So recently I've been discovering music from other countries and performed in different languages. There's this one Arabic CD in particular that I'm loving right now.

But something keeps happening, that I wonder if you guys experience as well: When I'm listening to songs that are in a language I don't understand (which would be just about any language other than English and Spanish), my brain keeps forming the sounds into English words! For example, I can't listen to my favorite song on that Arabic CD without cracking up, because the chorus sounds exactly like "Gonorrhea makes me sing Hawaiian songs."

Help me out, babies. Am I the only one?

FunkMistress said:

No, you're not alone. I find it hard sometimes to listen to music that's not in English, because I cannot relate FULLY to a song if I don't know what the singer's intention is. A lot of times that's not an issue if the singer's doing his/her job and really selling the song. But a great deal of the world does it for most of the songs in English we listen to here, so I should open up more. I understand Spanish well enough, so that's not an issue most of the time.

But I don't know nothin' about no gonorrhea in Hawaii. You're on your own there, sweets.

In a way I think another test of a great song is if you're unsure of the lyrics but the music still holds up that you forget about it.

How many languages can you tap your feet in?

I'm an Arabic oldies addict.

Coming from a Somalian/Morrocon decent, my parents listened to ALOT of Arabic music(in addition to Jazz, Soul & Funk) when I was growing up.

FunkMistress, I could def give you some artists/songs recommendations of you want to

Harlepolis said:

Gimme, gimme! I'm new to the world of Arabic music, but I'm definitely loving the soul & funk stuff - it really surprised me, I have to say. Pleasantly. Harle, I'd love to hear some recommendations.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I can listen to German music like Xmal Deutschland with no problems. As long as it has a good beat and you can dance to it.

I have a shelf-full of Latin Alternative/Rock en Español CDs, but I know a few hundred words of Spanish so it's not completely foreign.

Appendix:
In all honesty, I really don't pay attention much to lyrics. I'm a huge Tori Amos fan and I admit many times, I have no idea what she's saying. I won't even mention trying to understand other (mostly) English speaking artists like Björk or The Cocteau Twins. Again, as long as it has a good beat and you can dance to it.
[Edited 1/27/05 13:10pm]