# Can you remember lyrics of songs in foreign languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252 "2021-12-18T01:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/21 "2021-12-19T12:26:26Z")
Of course - Nana Mouskouri also sang in Latin - one of her selections being the best version (IMHO) of “[Ave Maria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFcn9BpArRI)” I have heard. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/22 "2021-12-19T14:35:40Z")
It is easier to do in a Romance language than it is in Korean. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/23 "2021-12-19T17:39:38Z")
Frère Jacques Frère Jacques Dormez vous? Dormez vous? Sonnez les matines Sonnez les matines Ding ding dong Ding ding dong ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/24 "2021-12-19T18:07:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > (The other is a Christmas song, “Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle.”) I used to deliberately mangle the English version of that in an attempt to make other carolers laugh. “Fling a torch, Jeanette, Isabella. Fling a torch in the stable… Run!” I was bad. 🙂 I recall the majority of the lyrics of several French and Latin songs I used to sing in the Society for Creative Anachronism. ---
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/25 "2021-12-20T15:47:17Z")
I didn’t really expect this to turn into a listing of specific foreign songs people know, but I guess that it shows that I apparently do have something affecting my memory, since pretty much everyone else here remembers lyrics without issues. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/26 "2021-12-20T16:28:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yes; I can and do remember the sounds I need to make to replicate the music I am hearing. I often don’t know what I’m singing. Same here. Just yesterday I was singing along to **Neunundneunzig Luftballons** (99 Red Balloons). I hadn’t even realized that having heard it so many times in my teenage years, the sounds of the words are kind of permanently imprinted in my brain. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/27 "2021-12-21T16:21:07Z")
A Elbereth Gilthoniel Silivren penna miriel O menel aglar elenath Na chaired palandiriel Fanuilos le linnathon Nef aiar, si nef airon. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/28 "2021-12-22T03:42:35Z")
I know a few tiny snippets of songs in Portuguese. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/29 "2021-12-22T04:00:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yes; I can and do remember the sounds I need to make to replicate the music I am hearing. I often don’t know what I’m singing. I’m with Bo. I don’t know the words (unless I look them up) but there are several songs that have been in my “all my music” playlists enough that I can sing along. “Onyonghasayo” - Skankin Pickle (Korean) “Chica Mi Tipo” & “Caress Me Down” - Sublime (Spanish & partly in Spanish) “Song For The Dumped (Japanese Version)” - Ben Folds Five (Japanese) “Pathetique” - Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire (some words in German) “Sie Lieb Dich (She Loves You)” - Beatles (German) In 2002 we all learned to sing along to backwards English, too, thanks to Missy Elliot 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252/30 "2021-12-22T08:25:44Z")
When I took a French class in high school, we learned La Marseillaise. But I sure didn’t remember it for very long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-remember-lyrics-of-songs-in-foreign-languages/956252.md?page=1)