pJ43tfnOR0RB3?si=Tj9rOKguQkOmpb3jJM27uw
https://www.reddit.com/r/sgiwhistleblowers/comments/yxbmch/tldr_please_dont_promote_nenas_old_songs_shes_not/
**
I was just gonna say this. I'm learning German and it felt cool being anle to losten to it in the original