English only

N

NewAlkyogre

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as minor language you always have to adjust to the other person, the other way around it must be handy to keep talking English at all time

Luckily in music the library is much bigger, English + your own native language + all English music produced here that did not make the US charts at all

Is US music limited by their own power: having worldwide language nr 1?
 
NewAlkyogre said:
as minor language you always have to adjust to the other person, the other way around it must be handy to keep talking English at all time

Luckily in music the library is much bigger, English + your own native language + all English music produced here that did not make the US charts at all

Is US music limited by their own power: having worldwide language nr 1?
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Not sure I understand. We don’t think of music as English or something else.
 
I appreciate and love to hear music in whatever native language it was originally written in, phrasing and lyrics envisioned together, and originally meant to be performed in.
 
Mike said:
Not sure I understand. We don’t think of music as English or something else.
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I think he's reacting to the recent news regarding making the official language of the US English. I think it's a bit of TDS.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
I think he's reacting to the recent news regarding making the official language of the US English. I think it's a bit of TDS.
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Sorry, I didn’t know. It is not my intention to start topics on audioshark that are political. Please keep this far away from that.

what I do wondering: when listening to music I also listen to the text. Take for instance small art. The melody and musicality is really minor: the text however tell a nice storage, have a message, or are simply funny. All those messages inside a song you miss when it is not your language.
 
I agree, but in my case the opposite is quite often the case: sometimes it is the music itself and not necessarily the lyrics that I enjoy the most. For example: I listen to quite a bit of Spanish language music that I don't understand 95% of the lyrics for, yet I enjoy it tremendously.

Same goes for my head-banging days in the 70's and 80's. I am guilty of having had the wrong words in my mind for some of my favorite tunes for years or even decades, and I get a good chuckle when I eventually find out what the actual lyrics are.

Bottom line: The spirit of a piece of music often transcends its words (or need for words), at least for me. Maybe that's why a lot of what I listen to now is jazz and classical - no words necessary to convey the spirit of the music in a lot of cases.

I guess the moral of the story is that each of us may have different parts of the total musical picture that speak to us (pun intended).
NewAlkyogre said:
Sorry, I didn’t know. It is not my intention to start topics on audioshark that are political. Please keep this far away from that.

what I do wondering: when listening to music I also listen to the text. Take for instance small art. The melody and musicality is really minor: the text however tell a nice storage, have a message, or are simply funny. All those messages inside a song you miss when it is not your language.
Click to expand...
 
NewAlkyogre said:
Sorry, I didn’t know. It is not my intention to start topics on audioshark that are political. Please keep this far away from that.

what I do wondering: when listening to music I also listen to the text. Take for instance small art. The melody and musicality is really minor: the text however tell a nice storage, have a message, or are simply funny. All those messages inside a song you miss when it is not your language.
Click to expand...
I agree you can loose some in translation. However the beauty of the music I believe is still captured.
 
JCS123 said:
I agree, but in my case the opposite is quite often the case: sometimes it is the music itself and not necessarily the lyrics that I enjoy the most. For example: I listen to quite a bit of Spanish language music that I don't understand 95% of the lyrics for, yet I enjoy it tremendously.

Same goes for my head-banging days in the 70's and 80's. I am guilty of having had the wrong words in my mind for some of my favorite tunes for years or even decades, and I get a good chuckle when I eventually find out what the actual lyrics are.

Bottom line: The spirit of a piece of music often transcends its words (or need for words), at least for me. Maybe that's why a lot of what I listen to now is jazz and classical - no words necessary to convey the spirit of the music in a lot of cases.

I guess the moral of the story is that each of us may have different parts of the total musical picture that speak to us (pun intended).
Click to expand...
Agree with this. The final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a case in point. The chorale, Schiller's "Ode to Joy" sung in German is beautiful; however, the text translated to English is somewhat stilted in modern terms. I much prefer the sound of the original German even though I don't understand the words. Another example: Puccini's La Boheme. Can't even imagine listening to this in English.
 
Agree with Mike's sentiment. Just this past Thursday (3/13/25) my wife and I attended a wonderful performance from Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini. Most of the music was derived from their album GUINGA, a tribute to the music of the famous Brazilian musician and composer. Nearly all the lyrics were in Portuguese and regional dialects. The fact that I did not understand a word that was said did not diminish the emotion, verve and joy I experienced (nor of the audience based on their reaction).

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I too enjoy hearing songs in other languages though its unlikely that I will understand them, Here is an example of a great duet that I enjoyed more before I understood the lyrics. r

I have been a fan of Lara Fabian since 2000 when she released her first album in English. I could never understand why she was never a more popular act over here. An amazing voice in mutiple languages.
 
I am another that appreciates hearing music in the native language of the singer. French, Irish, Gaelic, Latin chanting,, etc..

Another truth is that the USA offers a huge market to music creators. Many people here don’t appreciate songs they cannot understand. Also, many foreign musicians are inspired by our local talent, and imitate them. (Vise versa is true, as well)
 
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