Archive for April 2, 2009
The language barrier
I was listening to iDanceRadio.fm last night. One of the songs we have in rotation is called Some People, and it comes from Ocean Drive feat. DJ Oriska. I like the song, and I always enjoy hearing it when it pops-on.
But the song stands out a bit, because it has a lead male vocal sung in English, and a secondary lead of a female vocalist sung in French. This makes sense; Ocean Drive is producer Nicolas Carel, a Frenchman. DJ Oriska, one of those rare female DJs, is ostensibly the female vocalist, and she too calls Paris home.
But it got me wondering: Why are there not more songs sung in languages other than English that get played here?
I’ve wondered this for a long time, actually. When you look at pop or dance music charts from other countries, the majority of the tracks are artists I recognize, with songs performed in English, intermixed with some local artists singing in the respective country’s native language.
Are Americans that narrow-minded, or do we just like singing along? I think we’re missing out on a lot of good music.
There are historic exceptions. I recall Nena, back in the day, with her 99 Luftballons, which after the track gained traction here was re-recorded in a poorly translated English version, 99 Red Balloons that caused a great war commentary song to lose all its original meaning. But normally about as close as we get to foreign language here is Feliz Navidad each holiday season (a song which is mostly in English anyway).
Another track playing on iDanceRadio.fm is David Tavare feat. 2Eivissa, and the track, Hot Summer Night (Oh La La La). Like Feliz Navidad and Some People is mostly sung in English, and like Navidad is accented (so to speak) with some great Spanish language lyrics. That song has some great energy and nice “interest,” and part of it is the use of the languages.
Another artist that comes to mind is the sister act Paola & Chiara, an Italian duo unknown in the U.S. I actually spin their big hit, Vamos a Bailar, periodically. Bailar is yet another example of language twists; the original has an Italian verse and a Spanish chorus. I have the Spanish version (all Spanish) and an English version which, like the Italian original, retains its Spanish language chorus.
I’d like to hear more of this stuff here if artists or labels would be bold enough to try promoting it here, and audiences would be bold enough to listen. As I blogged just the other week, it’s about the music… And if a song has great energy, a great beat, and makes you wanna dance, does it really matter if it’s in English, French, Spanish, or Italian? I just don’t think it does.
