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The must-know songs in your language | ||
Tags: Song Texts | Music | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| Eltwish Diglot Newbie United States larrykenny.com Joined 4781 days ago 13 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Japanese, German | Message 1 of 35 14 December 2011 at 8:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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What would you pick if you had to choose (up to) ten songs to represent a language? You can interpret this how you want, but what I mean is any of the following: songs which use the language to its fullest, songs which a huge portion of native speakers (at least from a given country/culture) all know, songs that defy translation, songs any pianist/guitarist should know how to play, or simply songs you really like in the language - any or all of these. Ten songs that you would recommend to sell a language- and music-lover on your language.
For me, as a native English speaker, I'd give the following, for various reasons (which I'd be happy to detail if you'd like but which I won't waste space explaining here): 10) The Beatles - Yesterday 9) Frank Sinatra - I Get a Kick Out of You 8) John Mayer - Stop This Train 7) Regina Spektor - Consequence of Sounds 6) Jonathan Larson - La Vie Bohème (from RENT) 5) Don McLean - American Pie 4) The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge Song 3) Judy Garland - Over the Rainbow 2) Simon and Garfunkel - Sound of Silence 1) John Lennon - Imagine As I learn languages, some songs jump out as me as immediately rewarding and important to learn - for example, 川の流れのように and 乾杯 in Japanese. In Spanish, I've quickly found the appeal and ubiquity of Ricardo Arjona. I'm now learning German in part because of its Classical music legacy, but I don't really know where to start, so I'd be particularly interested to hear any recommendations in that regard as well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| GRagazzo Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4960 days ago 115 posts - 168 votes  Speaks: Italian, English* Studies: Spanish, Swedish, French | Message 2 of 35 14 December 2011 at 11:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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10)Se io non avessi te- Nek
9)E poi- Giorgia 8)Gocce di memmoria- Giorgia 7)Di sole e d'Azzuro- Giorgia 6)O sole mio- Claudia Villa 5)Ave Maria- Giorgio Fumanti 4)Con Te Partiro'- Andrea Bocceli 3)L'Italiano- Toto Cutugno 2)Ti Amo- Umberto Tozzi 1)Vivo per Lei- Andrea Bocceli These are my top 10 Italian songs, and if you are learning Italian you should take a look at some of them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5129 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 3 of 35 15 December 2011 at 12:49am | IP Logged | ||
Speaking of Italian pop... Two somewhat older songs I really like, if only because they've successfully charted in other languages, yet the translations differ from the originals are: Maledetta Primavera (L. Goggi) and Gloria (U. Tozzi). The first became a big hit in Spanish, sung by Yuri. The second was a huge hit in the US, sung by L. Branigan. In both cases I remember either reading or hearing in interviews that the reason the translations were different is because the translations proved "difficult" to meaningfully capture the original. R. == 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gosiak Triglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5125 days ago 241 posts - 361 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, German Studies: Norwegian, Welsh | Message 4 of 35 15 December 2011 at 1:05am | IP Logged | ||
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10 Polish songs I really like (the order in accidental):
1) Tadeusz Woźniak - Zegarmistrz Światła 2) Akurat - Do prostego człowieka 3) Świetliki - Filandia 4) Budka Suflera - Jolka Jolka 5) Myslovitz - Chłopcy 6) Kukiz i Piersi - ZCHN zbliża się 7) O.N.A. - Kiedy powiem sobie dość 8)Grzegorz Turnau - Naprawdę nie dzieje się nic 9) Republika - Odchodząc zabierz mnie 10) Kazik i Kult - Brooklińska rada Żydów Enjoy :) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5414 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 5 of 35 31 December 2011 at 9:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm utterly amazed that this thread only has three responses. From the thread's title, I'd figure it would be one of those massively popular threads.
