languages that lend/don't lend themselves to music

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Inspired by the wordless vocals thread, which languages sound naturally as though they were made for music? Which languages don't?

― Daniel, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Or what qualities do different languages bring to music?

Example: It could be argued that Czech does not lend itself to music. When I listen to Czech music I wonder why singers never seem to get lines to scan. there always appear to be too many syllables. Yet, on the other hand, that's part of the charm. And it's full of gorgeous fricative and sibilant sounds; cf Iva Bittova.

― Daniel, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thumbs Up: Arabic, French, Japanese, Italian, English, German. Thumbs Down: can't think of any.

― Kodanshi, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've always thought French was a tricky one when it comes to hip- hop. When it's female, c'est radical; when it's a *smooth*, deep-ish male, c'est tubular. When it's aggro and rapid fire, it's a mess.... you can hear spittle flying everywhere...worthless.

"i have an answering machine in my car. it says, 'im home now.. but leave a message and ill call when im out'"

― Ramosi, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When it's aggro and rapid fire, it's a mess....

Depends on the rapper. Just as it does with the English equivalent. I've been quite impressed by some French speed-rap. What's great about the French language, however is that it lends itself easily to punning and plays on words. A lot of rap français makes great use of this.

― Jeff W, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thumbs down is Dutch. I don't know how Omar and JoB feel about it, but when I hear Dutch (or Flemish) people singing in my own language, I squirm. Maybe I listen differently to it? The rhythm just doesn't work.
Japanese? I don't know, I like the way they sometimes break the words in two pieces and attach the last bit to the next word.

― helenfordsdale, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Portugese was made for music.

― Mark, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

OK, thumbs down on Dutch. I quite agree but there are a few acceptions, for me (others might be offended): Gorki (Flemish), early Tröckener Kecks (Betaalde Liefde) as well as some artists that sing in dialect: Ede Staal, Skik. Other thumbs up: Islandic, French, Arabic, Polish.

― WiLLeM, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thai is perfect for singing pop songs, not so good for rock songs. I love Dutch and have asked a few Dutch musicians I know why they always write their songs in English, and they all said "Dutch is awful for singing." But I like it. Italian is ultra-fabulous and Blonde Redhead makes a pretty persuasive case for French on the "Melodie Citronique" EP.

― John Darnielle, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Helen, I'm intrigued by your Japanese observation. Could you expand a bit? An example?

― Daniel, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

don't - latin do - german, french, spanish, english

― tyler, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Surprised no one has mentioned Bulgarian as a language that lends itself to music - truth be told,I can't speak about contemporary music from that region,but I've never had any complaints about Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares.French is weird,because the rhyming possibilities are limited in comparison to English (check Kraftwerk's Tour De France if you don't believe me).

― Damian, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ecclesiastic Latin is EXCELLENT for singing, especially if you're doing a mass or a Mag/Nunc. Classical Latin with all of its "wiwi"s is a little silly.

English is great for pop music but AWFUL for opera. Italian and French work best for opera, while it's hard to beat German art songs. Korean rap is EXCELLENT, as is Japanese in pop songs.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think english is probably the best for rock/pop. not surprising since it is a genre pretty much originating from english speaking countries. Also, it works well in song since it is a relatively unstressed or uninflected language. Japanese works farily well for this same reason, every syllable in spoken japanese is basically given equal stress, it is not highly inflected either, so it's easier to play around with in song without sounding funny. But of course this is all somewhat subjective, your native tongue probably sound smost natural to you.

― g, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah, I know what your talking about. Japanese doesn't really rhyme. I think English is pretty bad in opera. German, Italian, and that such are the best for opera. French is kind of wussy, and not good for aggressive music like gangsta rap, but it is great for trip-hop or music hall. The hard languages German/Russian are the best for industrial. Any western language would not work well in buddhist chants.

― A Nairn, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

French - speaking French is like having soap frothing up in your mouth!

― charles, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

I'm off to see Bittova and Muller next week for more Czech - Slovak syllable overload.

― Daniel (dancity), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the best local bands out here in L.A. is Dengue Fever, who are guys from Radar Bros. and Dieselhead fronted by a Cambodian pop star vocalist. I have no idea what she's singing, but it's absolutely mesmerizing. Highly recommended.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 23:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Portugese was made for music.

I once interviwed The Parkinsons and they said that they never sung English because everything sounds better in English. Probably true when it comes to such rip-off punk (and American English as well). But eg Os Mutantes wouldn't sound half as good if it was sung in English.

Probably a lot to do with wanting 'odd' music to be undecipherable, like Gainsbourg and J-pop etc.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Thursday, 9 October 2003 10:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I once drank with a Parkinson - I can tell you here and now that Portugese are not made for drinking

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 9 October 2003 10:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I would disagree Dadaismus. They seemed to be quaffing tequila pretty vehemently when I met 'em.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Thursday, 9 October 2003 11:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Finnish has often been called a "beautiful" language because of the high amount of vowels and the lack of "ugly" consonant sounds such as the German "sch". I really can't speak objectively of this, have any of you heard any singing in Finnish? Finnish also has problems with rapping, since the words are long and the accent is always on the first syllable, and in rapping you often need to put the accent on the last syllable of the last word in a line. Finnish rappers still do this, however, and they've been accused of "corrupting the language".

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 9 October 2003 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I would disagree Dadaismus. They seemed to be quaffing tequila pretty vehemently when I met 'em.

Maybe, but quaffing and being able to handle it are two different matters - if I may be permitted to get all macho on you

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 9 October 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

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