Do You Like Music With Other Languages?

sure, there's a lot of good music out there in languages that i can't understand.

i agree with this. i don't really understand when people say they can't listen to certain genres of music because they allegedly can't understand what the singer is saying. i think that's more about them looking for excuses to be prejudiced against a genre.

that said, there are plenty of songs where the words are a big part of the feeling the song creates.

 

My step-grandad liked this song for some reason.

http://youtu.be/KzGKsXPBILw

 

Me too. It sounds so much more fitting. Even when it's from a band who's lyrics can't be understood if you haven't read the lyrics before I also like stuff like Skyforger (latvian) a lot, but especially their folky stuff.

But I actually check out norse and swedish lyrics if the music fascinates me enough.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhXZSNMs7NM

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqsA_v4Nu4U

Mtukudzi is a Zimbabwean musician, businessman, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region. Tuku is considered Zimbabwe's most renowned and internationally recognised cultural icon of all time.



I listen to Tuku all the time..

 

Tuku or not Tuku that's the question.

 

How can you even say that if you don't know the words? They might be your favorite words ever and you will find that you are not enjoying the song at its fullest but can enjoy it even more. What if the Magic Flute had been about a clown named Barney who was in the search for the perfect chili dog? Would it be as great?

 

You're funny. I first heard Eres Tu when I was a mere lad. But I still like it for nostalagic reasons

Como una promesa, eres tú, eres tú.
Como una mañana de verano.
Como una sonrisa, eres tú, eres tú.
Así, así, eres tú.

Taken from http://lyricstranslate.com/en/eres-tu-you-are.html#ixzz3XxU4tMpQ

 

Spanglish

Mars Volta:

http://youtu.be/Zg6svO2AQHw

Sublime:

http://youtu.be/k_LP4IU6XD4

 

"How can you even say that if you don't know the words? They might be your favorite words ever and you will find that you are not enjoying the song at its fullest but can enjoy it even more. What if the Magic Flute had been about a clown named Barney who was in the search for the perfect chili dog? Would it be as great?"

I hope I can answer this in a way you can understand. To begin, my answer would be yes. A good song to me is a good song. When I play a song, it isnt about the words at all in what they are saying..but how they are phrased, the melody of them and if the singer is in pitch . And the overall sound of the voice. Being soneone who plays by ear, I am pretty empathetic by nature, and even more so through my experience of going in cold at jams and more often than not, playing many songs i dont know without any problems. To pull that off without glitch, you need to be very empathetic. That empathy serves me two fold in picking up the emotion in a song.The words dont mean much to me other than to serve as landmarks where there are changes, breaks and dynamics.Since I am an "In the moment" player I am easily able to enjoy a song fully..or not. And its nothing to do with the content of the words. However, if the words are funny, I tend to tune into them because, I like funny tunes. Lastly, after all is said and done, when im just sitting and listening to something, and I begin to hear words that I can relate to, I tend to listen to them closer. But dumb words or words I dnt relate to dont ruin a song for me if I like the music itself. I hope my explaination helps you get where im coming from.

 

I know that as you progress in your playing, once you get to a certain point, you will see clearly what im telling you. A way that can help you in this aspect is to play a song with the backtrack with vocals, then play it without them. Eventually you will learn to either like or dislike the piece fully..without depending on word content to make the determination for you.

But then you might just be a person that relies totally on word content to enjoy a song or not , and thats great. But it will limit you as a player, depending on how far you intend to go with your playing.

 

I know the words to one song--Happy birthday. The music itself touches my soul or not and even though I'm not a musician, I know what you mean.

I DO however, remember listening to the Moody Blues and hearing all the words back in the day. Ominous. Elegy. Solid beat. Mysterious. These words encompass how I feel about music. I seem to have no use for light weight stuff.

 

Even if the message of the song is so profoundly backwards people won't even talk to you for listening to it? You'd still like it if it was good enough musically?

 

Are you talking about while playing or while listening?


If while listening, I got to side with NeonSpectraltoast, you can pull the experience card on me as well with 40 years or whatever but I play pretty good and have played with some bands.

I think lyrics can be pretty crucial, for instance I don't think Hendrix transforms Dylan's All Along the Watchtower into what he did with substantially different lyrics. Phrasing and certain vocal techniques can do a lot as well, even really make a lot of songs but the unification of it all makes some songs really standout.

An example that comes to mind, since we were just talking about them in the other thread is Radiohead's Paranoid Android:

There is like a refrain part where Yorke the vocalist sings "Rain down on me" where he shifts his pitch lower on the word "down" and then the following words he juxtaposes with "From a great height" and on "height" he shifts his pitch up. I think the words really define the pitch emphasis on this example.

While playing, I don't usually pay much attention to the lyrics except for perhaps a word or phrase which may signify a change.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3uUm5L_cBA

 

"Even if the message of the song is so profoundly backwards people won't even talk to you for listening to it? You'd still like it if it was good enough musically?"
Absolutely. By good enough, Im not talking technicality alone..I mean across the board. As a player, not a listener.But then,many times I listen to some as if I were playing and just dont really listen to the words..it just depends.

 

"you can pull the experience card on me as well with 40 years or whatever but I play pretty good and have played with some bands."

Ok...And your point?
I made it pretty clear ,that I was talking about as a player.I also explained how it was for me as a listener.
Im not really sure why you made the comment like that..completely unnecessary and kinda nasty actually..I was answering Neon's question as to how I could say what I said.I also offered a suggestion of how he could appreciate music fully as a player without having to put such emphasis on the words, and to help him understand what its like for me.
Your own last statement verifies pretty much what I was saying all along.Apparently, you do the same thing..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOskk0xlUG0

 

"When I play a song, it isnt about the words at all in what they are saying..but how they are phrased, the melody of them and if the singer is in pitch "

Not really sure what else I could have said to make it any clearer.