ELO - Hold on Tight has a. . . I think it’s French. … verse.
The Manic Street Preachers’ “Revol” has the part German/part Spanish(?) lyrics:
Lebensraum
Kulturkampf
Raus, raus
Fila, fila
(I’ve always thought that the last line was “Führer, Führer”, but lyrics sites say otherwise)
I lived in Mexico most of each year from 1997 to 2003 — they heyday of Cafe Tacuba and Maná, plus Alejandra Guzmán, Elefante, and many more* — so my answer to the OP is “about three hundred.”
*plus Puerto Rico’s Ricky Martin, mentioned in the OP, but I’d only consider about 20% of his songs “rock.”
Also April Wine’s “Just Between You And Me.” In one chorus, they sing “Seulement Entre Toi et Moi”.
I thought of an interesting one: German indie legends Flowerpornoes did a cover of R.E.M.'s “Losing My Religion” in 1993 called, well, “Remcover” in German. The lyrics are only loosely directly translated, but they keep most of the motives of the original.
Let’s not forget the Sanskrit “jaI guru deva, om” from the Beatles “Across the Universe”.
mmm
In “Hit me with your rhythm stick”, the wonderful Ian Dury includes a number of French and German phrases in the lyrics:
I prefer to believe it’s in an actual language.
But it’s one that no one understands.
John also wrote In John Lennon’s “#9 Dream”, there is a chorus which is either in a foreign language, complete gibberish, or someone’s idea of a joke.
It goes “ah bowakawa pusé…”
It’s “Ahhh bowakawa pusé pusé” Three Hs, and pusé is not a word in that language, but pusé pusé is well understood.
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But on a more serious topic, if you’re going to sing a phrase in French in your rock song, resist the urge… unless you have good pronunciation and a decent accent.
Sorry, but Americanized ‘Frann-say’ or ‘Eye-talian’ is a pet peeve of mine…
Zappa and the Mothers have two versions of “Sofa” on their terrific (no, really — it’s actual music) album One Size Fits All: one in English, the other in German.
This is a very old thread. I’m surprised no one has mentioned “J’aurais toujours faim de toi” by The Police
I assume the OP meant to add “and are well-known in the US.”
Because I know dozens, maybe hundreds, of rock songs in foreign languages. But they are by foreign artists only known in their home countries.
Americanized Eye-talian, you say?
The Mull of Kintyre is a place - a coastal headland in South West Scotland - hence mists rolling in and all that.
Mull is an anglicised version of the Gaelic word Maol, meaning rounded hill or summit. Kintyre is the name of the peninsular on which it sits.