# How many languages in your music collection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699 "2004-12-08T05:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/21 "2004-12-08T23:10:17Z")
My list won’t come close to some of the others, but here goes: **Modern:** English Italian German French Spanish Japanese Gaelic Creole French Swahili Maori Polish Russian Magyar Hebrew Hawaiian **Ancient:** Latin Greek **Invented:** Sindarin Quenya ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/22 "2004-12-09T03:24:34Z")
Not too terribly many. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Old English, and Navajo. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/23 "2004-12-09T03:39:46Z")
I don’t have a lot: English French Spanish Portuguese Farsi Swedish ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/24 "2004-12-09T03:45:32Z")
English Japanese French Italian German Yoko-Kanno-ese (an ecclectic blend of Japanese, French, Latin, and made-up words used in the extensive collection of music from Cowboy Bebop) ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/25 "2004-12-09T04:19:49Z")
English French Spanish Italian German Japanese Latin Tagalog Russian Whatever languages are in my Cirque du Soleil CDs Whatever “Duel of the Fates” is in (I used to know this…) the Tolkien languages in Lord of the Rings Mostly English and French. ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/26 "2004-12-09T04:53:04Z")
I have a song in Romanian! The rest are all languages everyone else has mentioned (English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Spanlish [shut up, it is too a language], Swedish, I think I have an Enya Christmas song that’s in Gaelic [I don’t know what dialect, I obtained it illegally], and a Russian cover of the Romainian song), but I’m just excited that I’m the first one to have a song in Romanian. ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/27 "2004-12-09T04:54:45Z")
Oh, I might have a song in Italian, too. Depends - what language is ‘The Pearl Fishers’ in? ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/28 "2004-12-09T05:58:21Z")
Languages in which I have a whole song predominantly in the language (not just snippets here or there): English, Gaelic, French, Italian, German, Latin, Spanish, Portugese, Yiddish, Aramaic (thanks mom for the CD of her synagogue’s cantor singing), Hebrew (modern and Biblical), Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Chinese, Japanese, Tuvan (or whatever Tuvan throat singing is sung in), some Australian Aboriginal languages, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, a Mozambiquan language (Mabulu), whatever Ali Farka Toure sings in, whatever King Sunny Ade sings in, whatever Fela Kuti sings in besides French, whatever other languages Manu Dibango sings in, whatever Forward Kwenda (Botswanan mbira player) is singing in, Amharic, some Louisiana Creole, Icelandic, the made up language of Sigur Ros, Hawaiian, a few tracks here and there in some South American indigenous languages (the last track on _Obscured by Clouds_ by Pink Floyd comes to mind), and of course, Dead Can Dance. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/29 "2004-12-09T06:00:19Z")
Crap, I forgot the CD that I’m on. That’s in Sanskrit, I believe. (Hindu Bhajans, devotional music). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/30 "2004-12-09T13:05:15Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Sami Mari Boine? I have several albums by her. She’s the only Sami singer I know. > [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Occitan What’s that? Where from? Who? > [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Hungarian > Greek Who? Mine are mainly female artists such as Marta Sebestyen (Hungarian), and Greek singers such as Haris Alexiou, Eleftheria Arvaitaki, and Alkistis Protopsalti. I have everything everybody’s mentioned, except that I’m not sure about Provençal, Zulu, Xhosa, Haitian Creole, Swahili, Magyar, Malagasy and Tajik. But, I have SO many World Music CDs, and so many of them are compilations, I could have them and not even know. > [@down by law](#): > > i’m not a big fan of stuff i can’t understand I’m a big lyrics person, but good songs are so often ruined by inane lyrics. The thing I like about World Music is that, when you can’t understand the lyrics, it forces you to focus on the music, the instruments, and the vocals. For instance, I’m endlessly fascinated by the vocal work of Bulgarian singers, but the lyrics might be about something completely mundane like bringing in the crops or a girl sewing a shirt for her lover or something. If I don’t know the lyrics, it can be the most wonderful song in the world. If it were in English, I’d be saying “It’s a good song, but man, those lyrics suck.” That’s also why I generally hate it when a “World” singer I love makes an album in English, with pedestrian lyrics. It just ruins the whole experience for me. That’s very shallow, but I can’t help it. Also, when they sing in English they’re not being themselves and it seems to change the way they sing, how they sing. There are several examples of the process working (Bjork in English is a good expample) but it so often doesn’t. I never ever want to hear Najma or the Bulgarian Chorus in English again. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/31 "2004-12-09T13:53:48Z")
Chinese Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish French German Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Italian Japanese Korean Latin Norwegian Polish Portugese Russian Spanish Swedish ---
