99 Luftballoons - Nena https://open.spotify.com/track/2IJftBfq7pJ43tfnOR0RB3?si=Tj9rOKguQkOmpb3jJM27uw
Rammstein
Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano
So many. I like music and I like languages so when there are lyrics there's a good chance it's not English.
- Dead can dance - The Host of Seraphim - moody female vocals with backing instruments and synth that resembles religious sad hymns (not even in a real language)
- 王菲 Faye Wong《四月雪 April Snow - melancholy mandarin pop from 2003
- Hocico - Ecos - Mexican electro-industrial on the aggressive side
- Juno Reactor - Conquistador (part 1 and 2) - technically 2 songs, in Latin, Spanish and I think Xhosa. Same person who did the music from the matrix, these are sort of a musical interpretation of South American history
- Sepultura - Ratamahatta - Brazilian metal
- All about Lily Chou-Chou OST - Arabesque(アラベスク) - fictional band with female vocals, beautiful melancholy song in Okinawan
- Fly, Fly My Sadness - The Bulgarian Voices Angelite with Huun-Huur-Tu and Moscow Art Trio - Mongolian throat singers (if you've never heard this technique, it's incredible and unlike anything else, this song isn't the best example though, search for huun huur tu videos) and an ethereal Bulgarian choir.
- The Mirror Conspiracy ft. LouLou - Le Monde - French lyrics, chillout downtempo electronic
- Björk - Úm Akkeri - Icelandic version of her song The Anchor Song
- Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming) - a classic 1989 Australian song in Yolŋu and English. Not my favourite but I wanted to have the continent represented here.
- Thievery Corporation - Satyam Shivam Sundaram - another downtempo chillour from the same group, this time in Hindi
- Daler Mehndi - Tunak Tunak Tun - too catchy not to mention, Punjabi pop, hilariously cheesy video clip
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...
Manu Chao - clandestino
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
Numa Numa Yay, Numa Numa Yay, Numa Numa Numa Yay!
Bella Ciao
Tunak Tunak Tun will forever be a banger.
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.
France Gall - Ella, Elle L'a
Anything by stromae really. In some of his songs you can even hear the emotion he conveys without understanding any French
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
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:
I think that would describe half my catalog :-/
- Finnish Iskelmä
- Stig - Puumaa mä metsästä
- Arttu Wiskari - Sirpa
- Lemon - Nainen Tummissa (cover of Lady in Black)
- Thai
- จ๊อบ บรรจบ - ดูเธอทำ (Job 2 Do - Doo doo doo)
- Soreng Santi (สรวง สันติ) - Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng (cover of Iron Man … sort of)
- most versions of Bella Ciao (except La Casa de Papel for some reason)
- Bella ciao cantata dal coro R'Esistente del Pratello
- the “fun” stuff coming out of Ukraine
- О.Пономарьов М.Хома Т.Тополя Є.Кошовий Ю.Ткач П.Чорний - УКРАЇНА ПЕРЕМОЖЕ
- Andriy Khlyvnyuk x The Kiffness - Ukrainian Folk Song ARMY REMIX
- Cвітоглядець - Bayraktar
- Finnish Iskelmä
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.
Dragostea Din Tei (aka, the "Numa numa" song) is always a hit.
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
- SHUM by GO_A (Ukraine) was my winner for that year.
- Zitti E Buoni by Maneskin (Italy) was the actual winner and launched them to international success. They are on the US radio now too.
- Voy a Quedarme by Blas Canto (Spain) is very pretty. I DO speak Spanish, but y'all might dig it.
ESC 2022
- Brividi by Mahmood & Blanco (Italy)
- Trenulețul by Zdob şi Zdub & Frații Advahov (Moldova) is some of the most fun music I've ever heard.
- Saudade Saudade by MARO (Portugal) is partly in English but entirely beautiful.
- In Corpore Sano by Konstrakta (Serbia) was one of my top songs this year. Her odd stage/video performance really makes it.
