What is your favourite song in another language?

Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand

99 Luftballons by Nena

Both songs were massive hits in Australia when I was a kid and they both are still in high rotation on my playlist.

Interestingly, the English version of 99 Luftballons hardly charted here at all.

Plastic Bertrand's song was huge due to appearing on the soundtrack of the National Lampoon's European Vacation movie starring Chevy Chase and Beverley D'Angelo.

The intro to Ghost in the Shell

Can't pick a favorite, so here's Miki Matsubara's Stay With Me

Plastic love by Mariya Takeuchi, or covers of modern songs in dead languages like running up that hill in old english

https://youtu.be/JVMCqctBShw

Of course!

• Italian: Adriano Cellentiano - Azzuro
• Hebrew: Nagila Hava
• Japanese: Fredrik - Oddloop
• Korean: 윤수일 - 아파트 (Apartment)
• Chinese: Xiao Feng Feng - Learn To Meow (小潘潘 - 學貓叫)
• Finish: Loituma "Ievan polkka"
• Portuguese: Koma - Lambada
• Swedish: Victor Lyksel - Svag
• Polish: Big Cyc - Makumba
• German: Helge Schneider - Katzenklo
• Chech: Ivan Mladek - Jozin z Bazin

2 of my favourite songs in my native language are ba. - tai ne žmogus and Rokas Yan, Monika Liu, Vaidas Baumila - gegužis :3

Tout là-haut - ZAZ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2uxifMlIcs Beautiful French song!

I have a couple Rammstein songs on my playlist, does that count? Namely Du Hast and Deutschland.

99 Luftballons

Years ago there was a song that always played for the ads on the Chinese phones. I tracked it down and the English translation of the title is "I caught a cold in that corner" by Fiona Fung. I don't really consider it foreign language since it sounds mostly non-lexical.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne3UdtX3FuI

I also have to give Cruel Angel Thesis an honorable mention.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU21rCWkuJw

I speak Spanish and French. La Femme and Thievery Corporation both have a lot of easily accessible songs in various other languages.

For French music specifically, I love L'Impératrice and Vendredi Sur Mer. Always a fan of the classics like Edith Piaf or Marie LaForêt . A recent discovery was Camille Yembe who is my new obsession.

MI favorita canción enteramente en español es la versión de La Llorona por Natalia LaFourcade.

This fun song by The Limiñanas uses both

Ca plane pour moi by Plastic Bertrand.

And

Negro y Azul: The Ballad of Heisenberg, by Los Cuates de Sinaloa.

Mundo paralelo!

Wodka by Pidzama Porno. It’s in polish, I love it!

I really like Su!cide by Ren, as my non native language song /s

In all seriousness, "Zeinen ederra izango den" from ZETAK, a current Basque group. It was made during covid, to remember the activities we did before, and what pleasure will be to again go out and enjoy it together. I don't expect you to take upon yourself learning Basque, but I hope you can enjoy the song at least haha.

I like a lot of Brazilian music, so I'd pick something Portuguese. 'Tropicalia', by Caetano Veloso, 'Parabolicamara' by Gilberto Gil, or 'Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser', by Milton Nascimento are all fantastic.

Did not expect to see 2 Belgian artists listed here, nice!

As for me: Khaled - Aisha

Sólstafir - Fjara Reading the lyrics in my native tongue only makes this song even more beautiful.

• Columba aspexit by Hildegard von Bingen
• Armenia by Einstürzende Neubauten
• O Fortuna by Carl Orff

Mon Cheri by Sofi Tukker x Amadou & Marian

A Terrorista Visszatér by HétköznaPICSAlódások

Skandal im Sperrbezirk by The Spider Murphy Gang and Du Bist Gut Genug by Kitschkrieg, Blumengarten and Shirin David just to give everyone a horrible earworm.

Song - Artist Kung i baren - Magnus Uggla Come give me love - Ted Gärdestad (yes, the song is Swedish but the title is English) Anything that angine de poitrine makes. But alien language might not be what you meant. Neuer wind - Van Canto

Mandinka (Guinea) - Yeke Yeke by Mory Kante, either the Afro Acid mix or the Hardfloor remix

French - Here I Am (Rutabaga mix) - Lexicon Avenue

Spanish - Llorando - Rebeka del Rio. Spanish language cover of Roy Orbison's 'Crying'. Video includes minor spoiler for Mulholland Drive.