I guess everyone's too busy studying languages to listen to music. :) Anyways, curse you for making this thread, and curse me for not being able to turn away from it. *deep breath* MANDARIN Sa Dingding (萨顶顶) ~ Ha Ha Lili / Famous Friends (Ha Ha Lili remix) A brilliant song with a brilliant remix (traditionalists will prefer the former—I prefer the latter) by the most musically creative mainland (or otherwise, really) Chinese songwriter I've ever come across. She also sings in Tibetan and Sanskrit, but this one's in good ol' Mandarin. Céng Yì Kě (曾轶可) ~ 狮子座改版 A nostalgic contemporary folk-country-pop tune complete with a dreamy slide guitar intro and an ethereal, twangy and raspy voice. Pretty incredible that this girl cam from a Chinese version of American Idol ("Super Girl"). Cheer Chen (陈绮贞) ~ 躺在你的衣柜 A beautifully dark gem that, in my opinion, best reflects the understated Chinese sense of detached serenity (think Jia Zhangke and Hou Hsiao-Hsien) that so many foreigners could easily mistake for societal apathy. Da Mouth (大嘴巴) ~ 愛的宣言 Ridiculously lighter than the past three songs, and an excellent example of contemporary Chinese youth's manifestation of "cute culture" (think Japanese "kawaii"). I dare anyone to watch this video and not break into a smile. This song is simply "fun" incarnate. F.I.R. (飞儿乐团) ~ 愛的宣言 The elegant chorus—it's magical. Peggy Hsu (许哲佩) ~ 沒落貴族 One of many excellent songs by my favorite Chinese artist, whose albums "Fine" (美好的) and "Snowman" (雪人) are delightful pop mini-masterpieces with artistic substance to back up the infectious melodies. Jay Chou (周杰伦) ~ 聼媽媽的話 (Listen to Mother's Words) Undoubtedly the most well-known song of the bunch, and likewise the most well-know artist (by far…). Most of his music bores me, but this is another beautiful nostalgic song evocative of childhood (as you'll see in the video) with a good message. Another song of his that I adore is "簡單愛" ("Simple Love"). Teresa Teng (邓丽君) ~ 月亮代表我的心(The Moon Represents My Heart) Beloved Teresa Teng classics are a dime a dozen, and it's not hard to see why, provided you're in the mood for the serenity of dreamy, heavenly vocals singing nostalgic and lovelorn ballads. I'd recommend checking out her Wikipedia page (preferrably while listening to her music). SPANISH Beatriz Luengo ~ Como Tú No Hay 2 I heard this song on my local Spanish-language radio station and tried to make out some lines in order to Google them later to identify the song, but I couldn't break through the thick Spanish accent (I eventually realized I could just look up the radio station's playlist…*doh*). Belinda ~ Egoísta / Whacko For those who don't mind mainstream contemporary music (which probably isn't most of you, but I personally love it). If you like party music, listen (and defininitely watch) the first. An added bonus of the second video is that it has lyrics—woot! Julieta Venegas ~ Me Voy A more traditional song for the old fogeys out there. A beautiful chorus, and the added bonus that is song is lyrically quite straightforward for someone learning Spanish to follow along. Incidentally, this was the first Spanish-language song I ever really liked (actually wasn't that long ago…). Paulina Rubio ~ Causa Y Efecto The hiatus-breaking hit of a massively popular Mexican singer (30 million and counting..). Tito "El Bambino" feat. Wisin & Yandel ~ Maquina del Tiempo A ridiculously popular song at the moment, and a listen with quality speakers at high volume should make that self-explanatory. Fun to follow along with the lyrics, which this video fortunately includes. Susana Baca ~ Golpe E' Tierra (Hablan Los Negros) For those put off by some of the ultra-hip party anthems above, here's a good ol' traditional Afro-Peruvian song by one of Peru's most prominent songwriters, who also happens to be Peru's Minister of Culture as of July 2011. ARABIC Fairuz (فيروز) ~ فيروز-قال قايل Not going to lie—I like most contemporary Arab pop, but I'm not into the traditional type that Fairuz is known for. That said, this is a musically imaginative ditty from her immensely successful 2010 album (for a little perspective—she was born in 1935). Nancy Ajram (نانسي عجرم) ~ أحلى جو The trumpets—'nuff said. There are so many catchy Arab pop songs with vibrant percussion and swirling orchestral strings, that I can't really pick out individual songs. Beyond these two, the entire works of Amr Diab (عمرو دياب), Elissa (إليسا), Nawal Al Zoghbi (نوال الزغبي), and Sherine (شيرين) should suffice. FRENCH Émilie Simon ~ Fleur de saison / Desert Two different songs. I'd strongly advise against picking between the two—the first is an intensely frenetic yet elegant swinger with a groove, while the second is a soul-crushingly fragile melodic tune whose soundscape is as barren as its name suggests (in a good way, mind you), Yelle ~ Ce Jeu The prototypical beautiful French song, for the contemporary at heart. If you think the French language is beautiful, you're in for a treat with this chanson. Also, this is definitely one of the ones where you want to watch the video. Zaz ~ Port coton The prototypical beautiful French song, for the traditionalist at heart. It may be from 2010, but it's precisely the chanson you'd want to hear resting at a café along the Seine at sunset. Most crucially, the aesthetic is genuine—it's not French for French's sake. Benoît Charest ~ Belleville Rendez-vous A song composed for a French animation feature. The instrumentation is ridiculously French, in a cartoonish but delectible way. If you're a musician, you'll probably like this one. GERMAN Ich + Ich ~ Junk Melodic perfection. No fancy instrumental or compositional gimmicks—just a ridicuously ingenious melodic line. If you're feeling bombarded by a bunch of YouTube links, this one goes down quite easily. Wir sind Helden ~ Nur Ein Wort My go-to-response to anyone who says German is a "harsh" or "angry" language. Unfortunately, only live performances and the demo are available on YouTube, so I decided to go with the latter. YUE (CANTONESE) G.E.M. (邓紫棋) ~ ALL About U Most Cantonese songs are unlistenable syrupy ballads (my opinion, of course), but G.E.M. offters a more down-to-earth style of Cantopop. Unfortunately, a lot of her music is in Mandarin (and English), but here's one resolutely in Cantonese. There's an official video on YouTube, but I linked one with the Cantonese lyrics captioned. Don't listen to this if you pride yourself on your refined taste in music… RUSSIAN Serebro (Серебро) ~ Дыши (Breathe) Beautifully Russian in all the right ways. I just skimmed through the video for the first time, and it appears to have flying humpback whales ala Fantasia 2000, so it might be worth checking out... ESTONIAN Urban Symphony ~ Rändajad Yes, from freakin' Eurovision. I can't stomache 99% of the garbage that Eurovision turns out, but this tune caught my ear. I slightly prefer the studio version, but the live version has a more enjoyable YouTube video... SAMI Sofia Jannok ~ Irene Needless to say, I don't study Sami, so I don't know which particular Sami language this is. All I know is that it's so explicitly beautiful that I think it may be one of the few pieces of music whose beauty can truly transcend disparate musical tastes and appreciate by all familiar with the Western musical tradition (e.g., at minimum, anyone here). Feel free to correct me on this... SANSKRIT Sa Dingding (萨顶顶) ~ Alive (Mantra) It's not by a native Sanskrit speaker (then again, not many songs are...), but you take what you can get. :) KOREAN Loveholic (러브홀릭스) ~ Loveholic The first Korean song I ever liked, and of the rare Korean acts completely removed from the typically nauseating K-Pop scene (unfortunately, they've since broken up). And while it may not be K-Pop, the chorus is still infectious. … Well, I've unfortunately run out of time. I could still add nine more to Korean , and I've not even touched upon my two favorite linguistic music scenes (Anglophone and Japanese, which collectively comprise roughly 85% of the vocal [i.e., non-instrumental] music I listen to), but this should suffice for now. 17 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| KSAKSA Groupie Australia Joined 5144 days ago 65 posts - 99 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Gulf) | Message 6 of 35 01 January 2012 at 1:36am | IP Logged | ||
