
Did you know that Nelly Furtado just released a new single? In Spanish? I just found out today, and I’ve been bobbing my head en Espanol all afternoon.
When I listen to music in a language I don’t speak (which is every language except English and German), I find I have a very different relationship to what I’m hearing. It’s nice sometimes to turn off my language receptors and just respond to a beat or a vocal technique. It often lets ms appreciate songs that, if I knew what they were about, I might dismiss as corny.
After the jump, I’ll drop a few of my favorite foreign-language tracks (including the new Nelly Furtado single), and then I want to hear about yours!
(1) Nelly Furtado, “Manos Al Aire”
I speak enough Spanish to know that this title means “Hands in the Air,” and my friend Kerri (who’s fluent) tells me that the song’s lyric are as boilerplate as its title.
I’d rather not hear a translation, then, because I’m currently going crazy for Furtado’s return to her Carribbean-folkie sound, and I don’t want that to be sullied by learning her lyrics are generic.
About Furtado’s style: After much protest, I finally got behind her rebirth as a ghetto fabulous Timbaland prodigy, if only because I could still hear traces of her lush world vibe in songs like “Say It Right” and “All Good Things (Come To End.)” (Well… and also because there’s no point in resisting “Promiscuous” and “Maneater.”) But “Manos Al Aire” suggests that Furtado has not abandoned her previous ship just to chase the current radio trend. If she’s going to keep developing her distinctive sound as well as shake it like Polaroid picture, then I’m totally on board. In fact, straddling those two worlds makes her even cooler.
(2) “Shango” by Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo is Beninese (meaning she’s from Benin, Africa), and randomly, she played a free outdoor concert in Chattanooga while I was in high school. (Nightfall at Miller Plaza anyone? Whoop whoop!) I didn’t actually go, but my friends Laura and Stephanie did, and they came back raving. They made me listen to Kidjo’s album Fifa, which instantly kicked my ass with its hyperactive drums and roof-scorching vocals.
This song, “Shango,” is likely about the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. But who knows? All I can confirm is that it commands me to dance. (Click on the link to hear it. The YouTube video is disabled.)
(3) Zoe, “Nada”
A psychedelic rock band from Mexico, Zoe makes stoner music that’s perfect for hanging out with a magazine (or making brunch.) I heard this song because it was a free iTunes download, and I liked it right away. I don’t even mind the lengthy guitar solo, which usually drives me crazy. I guess I’m more tolerant because I’m not impatiently waiting for another section I can sing along to.
(4) “Sposo Amato / Cara Sposa” from Andromeda Liberata. Conducted by Andrea Marcon
Did I even list that title correctly? I don’t know. I know almost nothing about classical music, but I’ll tell you, this selection from Andromeda Liberata, which is believed to be at least partially composed by Vivaldi, doesn’t require any great knowledge. It’s so frisky and charming that my general ignorance of classical forms (and Italian) does nothing to dilute my enjoyment.
(5) Your turn! Which foreign-langugage compositions do you love?






12 responses so far ↓
1 sb // Jul 7, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I enjoy Juanes, a Columbian singer. I took Spanish in high school but don’t remember enough to understand what he’s saying, so I too just turn my mind off and listen to the catchy. This is my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkTgwPvwhjU
2 Gonzalo // Jul 7, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Ok, this is pretty obscure, but I love listening to pop music from Romania. My roommate in freshman year was Romanian, and so I have a 5 or 6 songs in my collection, most of them from a band called Taxi. And look! I just found one of them on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z63YZq0oGeI
It’s unabashed pop, but I think it’s pretty solid (though it’s possible the language does it for me… I hung out with Romanians a lot during college).
It’s weird, I tend to find music in Spanish (my first language) is often more cringe-worthy (lyric-wise) than those in English. Especially ballads or overt love songs. I find lyrics in English tend to be much more inventive (which I admit might be a misguided generalization).
And thanks for informing me about the new Nelly Furtado song… I’m really enjoying it!
3 rev s // Jul 7, 2009 at 6:41 pm
The members of Loco Locass are academics, linguists and Quebec separatists. I don’t speak French but I know that a romance language makes political hip-hop sound that much more lovely.
http://www.locolocass.net/nouvelles/
http://www.myspace.com/locolocassofficiel
4 rev s // Jul 7, 2009 at 6:46 pm
… and we mustn’t forget Seu Jorge’s bossa nova David Bowie covers in Portuguese from The Life Aquatic, recording which caused Bowie to reexamine his own recordings.
5 arford // Jul 7, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I rarely listen to music with non-English lyrics, barring the occasional opera/classical piece. However, years ago I bought the soundtrack to Amores Perros. There are a few Spanish tracks on that compilation that I love dearly. My favorite is Perro Amor Explota, by an Argentine group named Bersuit Vergabarat:
http://www.last.fm/music/Bersuit+Vergarabat/_/Perro+Amor+Explota
Love that song – hooksy with a nice drive to it.
6 Rube Goldberg // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Back when my parents had Dish Network, I found a show on WorldLink TV that show music videos. My favorite one was for a song called “Gamen (Vulture)” by this Scandanavian group called Garmana. Pure dance rock which featured the fiddle. I ended up getting some of their other songs through iTunes (“Sir Holger” is also really good).
I haven’t looked up any translations because I have reason to believe that they might be Christian Rock – one album is called God’s Musician’s, another is Guds Speleman which might be the same album or might translate to “gospel”. Still recommend though!
7 Amanda // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I love Carla Bruni’s stuff, some of which I can understand, but not all. It’s probably hackneyed as hell to be a Bruni fan, but I dig that lady.
8 Jen K // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:17 pm
99 Luftballons. I know, it’s quintessentially 80′s, but I took German in HS and can therefore sing (and translate) every word of this song auf Deutsch (though not in English). I hate the English version. I hate the title the most, because it’s not 99 Red Balloons. Red is nowhere in the original.
I pronounce the full German word for 99, as well. It’s loooooong, but I’m keepin’ it real, yo.
I also tend to go for the German versions of Falco and early Beatles.
9 Rube Goldberg // Jul 7, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Ooo, yeah, German Falco was vastly superior to the English version. I do like how the MTV version of Rock Me Amadeus was the original instead of the remix version that is typically heard on the radio.
There’s also that song at the beginning of Ghost World that is quite enjoyable. I’m not recalling the title, bue it was either from India or the South Asia region. As you can tell, danciness is probably my top criterion in any language, hehe.
10 Seth Christenfeld // Jul 8, 2009 at 12:37 am
@Jen K: “neun und neunzig” isn’t that long. It’s only one syllable longer than “ninety-nine.”
Most of the foreign-language material on my iPod is classical or musical theatre. I have a fair number of odd foreign-language covers of songs originally in English, as well, but most of them are no good. (Exceptions include a couple of things by Seu Jorge, noted above.)
I’m sure I must have some other decent stuff not in English, but damned if I can figure out what.
11 Collin H // Jul 8, 2009 at 1:38 pm
As has been well established time and time again, I am nerdy. Therefore, it should come as little surprise that I have a secret love affair with J-pop. I find Japanese to be an incredibly pretty language when sung. I love that in J-pop they’re always emphatically shouting seemingly random English words at you. Here’s a good example of what I’m talking about. Theres something very freeing about being able to just listen to the noise of words without being forced to consider any meaning behind them.
Konya wa Hurricane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSggDCal5lA
12 Jen K // Jul 12, 2009 at 1:32 am
@Seth – you’re right. It seems longer, somehow. Go figure.
@Rube – I love the music in Ghost World – I had forgotten about that!
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