# Foreign language song that moves you... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974 "2017-02-04T06:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/21 "2017-02-04T23:45:14Z")
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn11JvqWvRc) is an unusual song from a Bollywood film; it’s very Western, uptempo and jazzy. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/22 "2017-02-04T23:56:19Z")
Please don’t hate me – _[Volverás,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qV4tfW6B0)_ by Ricky Martin (yes, he helped compose it). I was so intrigued by its melody, chord progression, etc., that I transcribed it using Forte (delaying my dissertation by a week, but anyway…:)) I do understand Spanish pretty well, but not Irish, and I’m also moved by certain Irish-language songs, like this one by Clannad – [Coinleach Glhas an Fhomair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNi8At6W97Y) (not the later New Agey version, but the original folkier one). ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/23 "2017-02-05T00:10:23Z")
For the Ricky haters, here’s a wonderfully moving, but more “serious,” Spanish-language song – Eliades Ochoa’s version of [Al Vaivén de Mi Carreta.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Irgnw9oxw) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/24 "2017-02-05T00:25:27Z")
[Corsica by Petru Guelfucci.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVCH8E9n37E) ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/25 "2017-02-05T00:28:34Z")
[quote=“White SIFL, post:1, topic:778974”] … Even if you don’t understand the words. I’m American - I don’t speak or understand french - but this song really resonates with me: [/QUOTE] Thanks for this. I just ordered a couple of her albums. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/26 "2017-02-05T00:33:57Z")
For certain values of “moved”, there’s [Burzum “Det Som Engang Var”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wry9G6rcdQw) More mainstream: [Kyu Sakamoto “Sukiyaki”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc) Can’t understand a word, but his pained, plaintive voice perfectly conveys his heartbreak. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/27 "2017-02-05T00:42:07Z")
Because it literally makes my spine tingle, [Prisencolinensinainciusol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g6YxkSqL20). It’s actually on my funeral song list. I defy anyone to not be moved by it. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/28 "2017-02-05T02:02:43Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Because it literally makes my spine tingle, [Prisencolinensinainciusol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g6YxkSqL20). It’s actually on my funeral song list. I defy anyone to not be moved by it. That was…horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/29 "2017-02-05T03:39:20Z")
Yeah, ummm… interesting. Can I be one of the dancers at your wedding? I’m not a huge anime fan, but I do like Attack on Titan, and I realized a big part of that is the music. The original [overarching theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScV5tNmHbgw) is bold, and an odd amalgam of Japanese and German opera. (There’s a [version by violinist Taylor Davis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpLGU8k13Jc), but it’s an instrumental, so not legally part of this thread…) There’s even a video titled [“Further Proof that the Attack on Titan Theme Goes With Literally Everything”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3r7bXrDDEs)… But the [closing theme is completely different; lyrical and haunting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBlYYOsdG-U). ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/30 "2017-02-05T04:00:21Z")
Don’t know if Latin counts, but Ave Marie, sung well is very moving ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/31 "2017-02-05T04:06:45Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Because it literally makes my spine tingle, [Prisencolinensinainciusol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g6YxkSqL20). It’s actually on my funeral song list. I defy anyone to not be moved by it. 🙂 One of my favorites! ETA: [Here’s the version I’m more familiar with](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yj_N5_P5qI) that will give a little more context. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/32 "2017-02-05T04:26:06Z")
I have a CD in the car by Italy’s ‘Il Volio’ and I dunno what they’re singing, but it’s so gorgeous, I don’t care. One favorite is ‘Per Te’. heavenly. There’s something about Italian tenors and singers in general…Bellissimo. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/33 "2017-02-05T04:50:41Z")
**pulykamell** , you’re a kamel after my own (funereal) heart. Love that version - thought I’d go shorthand retro. Aw, **JKellyMap** don’t it just make you have to… dance? **digs** , you can’t dance at my wedding, but you sure can shake it up at my funeral 😃 Lots of interesting choices here dopers - some I’m familiar with, others not at all; so thanks for the new musical pathways. Except for the yodelling. That’s a psychopathway. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/34 "2017-02-05T05:28:43Z")
The African Bantu languages seem almost to predicate the soukous genre of music. Congolese singer Mbilia Bel sings in Lingala, a language whose syllables are all clearly enunciated with almost equal stress, which is a perfect fit for the music: https://www.youtube.com/embed/fk1WfqViAJM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PL27E9D2E962E43DA7 ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/35 "2017-02-05T06:48:55Z")
I suppose this is technically a foreign language, even though it’s the native tongue of my country of origin, because I don’t actually speak it. Anyways, it’s called [Poi E, by the Patea Maori Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQLUygS0IAQ), and was a big hit in New Zealand in 1982. Warning: It’s a product of its time, but it’s upbeat and fun. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/36 "2017-02-05T11:59:34Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Aw, **JKellyMap** don’t it just make you have to… dance? Absolutely. I retract my sour reaction. I guess if had said “memorial service” rather than “funeral,” I would have been more prepared for something fun like that! In fact, you have inspired me to request that KC and the Sunshine Band be played at _my_ memorial service. Shake that thing! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/37 "2017-02-05T12:11:38Z")
… for posting a song in German years ago, but was in der Hölle, here’s my contribution: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6Ag3QNdomuQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Freddy Quinn - Junge, komm bald wieder") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ag3QNdomuQ) ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/38 "2017-02-05T12:53:12Z")
Pink Martini, an American band, makes a fair number of songs in other languages. My favorite is [Sympathique](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLaY4aksfRo). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/39 "2017-02-05T15:05:08Z")
[Soukora](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZQE-YB2xA), Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder, sung in Bambara. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974/40 "2017-02-05T17:04:18Z")
[Ederlezi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZf00ad3G6o) in Romani [Polegnala E Todora](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUJaZj2fbI) in Bulgarian [Akatsukino Ito](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcucbhJ-Orc) in Japanese [Egil’s Saga](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oYmc9WTdSs) in Old Norse/Icelandic [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-song-that-moves-you/778974.md?page=3)