I think the reason is that this is actually quite a difficult task to sum up....what is a quintessential song to me, is not necessarily going to be to another (witness the songs listed in the English section of the original poster). For me, some of the noteworthy Arab songs would be: Om Kalthoum - Ghannili Shiwayyi Shiwayyi, Lissa Fakir, Anna Fi Intizarak - songs which majority of Arabs would know from the very first few bars...and these are only the tip of the iceberg Nancy Ajram - Ah w nos, Lawn ouyounak and Oul Tani Kida - these songs were MASSIVE in their heyday but I don't know if that necessarily adheres to the first request of 'using language to its fullest'. Amr Diab - Ya Nour El Ein was a real cross over hit in the 80s Maya Yazbek - Habibi Ya Eini....my goodness, this song, I swear, must be one of the best known Habibi Ya Eini n terms of English songs.... Police - De do do do, de da da da - what a stir this song caused when it was first released (ok, it's 2012 but my mind is in the 80s today) simply because of the unintelligible hook Edited by KSAKSA on 01 January 2012 at 1:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| espejismo Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5050 days ago 498 posts - 905 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Greek, Azerbaijani | Message 7 of 35 01 January 2012 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Spanish
Teresa Berganza - Las tres hojas Spanish zarzuela, performed by a Cuban opera singer Mercedes Simone - Milonga Sentimental (1930s) Argentine Ray Barretto - No me molestes mas Puerto Rican Salsa La Lupe - Puro Teatro Cuban diva Thalía - Piel Morena Mexican pop Selena - La Carcacha Mexican pop Luz Casal - Piensa en mi Spain, composed by the Mexican Agustín Lara Sara Montiel - Quizas, quizas, quizas Spain Mecano - Hoy no me puedo levantar (1983) Spain, pop Julio Iglesias - No llores mi amor (1970) Spain, pop Portuguese Brazil: Gal Costa and Tom Jobim - Wave pure perfection Chico Buarque - Pedro Pedreiro Astrud Gilberto - Agua de beber (1965) a jazz standard Elis Regina - Águas de Março 10/10 Elis Regina - Querelas do Brasil on the quirks of Brazilian Portuguese Maria Bethânia - Carcará (1965) Portugal: Madredeus - Alfama Madredeus - Ao Longe o Mar Cristina Branco - Longe do Sul Cape Verde: Cesária Évora - Saudade "La diva aux pieds nus." She passed away last month... RIP Cesária Évora - Amor di mundo French Dawn Upshaw - C'est l'extase langoureuse composed by Claude Debussy in 1887 to the words of the poet Paul Verlaine Jeanne Moreau - Le Tourbillon (1962) from François Truffaut's "Jules et Jim" Françoise Hardy - Tous les garçons et les filles (1964) Jacques Brel - Tango Funèbre (1964) Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Guesch Patti - Etienne (1987) must see Mirwais - Velours bleu (1990) electronic Discobitch - C'est beau la bourgeoisie (2008) :) Stromae - Alors on Danse (2009) Zaz - Je veux (2010) Edited by espejismo on 01 January 2012 at 9:20pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| espejismo Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5050 days ago 498 posts - 905 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Greek, Azerbaijani | Message 8 of 35 01 January 2012 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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English - this one is going to be tough!
1) How sweet the moonlight sleeps (1598) sung by Andreas Scholl, lyrics by Shakespeare, music adaptation by Jocelyn Pook 2) Almeda Riddle - I Love My Little Rooster (folk) 3) Marilyn Monroe - I Wanna Be Loved By You (1959) 4) The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin' (1965) 5) Dusty Springfield - The Look Of Love (1967) 6) Donna Summer - I Feel Love (1978) 7) Depeche Mode - Strange Love (1987) 8) Madonna - Justify My Love (1990) 9) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991) 10) Nine Inch Nails - Closer (1994) 11) Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)(1997) Edited by espejismo on 01 January 2012 at 8:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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