Baba Yetu, the Swahili opening to the game Civilization 4. Wikipedia says it's the first song made for a video game to win a Grammy.
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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I non-ironically quite like the leek spin song (Ievan Polkka).
Mayeeaheeeeee mayeeeaaahhooooo mayeeeeaaaa ha ha!
This is a significant fraction of my music collection.
99 luftballoons!that's it, until I learned german
Ay Que Doler by Los Chunguitos. Such a banger and I always sing along but no idea what they're saying
I always thought Regin Smidur by Týr captured exactly the kind of vibes I'd expect from Viking metal. But I've never known what the lyrics are about, and probably don't want to.
Pretty much the whole soundtrack to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It's all done up in French and I only know bonjor, baguette, and fromage. But it just sounds right for the mood of the game :o
Any song that's on my playlist and not german or english ;)
Though specifically Akatsuki Records (JP), CrazyBeats (JP), several Vocaloid produces I can't remember.
Yes
Leek spin https://youtu.be/GCO62VNm67k
Which is actually the Finnish song "Ievan polkka" and not just scatting/jibberish as I always naively used to think
Except it is just scatting. The leekspin version and the Miku version of the song is just the scatting parts of the Loituma arrangement. The full Loituma version, Korpiklaani version or one of the many recorded versions from Finnish folk singers have the actual lyrics. They do actually include a scatted part, usually after every verse, but Loituma atleast extended it for a full verse of scatting, which the Miku version made into a full song.
For the record, the lyrics are about the main character of the song dancing polka with the girl he loves (Ieva), whose "proper" and religious parents don't approve of the mc or dancing in general. So after they dance and go home, the mom of Ieva catches them and makes Ieva cry, the mc threatens the mom to leave them alone and professes his love for Ieva. Then they go on to dance more polka. It's great.
Except, it is mostly scat/jibberish! Just in Finnish! Most of the song is nonsense lyrics.
99 Luftballons was the first one that came to mind.
I love that song
The prettiest song ever about nuclear war.
There were A LOT of songs about nuclear war in 80s music. German youth in the 80s was very aware that in nuclear war Germany (being a huge part of the east west border) would just be ground zero to be vaporized in WW3.
Thinking about Germany people associate the Autobahn, what some don't know - there were pre-built detonation chambers so key sections and bridges could be mined with atomic demolition munitions in order to stop the east bloc tank armies from advancing.
ChatGpt translation of the song lyrics:
When in the Canale Grande submarines drop anchor
And on St. Peter’s Square in Rome missile launch pads stand
When a carpet of bombs floats over the bazaar of Ankara
And from the hills of Olympus a Pershing II rises
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
In front of the old Cologne Cathedral a mushroom cloud rises into the air
And the sky is filled with the scent of neutron waffles
When in Paris the Eiffel Tower bows westward in a final salute
And near Big Ben a gentle Alpine glow appears
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
When haute cuisine turns into a witch’s cauldron
Where the cook from overseas flambés his old world
There’s laughter and applause, even the waiter gets a kick
What’s left to us but culture — we wish you bon appétit
Then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
Yes, then everything is long too late
Then, when nothing works anymore
Visit Europe
As long as it still stands
As long as it still stands, as long as it still stands
As long as it still stands, as long as it still stands
Lots of Polish music:
Sexy Doll by Republika
Mówię Ci, że by Tilt
Fajki i Alkohol by Andy
Zima by Natalia Szroeder
Gdzie jest biały węgorz ? by Cypis
I gave up trying to learn Polish because of its immense difficulty. I only speak English fluently but I've taken up an interest in Esperanto.
Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone, though I think I heard it on NicoNico Douga before it became known as the NumaNuma Song.
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MONO NO AWARE - かむかもしかもにどもかも！
No clue on the lyrics but the melody along with the lyrics are excellent
There's this Norwegian metal band called Kvelertak and I absolutely love their sound, but have no idea what the lyrics are about as I don't speak the language.
There's a Mexican metal band Ladrones that I have the same issue with.
I did not expect to find a Kvelertak fan in this thread! Cool!
If you ever decide to learn a little to understand them, know that the dialect in Stavanger is very different to what you normally learn.
I've been a fan of Rammstein for many years. I know the gist of what each song means and know a few words of German. But I can't translate word for word.
Everything by Wardruna. Gregorian chant and medieval music, particularly by Hildegard von Bingen. Music by Enya in Gaelic.
The artist Lescop is great. I know some french but not enough to really 100% follow the lyrics
Polish cow song. The melody itself is from another song, "How long - Lipps, inc" apparently. But both songs do well with that beat.
Prisencolinensinainciusol! That song rocks.
Kind of a weird one, but the beginning theme to the original Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has stuck with me.
The song is called "Inner Universe," but the lyrics are Russian.
Yeah!
I've had "V blbym veku" from Xindl X in a playlist for 10 years.
I don't understand a single work, but it just speaks to me for some weird reason.
Most anime OP's I like I have no idea what they're saying and that's probably for the best.
A bunch of songs from various Hololive JP talent :)
Wolf Totem by the Hu. In fact, their entire discography. The heavier stuff is great at the gym
My first introduction to them was Yuve Yuve Yu, also a banger.
I got a little hyper fixated on throat singing one week and they popped into my feed. Bike rides and road trips have never been the same.
You can't hear it from there, but I am screaming in non-native English speaker.
Or, to put it another way, every single song you know released before 1995.
I basically love city pop cus it has great groove, rhythm and usually the few English words in the lyrics reassuring me that it’s usually about love or a metaphor of it.
I'm surprised that people can answer with only one or a few songs. I don't "discriminate" music by language at all, I listen to a ton of music from all over the world in more languages than I can say. One very good place to find good international music is the YouTube channel My Analog Journal: https://youtube.com/@myanalogjournal
The band Creepy Nuts is a Japanese rap(?) group that did the Dandadan opening, but I also really like their opening for Mashle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLW35YMzELE
I think they also did the opening and closing for Call of the Night, but of which are also great.
Ironically, most pop is in English, whereas most pop listeners are not English speakers.
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