- Stefania by Kalush Orchestra (Ukraine) was the winner this year, only partly because of the invasion. It was probably in most people's top 3 anyway, and it got such a huge percentage of the votes that it really skewed the rest of the results. (Fun fact, the flautist/lead in this song is the same flautist from SHUM in 2021)
ESC 2023
- Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä (Finland) is a TREMENDOUS bop. It's so catchy. As he was touring around before the actual semi-finals he lost his trademark lime green jacket, and fans made and brought replacements to shows for him until it was found.
- Mama ŠČ! by Let 3 (Croatia) is beyond weird but really catchy. They're the most charismatic artists ever to fake pooping themselves during an interview.
- Ai Coração by Mimicat (Portugal) is fun and has a kind of old school vibe.
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.
Gangnam Style
Hijo de la Luna - Mecano
My playlist of Armenian music is inappropriately huge. You will regret asking this question.
-
Garik and Sona - Mayro I do not have a huge crush on Sona Rubenyan shut up.
-
Adana Project - Gini Lic maybe turn off the subtitles unless you hate Turkey as much as Armenia does...
-
Sevak Amroyan - Yarkhushta aw fuck yeah
I have many, MANY more. I am not remotely Armenian, just a huge SOAD fan who fell down a youtube rabbit hole one day...
I listen to a lot of K-pop. I don't know more than a very small handful of Korean.
Ave Maria
Discovered Leningrad - Fish
in a similar post on Reddit a while back"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.
Yelle - A Cause Des Garçons (Tepr Remix)
Love this thread. Here are some of my favs off the top of my head. My music tastes are all over the place.
Ederlezi
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)
Tanz mit Mir by Faun
some of the ones that spontaneously come to my mind are:
- 99 luftballons
- Ievan polkka
- Cannabis
- Naruto's second openingAsilos Magdalena by Mars Volta
I like all their stuff, but that’s the only one I can think of that is completely in Spanish
Rammstein - Du Hast
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.
Rammstein - all songs 🙂
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.
Indian Folk Metal -- Bloodywood - Dana Dan
-
跟我在一起 the number of 天s in this song hits the feels.
The whole genre of City Pop is awesome.
Too much kpop and jpop to list, but Kent (swedish) has a lot of good songs: Stanna Hos Mig, 400 Slag
Jane Air, Junk
Rammstein, Moskau
Afterhours, Vedova Bianca (There's an English version that was used in Mr. Robot)
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
French?
- Florina - Va Va Vis
- The Longest Johns - Santiano (only partly in french, but damn bro)
- Cedric Watson - La Vieille Chanson De Mardi Gras
The entirety of NieR and NieR Automata's vocal tracks. Most of them are actually just gibberish.
Cocteau Twins. I'm pretty sure she just gave up using actual words entirely at some point.
La Vie en Rose - Eddie Piaf
Ievan Polka
Du Hast - Rammstein
I think that's a pretty good spread
Anything from Ningen Isu.
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=3q9fD6UA4xsTacabro - Tacata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqFtayBRdfsShiva - Auto Blu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGlWbPR6SjAt.A.T.u. - Malchik Gay
Blümchen - Heut' ist mein Tag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXay1pdfQpIG-Dragon - Butterfly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98qqghzKAMMRammstein, most of what eluveitie makes and inabakumori makes...
(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
Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan. The whole album is magical.
A bunch of Japanese Metal...
Band Maid - Domination
Neophila - AMA-TE-RAS
Ningen Isu - Heartless Scat
Maximum the Hormone - Koino America
Wen Bie by Jackie Cheung
Mostly songs from C. Tangana , especially the songs from his "concert" on TinyDesk.
There's a bunch of hardbass I like that's usually in Russian or some other slavic language Mostly listen to Uamee
Most things by Snow Tha Product - start with 'Butter' or 'No Cap In My Captions'.
Ruina Imperii by Sabaton
I think nobody posted yet this Finnish duo...This song slaps: Maustetytöt - Syntynyt suruun ja puettu pettymyksin I'm posting this link as it has both subtitles and you get to see them playing, but audio is better in the Studio version.
Since I'm at it...how about some Mongolian metal with throat singing? The HU - Yuve Yuve Yu. Comments on this video are hilarious too.