**Author:** ![colour\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@colour\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colour_wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/32 "2004-12-09T14:05:31Z")
Mandarin Cantonese Taiwanese Japanese Korean French Spanish German Portuguese ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/33 "2004-12-09T15:25:25Z")
> [@teleute12](#): > > Oh, I might have a song in Italian, too. Depends - what language is ‘The Pearl Fishers’ in? French ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/34 "2004-12-09T15:45:54Z")
Spanish Chinese Does Jamaican patois count? ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/35 "2004-12-09T19:24:47Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Mari Boine? \ Sami: Mari Boine Wimme Angelit (aka Girls from Angeli) Occitan: Rosina de Peira (who should also go on the “check this out if you like Dead Can Dance” list) I also think one or more albums by Acid Mothers Temple has vocals in Occitan. > [@Kawabata Makoto](#): > > “Gospel d’Oc”, the latest album by the treasure of the Occitanian folk music world, Rosina de Peira, is due for release. The CD was recorded last November at a solo concert by Rosina. It is entirely unaccompanied, allowing the beauty of her voice to shine out. The record has been released by Rosina herself in a limited edition of 1000. > > Rosina de Peira is a wonderfully charismatic traditional singer from the Occitan region of southern France. She has been involved in the movement to revive the Occitanian identity since the early '70s, setting up the Revolum (Revolution) label in order to release works of Occitanian traditional music. The label released several albums featuring Rosina herself, but she has released very little music over the past twenty years, instead making her honest music away from the music business. This new release is her first in many years. > > The Occitanian trad song “La Nòvia” has become well known through it’s cover by AMT, but we first heard this song on an album by Rosina. Last December, in Toulouse AMT were able to play a joint concert with Rosina, and of course we also played “La Nòvia”. > > For anyone who already loves Occitanian trad, for those who have got interested through the AMT cover, and even for those who have yet to hear Rosina’s song - this is the perfect opportunity to hear Rosina’s voice. Occitanian music in general, not just the works of Rosina, can be very difficult to track down. Please don’t miss this chance to get hold of one of her albums - truly a jewel amongst jewels… > > Rosina’s voice is truly one of the wonders of the world - universally maternal, powerful, gentle, replete with mercy. If music from heaven exists, then it can be done other than her voice. Like a soothing, energizing balm for both body and mind, Rosina’s song echoes in one’s soul - this is true song. > > I hope that Rosina’s song touches the very depths of your hearts. Thank you. > > Kawabata Makoto (1st Sep. 2003) Hungarian: Yep, Marta Sebestyen Greek: Sigmatropic ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/36 "2004-12-09T19:31:10Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > If you have the Beatles collection, you have English, French, German, Japanese, Hindu, Spanish, and Liverpudlian right there. Maybe more. English and Liverpudlian, obviously. French in “Michelle.” German in “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” and “Sie Liebt Dich.” Hindu isn’t a language – maybe you mean Hindu or Hindustani, although I can’t think of a song in which they appear. I believe “Jai guru deva, om” is Sanskrit. For Spanish, “Besame Mucho” and “Los Paranoia” – maybe some other stuff that I’m forgetting. But where’s the Japanese? Something with Yoko on it? Also, maybe “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” could count as Yoruba, or maybe not, since it’s not much. **ultrafilter** , what’s this ancient Egyptian business? I’m really interested. In addition to the languages mentioned above (also attested elsewhere in my music collection), I have: Japanese Icelandic Finnish Italian maybe Russian – or is Shona and Ndebele and whatever else Oliver Mtukudzi sings in some other African languages Arabic, probably Latin Yiddish, maybe Hebrew Turkish Afrikaans gibberish Probably more, but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/37 "2004-12-09T19:32:23Z")
> [@Already in Use](#): > > Hindu isn’t a language – maybe you mean Hindu or Hindustani Read “Hind **i** or Hindustani.” ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/38 "2004-12-09T19:46:48Z")
Oooh, I think I’m the first person to say [Welsh](http://www.gorkys.com/)! Other than that, 98-99% of my music is in English. There’s some French, Spanish, German, Portuguese (thanks, David Byrne!), Irish Gaelic and whatever language Zap Mama sing in when they aren’t singing in French. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/39 "2004-12-09T20:06:37Z")
Limiting myself to languages that I have entire albums in : English Japanese Chinese German Spanish ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699/40 "2004-12-10T01:17:41Z")
> [@Already in Use](#): > > **ultrafilter** , what’s this ancient Egyptian business? I’m really interested. Nile, one of the more erudite deathgrind bands out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-languages-in-your-music-collection/278699.md?page=3)