FICTIVE FRIDAYS : #14

One of the great things about this here blog is how international it is. Folks from all over the world turn up in the comments or as guest contributors, always with an angle from their unique perspectives. In honor of the widespread community here’s a collection of top songs in multiple languages.

Dime Que Me Quieres – Tequila.

In 2010 we house-traded with a family in Madrid. In the car they lent us was a box set of Spanish rock songs. It was a truly awful collection, except for this absolute banger. So, we listened to it on repeat maybe 100 times. From their third album, Viva! Tequila! released back in 1980.

Undantag – Dina Ögon.

This pretty song translates to ‘Exception’ and the band name translates to ‘Your Eyes.’ I don’t know anything more about this newish Stockholm outfit, so maybe our Swedish friends can enlighten us.

L’excessive – Carla Bruni.

By contrast, there’s a lot to know about Italian-French singer, model, and former First Lady of France Mme. Bruni-Sarkozy. But her travails with the dubious politician are boring so let’s just listen to this beautiful number from her debut album, Quelqu’un m’a dit.

Zol! – BLK JKS.

There’s a great concert series in Los Angeles called First Fridays, held in the Natural History Museum downtown. Bands set up right in the middle of the North American Mammal Hall, amidst dioramas of bison and caribou and the like. I used to go with my kids, and we saw great acts like Warpaint, Tune-Yards, The Bird and the Bee, and Atlas Sound. Sam and I also saw BLK JKS, who performed this number which means “spliff” in South African slang.

Norwegian Wood – Cornershop.

Among the Beatles’ many innovations was the introduction of Indian instrumentation into pop music. George encountered a sitar on the set of Help! and played it on this track from Rubber Soul. This version by the Leicester outfit is pretty true to the original, with the lyrics sung in Punjabi by band leader Tjinder Singh.

Regina – Sugarcubes.

For my money this is The Best Song Ever To Come Out of Iceland. Some folks will probably disagree, but they’d be wrong.

Ysbeidiau Heulog – Super Furry Animals.

From the Furries’ 2000 all-Welsh album, Mwng, which means ‘Mane.’ The title translates to ‘Sunny Intervals’ and for some reason sounds like a Welsh out take from The Who Sell Out.

Banho de Mar – João Selva.

‘A Dip in the Sea’ from 2024’s Onda (Wave). Young Sam, who can speak French, Spanish, Japanese, some German and Portuguese and a little Turkish, once told me that Portuguese is the perfect language, economical and beautiful. I agree—it sounds like each word is kissed as it’s enunciated.

Das Model – Kraftwerk.

All of the songs on the Krautrock legends’ The Man-Machine were recorded in both English and German. The English version was a number one single in the UK back in 1978.

美しい鰭 – Spitz.

A recommendation by Sam’s bandmate and multi-instrumentalist Ken Arimura. This quartet formed in Tokyo in the late 80’s and have had the same line-up ever since. The title translates to ‘Beautiful Fin.’ It’s from their most recent release, ひみつスタジオ (‘Secret Studio’). No idea why the group picked a name which means ‘pointed’ or ‘sharp’ in German.

Bonus Track: I Zimbra – Talking Heads.

Today’s set is named after Speaking in Tongues, the Heads’ best-selling album and their only one to produce a top ten hit (‘Burning Down the House’). Legend has it that the phrase came about from David Byrne’s habit of singing nonsense words as placeholders while working on lyrics and arrangements. That gibberish was never released, but the band did put this tune out as a single from their third album, Fear of Music. The lyrics are taken from a poem called Gadji beri bimba, written by German Dadaist Hugo Ball over 100 years ago. The words are totally fictional and don’t mean anything—Ball was just experimenting with the sounds of the syllables. At least he got a writing credit on the LP.