# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/61 "2005-04-09T21:25:56Z")
Also, most of the songs on Paul Simon’s _Graceland_ and _Rhythm of the Saints_. And if “Weembowe” means anything, The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/62 "2005-04-09T21:34:35Z")
Hmmm… none of these are American, however, gained some (though a couple are minor) popularity in the US: Pet Shop Boys - Se A Vida E (That’s the Way Life Is) (Spanish?) Air - Sexy Boy (French) Stereolab - Cybele’s Reverie (French) Blur - To The End (French) ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/63 "2005-04-09T21:39:02Z")
“Una Soda” by the Refreshments has a few lines in Spanish. I think my favorite is “Donde el baño, señor?” ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/64 "2005-04-10T09:23:19Z")
OK, if we’re allowing songs by non-Americans that made it to the American pop charts, then there’s Kyu Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki,” an early 60s hit sung entirely in Japanese. Or, if we just want to keep it to homegrown bands, then the Electric Prunes whole “Mass in F Minor” concept album, also in the 60s, was sung in **Latin**. And though it didn’t turn the Prunes (best known for the delightful “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night”) into a major pop culture force, the cut “Kyrie Eleison” did make it onto the “Easy Rider” soundtrack. There’s also a chance that Oliver (born in North Carolina) was singing some sort of pig-Klingon in the middle of “Good Morning, Starshine” > [@](#): > > gliddy glub gloopy nibby nabby noopy > la la la - lo lo > sabba sibbi sabba nooby aba naba > lee lee - lo lo > tooby ooby wala > nooby aba naba > early morning singing song Which is perfectly clear, except for that bizarre last line. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/65 "2005-04-10T15:46:42Z")
> [@look!ninjas](#): > > “Una Soda” by the Refreshments has a few lines in Spanish. I think my favorite is “Donde el baño, señor?” According to Creedence Clearwater Revival, there’s a bathroom on the right! ‘Guantanemero’ was released here by Carmen Miranda, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/66 "2005-04-10T18:03:15Z")
I don’t know about Carmen Miranda, but Guantanamera was a top ten hit for the easy-listening group [The Sandpipers](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:yeabqj2bojta~T1) in 1966. I believe Pete Seeger also performed it often. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/67 "2005-04-10T20:32:57Z")
Although I hesitate to post this, Loverboy is, in fact, Canadian. Sigh. And posting of Canadian singers that we’ve _shared_ with the world (hey, why suffer alone?), Celine Dion has recorded a lot in French I understand (not that I’ve ever listened). Has any of that made the airwaves in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/68 "2005-04-10T23:09:04Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > And posting of Canadian singers that we’ve _shared_ with the world (hey, why suffer alone?), Celine Dion has recorded a lot in French I understand (not that I’ve ever listened). Has any of that made the airwaves in the US? Thanks to the intervention of an international coalition of troops, no. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/69 "2005-04-11T00:26:26Z")
_My Cherie Amour_ by Stevie Wonder _Der Kommissar_ by Falco (although he’s not American) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/70 "2005-04-11T00:34:50Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > _Der Kommissar_ by Falco (although he’s not American) Did Falco’s _Der Kommissar_ even get any airplay in the US. I know the one I heard the most was from After the Fire. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/71 "2005-04-11T00:51:11Z")
“Smooth” by Santana (with Rob Thomas) has a line in Spanish, “My munequita,” though I have no idea what the word means. (My little mannequin?) There’s the song Doris Day sang on one of those Alfred Hitchcock thrillers “Que Sera, sera/Whatever will be will be.” ---
**Author:** ![Foible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Foible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foible)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/72 "2005-04-11T01:20:43Z")
There’s the David Bowie song\*\* All the Madmen\*\* with the lyrics “Zane, Zane, Zane, ouvre le chien.” I finally got to add something new to a music trivia thread! Not that you’d often hear them on the radio but many of Isreal Kamamawiwo’ol’s songs have lyrics in Hawaiian, although maybe that doesn’t count as a foreign language. ---
**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 11, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/73 "2005-04-11T02:39:20Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Did Falco’s _Der Kommissar_ even get any airplay in the US. I know the one I heard the most was from After the Fire. Yeah, “Der Kommissar” did get US airplay. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/74 "2005-04-11T02:52:27Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Yeah, “Der Kommissar” did get US airplay. I know, but I’m asking if the FALCO version got airplay. I had never even heard the Falco version before 2002, when I saw the video for it during an 80s night at my local bar. ---
**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 11, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/75 "2005-04-11T03:06:02Z")
My mistake. The only one I’m familiar with is the After the Fire version, myself. I’m still bummed about Falco’s death. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/76 "2005-04-11T03:20:16Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > My mistake. The only one I’m familiar with is the After the Fire version, myself. I’m still bummed about Falco’s death. Heh. No problem. Actually, the only Falco piece I can remember getting much American airplay was “Rock Me, Amadeus!” ---
**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 11, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/77 "2005-04-11T03:48:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > There’s the song Doris Day sang on one of those Alfred Hitchcock thrillers “Que Sera, sera/Whatever will be will be.” _The Man Who Knew Too Much_. Because I just listened to it, I’ll mention Dr John’s “I Walk on Gilded Splinters”: Je suis un grand zombie … Ti’ Alberta … Put gris-gris on your doorstep ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/78 "2005-04-11T14:01:14Z")
Since the definition of “American” is pretty loose here, I’ll offer the **Beatles’ “Across the Universe”** , whose refrain is … _Jai, Guru-Deva. Aum … Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world_ The first line is Sanskrit, and it (more or less) means “Hail to thee, my learned teacher,” and I assume it has something to do with John Lennon’s dabbling in “eastern” thought/Maharishi Mahesh Yoga-type stuff, which he later rejected in interviews and in song (“Sexy Sadie, what have you done? You made fool of everyone …”). Most covers I’ve heard of this song leave it out. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/79 "2005-04-11T14:04:11Z")
> [@Chimpy](#): > > They’re british, but **The Clash** … and _Spanish Bombs_\* has a lot of spanish. \*Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito Yo te quiero, oh mi corazon \* “I love you infinitely I love you, oh, my heart.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333/80 "2005-04-11T14:08:19Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Did Falco’s _Der Kommissar_ even get any airplay in the US. I know the one I heard the most was from After the Fire. I don’t know about radio airplay, but it was an early staple on MTV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-songs-with-foreign-lines/298333.md?page=5)