# American songs with foreign lines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333 "2005-04-08T03:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/1 "2005-04-08T03:25:28Z")
I’m trying to compile a list of songs that include at least one phrase from another language. So far, Ive come up with: - “Notorious” by Loverboy (“Senorita, solitaire…you’ve got a certain kind of savoire faire”) - “Walk Like a Man” by Rick Springfield (“I’m dreaming about la raison d’etre”) - “Don’t Talk to Strangers” by Rick Springfield (“fais l’amour avec moi,” “viens dormir, mon amour,” “je t’aime donne moi ton coeur ce soir”) I’ll also allow _La Bamba_ and _99 Luftballons_, as each was released on American radio, despite being ONLY in Spanish and German, respectively (and yes, I am aware that there was a translated version of \*99 Luftballons. I treat it like _Highlander_ fans treat _Highlander 2_). What others am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/2 "2005-04-08T03:28:42Z")
Lady Marmalade - “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi c’est soir?” I think I spelled that right. Oh L’Amour by Erasure, although the French is more like two half lines spread over two lines. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/3 "2005-04-08T03:29:09Z")
Don’t know the artist or actual title, but there’s a song with a repeated line that goes _Soy un perdedor, I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me…_ ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/4 "2005-04-08T03:30:58Z")
That would be “Loser” by Beck. I’d forgotten about that. Good call. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/5 "2005-04-08T03:32:23Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Don’t know the artist or actual title, but there’s a song with a repeated line that goes _Soy un perdedor, I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me…_ Beck - “Loser” The bridge to the Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer” is in French: Ce que j’ai fais, ce soir la Ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir la Realisant mon espoir Je me lance, vers la gloire Also, the chorus contains the line “Qu’est-ce que c’est.” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/6 "2005-04-08T04:11:13Z")
“Michelle” (French) and “The Sun King” (Italian or Spanish) by the Beatles “Te o Toriatte” (Japanese) by Queen “Mr. Roboto” (Japanese) by Styx “I like Chinese” (Chinese) by Monty Python “The Hula Hula Boys” (Hawaiian, though may be fake) by Warren Zevon And then there’s something like 95% of non-English rock songs that contain at least a few words of English. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/7 "2005-04-08T04:17:28Z")
The Arcade Fire. A couple of there songs contain French lyrics. Haiti and Une Annee Sans Lumiere. Both of these songs contain more than just a phrase in French though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/8 "2005-04-08T04:17:36Z")
“J’aurai toujours faim de toi (Hungry for You)” by The Police Goldfinger’s remake of “99 Red Balloons” switches between English and German Many of Falco’s songs (“Rock Me, Amadeus”, “Jenny”) use both English and German “Not Now, John” by Pink Floyd has “Excuse me, where’s the bar” in Spanish, Italian and French. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/9 "2005-04-08T04:20:26Z")
And I just now saw that the OP was looking for _American_ songs, which rules out everything I’ve posted except Warren Zevon. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Crimmsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Crimmsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crimmsy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/10 "2005-04-08T04:34:45Z")
“Champs Elysées” by NOFX has completely French lyrics. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/11 "2005-04-08T04:42:59Z")
“Talk About The Passion” by R.E.M. contains the line, “Combien du temps?” ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/12 "2005-04-08T04:44:40Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Lady Marmalade - “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi c’est soir?” > > I think I spelled that right. So close. _Voulez-vous coucher avec moi **ce** soir_ “Your Redneck Past” by Ben Folds Five contains the lines: _Désolé, je suis américain_ … _Désolé, je ne parle pas français_ “Complainte de la butte” by Rufus Wainwright is in French and English ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/13 "2005-04-08T04:47:58Z")
Stolen from the [Stupid Rock & Roll Lyrics](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251856&page=3&pp=50&highlight=parlez+vous+billy+joel) thread: > [@Superdude](#): > > Speaking of Billy Joel, by the way, how about his song Don’t Ask Me Why? > > Yesterday, you were an only child > Now your ghosts have gone away > You can kill them in the classic style > Now you **parlez vous Francais**. I am a little confused by the “American” requirement here. If you’re going strictly American artists, then you’d have to eliminate “99 Luftballoons” by Nena, a German, proposed by the OP. Of course, if you include _anything_ released in America, you could also include everything by Rammstein. And _The Macarena_. And _Lambada_. **Sublight** , Styx is also American, so you’re OK there. I wanted to add The Police too, but as you’ve conceded, they’re Brits. Nonetheless, I’ll mention “Ritual” by Yes, for the repeated line and subtitle _Nous sommes du Soleil_. They’re Brits, too, but they’re based in California now, so maybe we have a loophole. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/14 "2005-04-08T04:54:12Z")
Here are the complete lyrics for [“Complainte de la butte”](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/moulinrouge/lacomplaintedelabutte.htm) [“Retour à Vega”](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/wickerpark/retouravega.htm) by the Stills is completely in French (By the way, the lyrics for both of those songs lack the proper accents on certain letters.) “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies contains the line: _We’re dans la maison_ ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/15 "2005-04-08T04:57:09Z")
Billy Joel had a song called “You are the One” which had a really horribly pretentious verse in French. But the best all-time crap use of French in an American song has to be “Rapture” by Blondie. Not only did she try to rap (in 1980, when barely anybody anybody had ever _heard_ of rap,) she tried to rap in _French_. > [@](#): > > Fab Five Freddy told me everybody’s fly > DJ spinning I said “My My” > Flash is fast flash is cool > Francois c’est pas flashe non due If you’ve never heard this song… well, you’re pretty lucky. But you should still check it out, just for the cringe factor. ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/16 "2005-04-08T04:59:10Z")
“Eyes Without a Face” by Billy Idol has a line of French…but was he British? I forget! ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/17 "2005-04-08T05:14:12Z")
“The Legionnaire’s Lament” by the Decemberists: _Lacking my joie de vivre_ “Darts of Pleasure” by Franz Ferdinand: _Ich heiße Superfantastisch Ich trinke Schampus mit Lachsfisch_ [“Rebel Prince”](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Rebel-Prince-lyrics-Rufus-Wainwright/B29B73491E48461348256B4C0029F965) by Rufus Wainwright ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/18 "2005-04-08T05:23:01Z")
> [@saramamalana](#): > > “Eyes Without a Face” by Billy Idol has a line of French…but was he British? I forget! He sings _Les Yeux sans visage_, which is the French translation of “eyes without a face” (it’s also the name of a French new wave film). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/19 "2005-04-08T05:27:31Z")
Bobby Vinton’s “Melody of Love” contains several lines in Polish. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/20 "2005-04-08T06:19:04Z")
Amazed to find I’m the first to suggest _Psycho Killer_ by **Talking Heads** : Ce que j’ai fait, ce soir la Ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir la Realisant, mon espoir Je me lance vers la gloire (That which I did that evening, that which she said that evening realizing my hopes I rush out after the glory) There’s also La Bamba of course, Ritchie Valens. [Here](http://www.songfacts.com/additionalSearches.lasso?misc=More%20songs%20with%20foreign%20words%20in%20the%20lyrics) 's a link to more songs with non-English lyrics, not all are US though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333.md?page=2)