this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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For me i’d say vocaloid when i was younger. No clue about now, maybe some russian songs like igorek.

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[–] stinerman@midwest.social 26 points 18 hours ago

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.

[–] slippyferret@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone, though I think I heard it on NicoNico Douga before it became known as the NumaNuma Song.

[–] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago
[–] phanto@lemmy.ca 22 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

Prisencolinensinainciusol! That song rocks.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 6 points 18 hours ago
[–] cutebc24@piefed.social 5 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Does it count if nobody knows the words?

[–] cutebc24@piefed.social 4 points 18 hours ago

Of course!!

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[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 14 points 19 hours ago

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.

https://youtu.be/dP4t_GGl3Es

[–] TheFermentalist@lemm.ee 12 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Wolf Totem by the Hu. In fact, their entire discography. The heavier stuff is great at the gym

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 5 points 17 hours ago

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.

[–] darthelmet@lemmy.world 11 points 18 hours ago

Most anime OP's I like I have no idea what they're saying and that's probably for the best.

[–] sm1dger@lemmy.world 9 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] qantravon@startrek.website 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Except, it is mostly scat/jibberish! Just in Finnish! Most of the song is nonsense lyrics.

[–] sorrowl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 hours ago

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.

[–] susi7802@sopuli.xyz 8 points 19 hours ago

Ironically, most pop is in English, whereas most pop listeners are not English speakers.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 hours ago

Mayeeaheeeeee mayeeeaaahhooooo mayeeeeaaaa ha ha!

[–] matte@feddit.nu 6 points 18 hours ago

Einstürzende Neubauten: Nagorny Karabach https://youtu.be/hd-6WweqD0Y

(With subtitles in English)

[–] Merlin@lemmy.zip 5 points 18 hours ago

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.

[–] MissyBee@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 16 hours ago

Polish cow song. The melody itself is from another song, "How long - Lipps, inc" apparently. But both songs do well with that beat.

[–] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 4 points 9 hours ago

I non-ironically quite like the leek spin song (Ievan Polkka).

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 4 points 16 hours ago

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.

A bunch of songs from various Hololive JP talent :)

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago

I think they also did the opening and closing for Call of the Night, but of which are also great.

[–] karasu_sue@pf.korako.me 4 points 18 hours ago

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.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] Telcontar@lemmy.today 6 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I still have Sweden's song stuck in my head

[–] nailbar@sopuli.xyz 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

And just from reading that, It's now playing in my head too

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[–] geekwithsoul@lemm.ee 4 points 19 hours ago
[–] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago

Mundian to Bach Ke by Punjabi MC (and famously remixed with Jay Z)

[–] toomanypancakes@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago

I really enjoy Pourquoi by Eths, but I have no idea what's being said

[–] cerement@slrpnk.net 3 points 18 hours ago

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 …

[–] thenose@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago

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.

https://youtu.be/zafm7q7lbl8

[–] benni@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

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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[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 3 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

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.

[–] Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

99 luftballoons!that's it, until I learned german

[–] buycurious@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago
[–] tuckerm@feddit.online 2 points 17 hours ago

Oye Como Va - Santana

I know enough Spanish to understand the lyrics now, but loved that song before I knew what it was saying.

[–] BagOfHeavyStones@piefed.social 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Sometimes you get helpful subtitles such as Benny Lava. (Indian.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyC1BrQd6g

A jetpack operation?

Also Yatta (Chinese)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJIpTIPnRs

[–] FancyPantsFIRE@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago
[–] ThunderChunk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 18 hours ago

J'en parlerai au diable • Johnny Hallyday

A lot of classical music

[–] flabbergast@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (7 children)
[–] smeg@infosec.pub 2 points 18 hours ago

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.

[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago

That Russian song that sounds like Joy Division on MDMA. I'm told the lyrics are very depressing but it's absolute fucking fire.

[–] oyfrog@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

All of Francoise Hardy's album Soleil. Absolutely lovely singing voice.

[–] shundi82@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

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).

[–] Crankenstein@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

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?

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