# First foreign language song you ever fell in love with **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540 "2013-07-15T07:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/1 "2013-07-15T07:05:30Z")
As in a language other than your own - for me it was Dschinghis Khan - Moskau [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvS351QKFV4) (of course my version of the lyrics included “see the Russian teddy bear dancing in his underwear”. \*I was CONVINCED that they were the correct lyrics too 😃 ) Share yours - c’mon I was only four or five at the time ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/2 "2013-07-15T07:20:10Z")
Not sure it counts, but I went to immersion in French for three months, in kindergarten. First month we learned Frere Jacques. Second month we learned Alouette. Thirs month we started learning Chevaliers de la Table Ronde, but I never really learned it (that third “month” only lasted two weeks, and then we moved - and I’m very happy we did, because that teacher was a complete bitch). All I could sing was “chevaliers de la table ronde, la la la lalala la la”. I had it as an on and off earworm for _decades_; finally, a couple of months back, I looked up the lyrics and found out it was a drinking song :eek: Somehow I suspect Sister Bitch didn’t use the same lyrics I found. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/3 "2013-07-15T07:31:02Z")
The first songs I loved in a different language were Bjork’s Icelandic songs, especially The Anchor Song. But my all time favorite song in a different language is Maria Maria by Mercedes Sosa. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/4 "2013-07-15T08:41:55Z")
“Mavi, Mavi” by Ibrahim Tatlises. [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvJdjy6-U3I) I was about 35, and I had a Persian gf at the time. She played it, and I was hooked on this guy. At least, the “Mavi, Mavi” album. The whole thing kicks butt. I started to check out other Arabesque kinds of music, and nobody else was up to this standard. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/5 "2013-07-15T09:05:20Z")
French class: “Sur le Pont d’Avignon.” 52 years later, I was on that bridge. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/6 "2013-07-15T09:08:49Z")
Ok will take the first foreign song you learned to sing too. For me that was Adeste Fideles - just coz and the second was Shine Jesus shine in Auslan (sign language) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/7 "2013-07-15T10:04:45Z")
First song I learned in a language I didn’t speak was Bat, Bi, Iru, Lau (1, 2, 3, 4… its official name is probably something else), in Basque. I had no idea what it meant, though: I believe my parents had some Words with the friends from whom I’d learned it (its political message of “we want schools in Basque” was dangerous to say the least, under Franco). First song I learned in Catalan was Baixant de la Font del Gat (a not-so-innocent child’s song about a girl who’s coming down from the Cat’s Fountain when she meets a soldier), first in French Frere Jacques. I don’t know what was my first song in Latin (most likely, either Adeste Fideles or Salve Regina) or in English, but the only song in English I’ve actually been taught in class was We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Oh, and if I may shill: while I noticed French rap was very different from current American trends quite a while back, it was last year when I totally fell in love with Sexion D’Assaut, specifically because of their song Problèmes d’Adult (about children who have the kind of problems you’d expect an adult to have, such as being the man of the house). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/8 "2013-07-15T10:57:49Z")
The first foreign language song I can remember was taught to me by some missionary or another who was visiting my Grandparents - I _think_ it is an equivalent to a sunday school song and I think it is about the apostles or books of the bible or something. I can’t really remember lyrics, but the refrain included [and it is totally phonetic and from the memory of a 4 year old] ``` Hoei mashu Peter, hoei mashe Paul ``` Of course it might actually be in some dialect of Chinese instead, my Grandmother was roommates with 2 chinese women who went to college with her back in the class of 1919 at Mt Holy oak who remained lifelong friends. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/9 "2013-07-15T10:58:31Z")
The first songs I ever learned in a language I didn’t speak at the time were Frere Jacques and Alouette. My mom used to get me and my siblings to sing them in the car, probably as a way to keep us from fighting/arguing. I can’t say I ever loved those songs. At the time, I thought they were simple ditties all kids sang. Two foreign language songs I fell in love with, although I could speak Japanese at the time, were: Endless Story, sung by Ito Yuna from the movie Nana, and Dearest, sung by Hamasaki Ayumi ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/10 "2013-07-15T11:15:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > French class: “Sur le Pont d’Avignon.”. This song, but from an LP I liked to play when I was five or six. As an adult, probably it would be “Esa Noche” by Cafe Tacuba (Spanish language), circa 1996. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/11 "2013-07-15T12:04:23Z")
There was probably one in the 70s that took my fancy, but I can’t bring it to mind. But here’s one from the 80s that I absolutely loved: [Sadeness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfRAiTtOVEY) by Enigma. A popular hit when I was 12 was [Da Da Da](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM-v3cvX8M4), by Trio. And later there was _Rock Me Amadeus_ by Falco, of course. And [here’s something](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkbhYvZnQyU) to make you… smile? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/12 "2013-07-15T12:20:08Z")
First one in a language I don’t speak (English, Afrikaans) was probably _Marieke_ by Jacques Brel. But that might be cheating, most of it is in Dutch which is perfectly understandable to me, only bits in French. The first _fully_ foreign song would be _La Vie en rose_ And then I discovered Einstürzende Neubauten… ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/13 "2013-07-15T12:35:22Z")
Romance del Enamorado y La Muerte. romance del enamorado y la muerte victor jara romance del enamorado y la muerte victor jara ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/14 "2013-07-15T12:39:16Z")
For #@$%^& sake I can’t get the tune. But it’s easy to look up. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/15 "2013-07-15T13:03:46Z")
Fell in love with? Easy. [“Certamente” by Madreblu.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCMPryaniN0) ---
**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:** [July 15, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/16 "2013-07-15T13:52:27Z")
“Pata Pata” by Miriam Makeba. ---
**Author:** ![AussieDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c5a1d2/32.png) [@AussieDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AussieDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/17 "2013-07-15T17:05:12Z")
This is really dating myself but “Dominique” by the The Singing Nun Must have been the early 60’s ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-foreign-language-song-you-ever-fell-in-love-with/663540/18 "2013-07-15T18:16:59Z")
Santana’s cover of _Oye Como Va_ was the first foreign language song I fell in love with; it’s still a favorite tune.