Your favourite songs not in English

[ImpOfDarkness]

I went down a youtube rabbit hole last night and ended up listening to loads of 80s Europop. Rock me Amadeus, Voyage Voyage etc. Good times 😁 it got me wondering about other non-English songs that have hit the charts. The Macarena and Gangnam Style I guess? Any other favourites?

All together now

SON SAXO JAUNE
CONNAİT TOUTES LES RUES PAR COEUR
TOUS LES PETITS BARS
TOUS LES COINS NOIRS

I totally applaud baby Vanessa Paradis as the only reason a shedload of Irish teenagers remembered the French for ‘traffic jam’. ‘Joe le taxi’ was like a public service broadcast for Inter Cert French.

And her single wriggly dance step on TOTP. Bless her.

Hands down the best non English pop song is Dragostea Din Tei by O zone. If you don't think so you are 100% wrong

Zaz is great, this is her cover of La Parisienne
If you don’t speak French, the lyrics are translated here: https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/ZAZ/La-parisienne/translation/english

The last of my feel good music videos and a totally different vibe - Pobre Gente Rica by La Selva Sur

Yes indeed, @NowThatYouSayIt. All those pesky embouteillage.

Our French teacher played it to us in class one day, and we were all astounded that our old (probably actually in her 40s, but everyone seemed old when we were teenagers) teacher knew a song from the charts!

I thought of another one! I want to love in this video forever

For the Dutchies on here "Wat een mooie dag" van Brigitte Kaandorp.

Not my style, but I do like a bit of classic Doe Maar, and of course there's always 'In het Donker' by Kadanz. I always found much of Nederpop very twee, although I did enjoy Rubberen Robbie and Drs. P.

The Stranglers

La Folie

Tout Oublier - Angèle (also her version of The Look You Give That Guy by The Eels is magnifique!

Souffrir pas toI n’est pas souffrir - Julien Clerc

Anything by Angélique Kidjo.

Anything by Bronwen Lewis (she sings bilingually).

Cymru, Lloegr a Llanwrst - Y Cyrff

Anything by Gwenno - but definitely PATRIARCHAETH!

Voyage Voyage
J'ai pas peur - Eighth Wonder
Senza scappare mai più - Tiziano Ferro
Paris Paris - Catherine de Neuvre
Obsolete- MC Solaar

Unravel by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure (J-rock). I've clocked a solid few thousand replays over the years and it's still my favourite song ever (and yes, it's where my username came from)

Inkanyezi nazazi - Ladysmith Black Mambazo and An urbhal as airde - Runrig which both featured on 90s tv commercials.

Agg- Jassi Sidhu

And they now use the chorus when Germany score a goal when they're playing at home.
I still have the single I bought when it came out. I was right into Die Neue Deutsche Welle (New Wave of German music) in the early 80s. This! Nena, Geier Sturzflug...

I believe the English version was more popular, but these ladies were big when I was a young teen:

Hijo de la Luna Mecano

Balada Gustavo Lima

Me gustas Tu Manu Chao

Hoppípolla by Sigur Rós.

I don’t think it ever made our charts, but I think it certainly made the charts in the East:

Jay Chou singing Blue and White Porcelain in Mandarin. I’ve heard it being played as background music in a Chinese restaurant in London - not that it was where I first heard it.

There is a bit of English, but as that is 'chips' I think that is a universal word and so acceptable.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=0o_rGhcBgME

Sukiyaki by Kyo Sakamoto

Believe he was a passenger on a Japanese airline that crashed into a mountain 1985.

Check out C'est La Vie, Apocalypse Calypso and Jane Birkin by Mika. All brilliant French songs.

Spanish
Rosalía - De Plata
Rosalía - Di Mi Nombre
Maluca - Vamo’ a Gozárnola
C. Tangana - Tú Me Dejaste De Querer

Italian
Madreblu - Certamente
Mahmood - Soldi

Latvian
Tautumeitas - Raganu Nakts

Faroese
Eivør Pálsdóttir - Tròdlabùndin

Yemenite
A-WA - Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman

Ne me quitte pas sung by either Jaques Brel or Nina Simone.

Aatini Ney by Fairuz

Taal Zaman by Natacha Atlas