This video still cracks me up... Bomba Estéreo - Soy Yo
Japanese pop/rock overloaded with traditional instruments and general chaos...Wagakki - Kishikaisei
And...this. Namewee - Makudonarudo
Taikatalvi by Nightwish
Gangnam Style
This, which I remember from the FIFA 06 soundtrack: https://youtu.be/M-rZ3602Lm8?feature=shared
I really like the French national anthem.
Starts off in English but really kicks in when it turns Welsh.
Nearly all songs by Akatsuki Records, Ado, CrazyBeats, Hololive productions, MoeShop and some other japan based Artists.
Who killed UN Owen https://youtu.be/eCyf9C6dHYE?si=IcV5ZkNFNGBexBey
Jonas Dichoso - Empilight
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=kENZU2VKrf4&si=9B86AAEYqA6ZO9Vl
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.
Sunrise from the Final Fantasy 14 soundtrack.
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
I listen to quite a decent amount of French music
https://open.spotify.com/track/5exiWZkZho6AvCGkabEMeA?si=YRhnFPEHSfuxozVZSoVkSQ
Shchedryk (Ukranian original version of Carol of the Bells) comes to mind. Folk rhymes better with their original tongue in general
ATARASHII GAKKO! My uncle told me to check them out and I've like them a lot.
Jamal Kudu
Gangnam Style, O Fortuna (Carmina Burana), stuff by Hildegard von Bingen
Malagueña Salerosa from the Kill Bill soundtrack.
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.)
- Angst - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONj9cvHCado
- Deutschland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQM1c-XCDc
- Zeit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbHGS_bVkXY
Sigur Ros
- Sæglópur - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiFgfPiJHyA
Sakanaction is a great Japanese band that a friend introduced me to years ago.
- Sayonara wa Emotion - さよならはエモーション - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wlRFsmceo0
- 多分、風。- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lx0vLTH_yg
- Shintakarajima - #新宝島 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIlZCmETvsY
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
- Forester- лесник - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BdJ8piaEkA
Hikaru Utada
- Automatic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DxpPiE458
Juli (Love her voice. One of my favorite voices)
- Perfeckte Welle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad8ukI7Z-b8
- Irgendwann - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npdk6IxqjFE
Annenmaykantereit (Told myself if I ever learn piano this would be one of the first songs)
- Barfuss am Klavier - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tERRFWuYG48
Mylene Farmer
- Belle Journee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huZTRymyfpU
Grand Corps Malade & Camille Lellouche (Had this one on loop for awhile when I first found it)
- Mais je t'aime - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ss-xmvLGFw
Passi
- Le Monde est à Moi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvwSVCnLF1Q
Panzer AG
That's a decent list of some of my favorites. (please excuse the wonky formatting. I can't get it to behave.)
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
A lot of j-pop
Mungkin Nanti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWcMwUySDvI
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.
Traicionera by Sebastian Yatra.
Kasa no Hone - Anathallo
Pretty much anything by Sigur Ros
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.
Amatz by Shanti Dope https://g.co/kgs/wkcx8Wj
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
The Snake by Lana Lubany
There's a really solid Country Roads cover in the film Whispers of the Heart from studio ghibli
Hislerim - Serhat durmus
Land of the Heroes (Arabic Version) - Alan Walker"Ari Im Sokhag", Serj Tankian (system of a down) and Larisa Ryan, very beautiful Armenian song
Aaand now onto Bollywood...
Dame veneno by Los Chunguitos.
Literally anything by Thievery Corporation, though a lot of their music is in English
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 :)
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.
Any Song I listen because I don't like songs in my language. I don't know why.
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.
Chinese football - goalkeeper https://youtu.be/643pBp99gSE?si=73jauYhyWqHx1o5T
White Tiger Field (Byakkoya) by Susumu Hirasawa
[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"
Anything by:
Dir En Grey
Yoshida Brothers
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.
Na Laetha Geal M'Oige - Enya
Sidi Mansour (any version)
The Vietnam National Anthem
Voyage Voyage - Desireless
Xoris Esena - Despina Vandi
Epic of Gilgamesh
Sarà perché ti amo
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.
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.
I love several songs by Welle:Erdballs
Here are a few songs that I started listening to:
