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.
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
Kraftwerk is such a gem. They sound exactly like a 80s computer in music form, and I love it.
I’m enjoying No Comment by Kneecap recently
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.
Does Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano count? It’s sung in Gibberish that was meant to sound like an American singing in english to non english speakers.
I’m a basic bitch, so some of the first that came to mind have already been mentioned by others:
- Papoutai - Stromae (along with some other of his songs)
- Baba Yetu - Christopher Tin
- Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone
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.
“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.
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
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.
I love their version. Also Maytree.
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)
these are perfectly drenched in sorrow. i saved every one that I’ve not heard before 🤌
The Pillows - because of FLCL
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.
Baby Yetu, theme from Civilization 4, won a Grammy ( a first for a video game). It’s the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili.
I can HEAR this comment.
Tuvan Internationale and Kongurei by Huun Huur Tu.
Everything by MADKID and Chihara Minori is great
Several Japanese songs, such as Summer of Goodbye, Message in Rouge and Contrails
Garland of a Hundred Flowers - My neighbours’ national anthem can’t be this cute! (Nepali)
Halls of Hueyteotl and Baba Yetu (both Swahili, both from video games)
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.
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.
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.
Ah, that makes sense.
YouSeeBIGGIRL/T:T
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.
