I caught some Icelandic rap the other night on that global radio website and now I need to find it. I caught some Algerian rap - rap again, even though it's usually not my thing - a few months back, too, and it was awesome.
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This song in some Cyrillic language: https://open.audio/library/tracks/102128
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
99 Luftballons was the first one that came to mind.
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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.
Prisencolinensinainciusol! That song rocks.
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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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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.
Wolf Totem by the Hu. In fact, their entire discography. The heavier stuff is great at the gym
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Most anime OP's I like I have no idea what they're saying and that's probably for the best.
Mayeeaheeeeee mayeeeaaahhooooo mayeeeeaaaa ha ha!
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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
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Einstürzende Neubauten: Nagorny Karabach https://youtu.be/hd-6WweqD0Y
(With subtitles in English)
Polish cow song. The melody itself is from another song, "How long - Lipps, inc" apparently. But both songs do well with that beat.
I non-ironically quite like the leek spin song (Ievan Polkka).
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I don’t speak French and the soundtrack of the game Clair obscur expedition 33 is all in French and I can’t stop listening to it. So I have no idea about the lyrics but it sounds so pleasant to the ears.
Tons of songs from the Eurovision song contest. I was rocking out to this one from Estonia today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htPAhtVgKsI
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A bunch of songs from various Hololive JP talent :)
This is a significant fraction of my music collection.
Mundian to Bach Ke by Punjabi MC (and famously remixed with Jay Z)
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
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Anything from the hu
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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’ve played a lot of Korean games since way back, and there are plenty of songs I like — even though I have no idea what they’re saying.
I still play games like DJMAX and EZ2ON, and I just enjoy the vibe without understanding the lyrics.
historical example: Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto – released in Japan in 1961 under “Ue o Muite Arukō” – released in US in 1963 under “Sukiyaki” because that was about the only Japanese word Americans knew …
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Many songs if I like enough I figure out some of the words when looking for the title. Otherwise I remember them then forget them for a while. A couple famous examples I like:
Dschinghis Khan - Moskau, it's a bop, i know the melody but lyrics I only know parts of.
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tea - this one of course I know front to back but I don't know what a single word means.
I really enjoy Pourquoi by Eths, but I have no idea what's being said
99 luftballoons!that's it, until I learned german
Yes
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.
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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.
Everything by Wardruna. Gregorian chant and medieval music, particularly by Hildegard von Bingen. Music by Enya in Gaelic.
The classic answer is La Bamba. Love the song, no idea what the lyrics are.
中西 圭三 - Woman
Nakanishi Keizō - Woman
(Japanese; my Japanese only good enough to catch a few snippets)
One I came to love because the guy in the room next to me when I lived in Japan kept playing it over and over until I did. Also featured in my first (and last!) attempt at doing karaoke in front of Japanese people.
https://youtu.be/xYe0d9QFLIA
Время и Стекло - Тролль
Vremya i Steklo - Troll
(Russian)
The Ukrainian crunk equivalent of "No Scrubs"? (IIRC read an article explaining how the song is about terrible men hitting on her)
https://youtu.be/q--5Ht49vNY
Anders Nelsson - 鬼新娘
Anders Nelsson - Ghost Bride Song
(Cantonese)
From the soundtrack of 殭屍先生 (Mr Vampire, 1985), Hong Kong horror-comedy about the hopping dead.
https://youtu.be/q9DHRNREzlk
Tabou Combo - Konpa Mania
(Haitian Creole & English; I only know a few words in Creole)
A konpa track I think sampled by Wyclef Jean.
https://youtu.be/McUmXoB_9yw
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.
A lot of songs come to mind, actually.
But if I had to pick just one, it would be MC Solaar's Carpe Diem.
My French is shaky at best, so back when I stumbled upon MC Solaar (maybe it was via Bearshare), I could barely understand the gist of what was said - and even with a much better understanding, many of the "retro" references in this song specifically would have made no sense to me.
But it evoked a weird sense of nostalgia in me - a longing for a time/things, that I had no connection to (so I shouldn't even feel any nostalgia):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6-YCancrrBI
PS: If I had to pick something more popular, it would be Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi (got recommended by YouTube back when it made its first comeback wave in 2011, I think).
All of Francoise Hardy's album Soleil. Absolutely lovely singing voice.
flying duck by cherryfilter. I know only enough Korean to pick out a few words here and there, but have never bothered to look it up.
Locutorio - Sara Socas (España)
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.
That Russian song that sounds like Joy Division on MDMA. I'm told the lyrics are very depressing but it's absolute fucking fire.
I know enough Spanish to understand the lyrics now, but loved that song before I knew what it was saying.
Brutal 6 - Todo en mis Manos.
Olivia Lufkin - Stars Shining Out.
Anna Tsuchya - Kuroi Namida
Sometimes you get helpful subtitles such as Benny Lava. (Indian.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyC1BrQd6g
A jetpack operation?
Also Yatta (Chinese)
I like several songs by Stromae and don't understand French.
Always liked the melody to this 王七七Wang QiQi song:
Songs from Negura Bunget, First Fragment, and newer stuff from Vildhjarta
If I like a song, I make a deliberate effort to learn the lyrics and what they mean. People wrote those lyrics for a reason.
Or do you just want to dance?
J'en parlerai au diable • Johnny Hallyday
A lot of classical music
That's a solid "The entire Caramba" album.
You might've heard (of) Habba Habba Zoot Zoot; well, they made an entire album of "plausible sounding" songs in German, Japanese, Finish, American, Russian, etc. It's really quite hilarious.
Here's a Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/57BijyLUDfabkaaSwZsxsS
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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.
The artist Lescop is great. I know some french but not enough to really 100% follow the lyrics
“Fighting in Built-up Areas” by Ladytron. Sung in Mira Aroyo’s native Bulgarian.
Blueprint Supreme
SKAI ISYOURGOD & AR LIU Fuyang
I have no idea what they're saying, but I know it slaps.
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.
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.
Everything in Drakenier's Chaos Language.
Some of them are:
Clouseau - Passie (Dutch)
5MIINUST x Puuluup - (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi (Estonian, from 2024 Eurovision)
I like vocaloid music, but many of the songs are in Japanese which I don’t speak
Ay Que Doler by Los Chunguitos. Such a banger and I always sing along but no idea what they're saying
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