Greek - Efige Efige - Stelios Kazantzidis

Malawi (sorry, I don't know exactly what language this is in - EDIT: possibly Chichewa) - A Bale Ndikuwuzeni - Gasper Nali

Songhai (Mali) - Soubour - Songhoy Blues

French (Burkina Faso) - Taximen - Amadou Balake

Cancion Bonita by El Micha

Hasta que salga el sol by Don Omar

Limbo by Daddy Yankee

Bota niña by Bad Gyal

I love the French singer Francis Cabrel.

Two of my favorites

hors saison

L' encre de tes yeux

Marieke by Jaques Brel. https://youtu.be/faMV_drSouA

My favorite songs change every other week but right now it's probably Sanjam by Sixth June. The song is in Serbian.

Paktofonika - Mechaniczna pomarańcza

Ana Maradun (warning: DARE propaganda) and Daani Shauqun by Mosa Alomairah (couldn't find English lyrics for the latter, which is a shame because they're really pretty). This guy in general is really talented, though as with all Arabic acapella the choice of songs can be pretty bad sometimes. This is also his post-reset persona; he also has some bangers from his radical Islamist phase.

Manel — Teresa Rampell

1934 by Xera

They are from Asturias, and it is from this free CC album

It's not my favorite music, but a friend of mine recently passed away and I can't get this music out of my head because we played it at his goodbye party when he went to live in another city. It's in Portuguese and a music about goodbyes: Matanza - Tempo Ruim some rough translation below for those who don't speak Portuguese:

Raise up your glasses for those about to leave

Long will be the road to follow

Nothing will be like it used to be, nothing will be easy for you

Don't do the same that your father did

Don't bring weapons where you're going

So many I've seen paying to see, they didn't had time to regret it.

Nothing you shouldn't already know, there's nothing you can't have.

I wish the road always comes to you, and that the wind be ever in your favor. I wish you always have a beer on your hand and that you have your great love by your side.

I say goodbye to all of you, many here I will not see again.

Besides the winter and bad weather I don't know what awaits me

But it doesn't matter what it might be if some day I have someone to say:

I wish the road always comes to you, and that the wind be ever in your favor. I wish you always have a beer on your hand and that you have your great love by your side.

Here are some Spanish ones I enjoy:

• Fascinante by PXNDX (Panda)
• La petit mort by José Madero (yes, it’s Spanish)
• Más de 100 palabras para ti by Finde
• Arrullo de estrellas by Zoé
• Llévame by Kudai
• Gimme tha power by Molotov (yes, it’s Spanish… mostly)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkNtKEbcGY

Fow now.

Japanese: Olivia Lufkin - Stars Shining Out
Spanish: Bruthal 6 - Todo en mis Manos

Right now it's Sheena Ringo - Rush Job

i like german anime intro songs. sailor moon opening comes to mind ("Sag das Zauberwort") here

There have been some pretty great songs in the now ending anime season. Cant wait to hear whats coming next week for the new season of shows.

La Gata Bajo la Lluvia by Rocio Dúrcal

La Rage by Keny Arkana

I speak a little French, not fluent, but love Jacques Brel.

Gasper Nali - A Bale Ndikuwuzeni

Not just my favorite foreign language song, but also a top 10.

Not foreign language (per se for an English speaker), but somewhat also ironically on my top 10 list is Brushy One String - Chicken in the Corn.

Stan Getz & Joáo Gilberto - Aguas de Março

Cut Chemist - The Garden

Rachid Taha - Barra Barra

Khaled - Alech Taadi

Vangelis - Damask Rose

This is pretty much the only song in my collection which has vocals and which's vocals don't happen to be in English (don't ask me why; my mother tongue is German), but anyways, it's this ballad in some slavic language: https://open.audio/library/tracks/102128/

I have no idea what the song is about, so if they sing of pee and poop, I do apologize.

The Book of Love sounds so beautiful in Italian. https://youtu.be/iWrIjN27w_M

Benny Lava.

It has great energy, and a jetpack operation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyC1BrQd6g

Atari Teenage Riot - Hetzjagd auf Nazis!