# Do you listen to albums in a language you don't understand? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633 "2023-10-16T03:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/1 "2023-10-16T03:08:09Z")
I’m listening to one of my favourites, “Ruith Na Gaoith” by Arthur Cormack: all in Scots Gaelic. I don’t understand a word, but it’s lovely. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/2 "2023-10-16T03:21:38Z")
I have a couple of albums by a South African group. It has a bit of English, but is mostly Swahili. A great sound. I also listen to a LOT of Spanish language music and can understand most of the lyrics while paying active attention, but little to none of it while not paying attention. I like the fact I can hear human voices, but there’s no ideas behind the syllables; it’s just the sound of humanity being human. This lets me keep thinking about whatever I’m actively doing while the tunes are running in the background providing company, not distraction. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/3 "2023-10-16T03:23:32Z")
Tons. I have many albums in Korean and Japanese, also some in Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Mandarin and Italian. I don’t speak any of those languages. I also have a lot of French albums but as it happens, I do speak that language. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/4 "2023-10-16T03:25:56Z")
I enjoy listening to mid-century French music, specifically by artists like Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel (yes, I know, he was actually Belgian). I barely understand any of the lyrics, but I enjoy the style of music, and their voices, all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/5 "2023-10-16T03:28:23Z")
We recently did a thread on songs in languages you don’t understand that has a lot of album mentions. > [@What's your favorite song in a language you don't understand?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/974363): > > I have found that I can enjoy some songs without understanding the lyrics; the sounds of the words can be enough to convey meaning or mood. Or they’re just fun. So, what’s your favorite song in a language you don’t know? I’ll start, although it’s a bit of cheat. Plastic Bertrand’s Ca Plane Pour Moi is mostly nonsense lyrics, but it’s French nonsense. [[Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi (1977) • TopPop] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln31raI2ezY) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/6 "2023-10-16T03:35:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I also listen to a LOT of Spanish language music and can understand most of the lyrics while paying active attention, but little to none of it while not paying attention. Me too. Well, maybe not a LOT but Spanish language music is in my mix. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/7 "2023-10-16T04:08:59Z")
Oh yeah… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fUd1VujOunI/hqdefault.jpg "Los Straitjackets \ Rock En Español Vol 1, 2007 [Álbum Completo]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUd1VujOunI) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/8 "2023-10-16T04:20:54Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n8vFZNXV4i8/maxresdefault.jpg "Chingon - Malagueña Salerosa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8vFZNXV4i8&t=60/) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/9 "2023-10-16T04:22:06Z")
Can’t edit last post… Jump to @1:00 in the video above for the music. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/10 "2023-10-16T05:24:30Z")
Many! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/11 "2023-10-16T05:34:14Z")
It’s 2023, so I don’t really listen to full albums anymore. But I do listen to music from other countries in languages I don’t understand. I’m a fan of Rammstein and a few of their songs are in my walking music rotation. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/12 "2023-10-16T05:36:22Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m a fan of Rammstein and a few of their songs are in my walking music rotation. Rammstein and walking? I am afraid to ask what your relaxation music is like. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/13 "2023-10-16T06:27:24Z")
A friend made a tape of a Francophone African pop compendium he had on record. It was great, and I took the opportunity of the rapidly growing interest in world music to access more African music for a while, some French and Arabic but a lot in national and ethnic languages. I had and still have no idea what they were banging on about. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/14 "2023-10-16T10:30:10Z")
Not really, no. For vocal music, the words are part of the experience, and if I can’t understand them at all, the experience isn’t as satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/15 "2023-10-16T11:02:16Z")
Lots. [The Hu](https://youtu.be/jM8dCGIm6yc?t=32) have been a favorite for a couple of years now. Also [Kila](https://youtu.be/oTx38LEexbE?t=36), [Ningen Isu](https://youtu.be/CbI79e5iZKs) and [Abathandwa](https://youtu.be/mm2esGFtuCc). Honestly I could go on but I’ll stop there. I grew up on everything from Edith Piaf to Italian opera so was always well accustomed to not understanding the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/16 "2023-10-16T11:49:00Z")
I can’t even understand the words in many of the English language songs I like, so for me it’s not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/17 "2023-10-16T11:52:49Z")
Music has always been more important to me than lyrics, so yes. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/18 "2023-10-16T11:53:49Z")
Seriously, yes! 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/19 "2023-10-16T12:29:29Z")
Every opera lover must. I hate opera but then i used to be married to an opera fan. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633/20 "2023-10-16T12:44:12Z")
I like a lot of Russian post-industrial music such as [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JRS4z44UVBM&pp=ygUXbm9pc2VzIG9mIHJ1c3NpYSBzcGlyaXQ%3D). For many years I did a college radio show and I would always hope the lyrics of what I was playing were not objectionable or ugly. The sound of the voices and the unknown meaning was just part of the chaotic mystery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-listen-to-albums-in-a-language-you-dont-understand/991633.md?page=2)