Kid_A wrote:
They don’t count. **The Arcade Fire ** are Canadian (Montreal) and I believe they are native French speakers.
I’m pretty sure that **Rufus Wainwright ** is also French-Canadian so he’s out.
Just because you hear a song on American radio doesn’t mean it’s an American song.
The Blake Babies’ cover of “Temptation Eyes” has a few lines of French sprinkled in it. I had no idea they were French until I looked the lyrics up online; I thought Juliana Hatfield was saying, “There’s more, baby!”
And although the recorded version of Ben Folds Five’s “Song For The Dumped” contains no foreign phrases, in the music video, he sings part of it in Japanese.
oh-- almost forgot-- how about “Danke Schoen” by Wayne Newton?
Electric Light Orchestra, “Hold on tight (to your dreams)”
It contains one verse in (I think) French:
Accroches-toi a ton reve
Accroches-toi a ton reve
Quand tu vois ton bateau partir
Quand tu sents ton coeur se briser
Accroches-toi a ton reve.
And although I don’t speak any French, it looks like to me it’s more or less the same as the normal chorus:
Hmm…hold on tight to your dream
Yeah…hold on tight to your dream
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold on tight…ooh…to your dream
But in French.
Side note: For some reason I can’t listen to this song without wanting to crank it up. It’s just one of those songs that kinda cooks.
Randy Newman has a song – I believe it is called Chicago – in which he quotes from Volare, does that actually count. he uses the words, but not the tune.
"There in the courtyard
here in Chicago
Down by the river,
Where no one goes.
We can be married
There in the courtyard
By this old Spanish Priest
That no one knows
and he’ll say:
Nel Blu di pinto, di pinto di blue
Felice di starre, di starre lassu"
etc. . .
In fact does Volare count or does it have an extra-english origin?
I’ve always enjoyed Blondie’s song Rapture – it was fun, ahead of its time and had a pretty cool riff in it. Plus sneaking the word F***ing onto the raido for 5 seconds gets it some cool points too.
Speaking of bad French Rap, Betty’s Carnival Album contains a cut called Millineum Man in which all the rap is in French. Go figure. Not great, but a killer bass line and a catchy tune.
Well, it’s not technically American, but how about “Games Without Frontiers” from Peter Gabriel, which contains the line:
Jeux sans frontieres
Blondie does a better job of using French in “Denis”:
Denis Denis, avec tes yeux si bleux
Denis Denis, moi j’ai flashe a nous deux
Denis Denis, un grand baiser d’eternite
Denis Denis, je suis si folle de toi
Denis Denis, oh embrasse-moi ce soir
Denis Denis, un grand baiser d’eternite
Well, you actually weren’t (check out post #5 by Lisa-go-Blind 
Third World Man by Steely Dan includes the lines (Italian in italics):
When he’s crying out
I just sing that Ghana Rondo
E l’era del terzo mondo
He’s a third world man
His father’s American and he was born in the US, so he’s probably a US citizen, though he grew up in Montreal.
There’s also Martin Mull’s Ah, France, with bits of French sprinkled in the lyrics.
Caress Me Down by Sublime
No, I do not know the lyrics, but I’m sure they’re dirty.
Hmm.
Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” has “Bismillah!”, which is Arabic for “in the name of God” (methinks). And, I guess, “mama mia,” Italian for “my mother.”
French: There’s “Cherchez La Femme” by Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, a wacky 70s hit. Innumerable country tunes referring to Louisiana.
Spanish: War, “Spill the Wine.” The Clash, “Spanish Bombs,” “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” Numerous Los Lobos tunes. A few songs by the Pixies are in Spanish: “Isla de Encanta” and “O My Golly!” for starters. The Texas Tornadoes’ cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Ramona” has a whole verse in Spanish. Freddy Fender has had a few bilingual hits, come to think of it.
Native American: Jazzman Jim Pepper’s beautiful “Witchi Tai Yo” is mostly in (I think) Creek. Someone might be able to identify whether the Cherokee in Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie” is real Cherokee or fake Cherokee. I don’t think it’s impossible a Western swing band playing in the 20s and 30s couldn’t have picked up a bit of Cherokee in Oklahoma.
Africa: several South African languages crop up on Paul Simon’s Graceland, and there’s Portuguese on Rhythm of the Saints. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” has at least one word from the original Zulu song (wimoweh).
Hawai’ian: Poi Dog Pondering, “U Li La Lu.” John Prine, “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian.”
The Beatles and Peter Gabriel (and probably others) re-recorded songs in German.
The “foreign” verse of “Sun King” is a gibberish mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and English words. (It took me a while to get “que can eat it.”)
If 75 year old Stephen Sondheim sees this post, you’ll be guilty of causing his death.
Canadian Leonard Cohan’s “The Partisan” has a French verse.
Mr. Roboto
The bridge to “Veracruz” by Warren Zevon:
Aquel dia yo jure
Hacia el puerto volvere
Aunque el destino cambio mi vida
En Veracruz morire
Aquel dia yo jure
(On that day I swore
To the port I will return
Even though destiny changed my life
In Veracruz I shall die
On that day I swore)
There’s a song by James Taylor on That’s Why I’m Here that has a verse in Portuguese:
“Only a Dream in Rio”:
quando a nossa mae acordar
anraremioz au soi
quando a nossa mae acordar
cantara pelos sertao
quando a nossa mae acordar
todos os fillos saberao
todos os fillos saberao
e regozijarao
Such a beautiful song…wish I knew what this verse was saying!!
I speak Portuguese and I can’t figure it out.
“anraremioz au soi” and “regozijarao” are not Portuguese.
Luckily I googled, and the correct lyrics are:
quando a nossa mãe acordar
andaremos ao sol
quando a nossa mãe acordar
cantará pelo sertão
quando a nossa mãe acordar
todos os filhos saberão
todos os filhos saberão
e se alegrarão
Which translates as:
when our mother wakes up
we’ll walk in the sun
when our mother wakes up
she’ll sing for the wilderness
when our mother wakes up
all the children will know
all the children will know
and be happy.
sertão is pretty hard to translate. It originally meant the Brazilian hinterland, so basically anything beyond the settlements along the coasts and rivers of Brazil. I guess the closest thing in English would be frontier or wilderness.
In “Saturday in the Park” by Chicago there is a line in pseudo-Italian.
… A man selling ice cream
singing Italian songs
[unclear improvised Italian]
Can you dig it?
Yes, I can! …
HelloKitty’s post reminded me of the Spanish coda in Crosby Stills & Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”
Yes, but the OP wrote:
So it’s pretty clear that he’s not too concerned with what constitutes an American band or not, as long as the song was released in America.