All of you know that I enjoy songs from other countries such as Korea (surprise!!) and Japan (another surprise!!!). I like them not only because of the stories and meanings behind their songs, but also because of their melodies. Here in America, a lot of the songs are about drugs, sex, people breaking up, etc. I will also add that Americans (most of them) don't pay attention to what the words are, and if they do, I don't think they actually process the words. When I first got into kpop and jpop, it was strange at first. For one thing, I couldn't understand the song. But from the melodies, rhythm, and how the singer(s) were expressing, I was clearly able to decipher what the song was about. Without words that I can understand, I'm forced to pay attention to the melodies (not only the instrumental part, but the singing parts as well) and the rhythm. One reason why I'm open to all kinds of music, is the fact that I go with what's pleasing to my ear. Most of the time, if the melody is nice and there's a nice beat, chances are I'll probably like the song. So while I did get teased at my high school for listening to kpop and jpop, I only felt sorry for those who aren't able to really listen to a song, listen to how the vocals work in the song (the melodies and harmonies of the vocals), how they fit with the rhythm and what not, and just being able to enjoy and listen to a song as a whole.
As an example, I've linked the song "Into the New World" by a korean girl group called Girls' Generation. I really like this song. There are no words to describe how I felt about this song, but it's safe to assume that I was really blown away by it. There's so much emotion in this song ecspecially when Taeyeon, the leader, sings (she's the first girl who sings). I like the fact that they're not the stereotypical "cute, high-voiced" asian girl group, which is why I like them so much. I've searched the music video with english subtitles, but I would advise you to listen to it without reading the subtitles first just so you can enjoy the song. If you like it enough to listen to it again, THEN you can read the subtitles :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRBXRZzrvtQ
In the past two years I've broadened my horizons with music to listen to music from other countries, especially Germany and Latin America. It really opened my eyes to exactly how much variety there is in music, good music even. So maybe next on my list is kpop and jpop :) haha
ReplyDeleteI think that I can relate to this! The pieces that I listen to are almost always in a different language! Even so I am powerfully affected by the songs - I guess that's a testament to how music can express without explicitly saying anything. As a singer I know the importance of getting across a concept to the audience even though no one there probably understands what your saying!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite music groups is a French jazz/pop band called ZAZ. Personally, after listening to the group for so many years I actually prefer not to look up the lyrics transtlations because I feel as if that knowledge would detract from the music in some way. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of Schnappi das kleine Krokodil (maybe I've shown it to some of you). It's a German song from a children's TV show, and I really really liked listening to it (because it's awesome) and because it was nice to just hear the simple kids music in another language...you don't need to know the lyrics to enjoy the song!
ReplyDeleteAlso, this relates to the "voice is the most expressive thing".....while I wholly don't wholly agree with that statement, there is some truth to it; humans of all languages can get their points across with their voices.
"Music is the universal language."
ReplyDeleteTo develop what Will quoted, music really is something that everyone can understand. There are certain shared things that are innate to human nature. This is why people will have similar reactions (especially emotional reactions) to similar situations. Music taps into these rudimentary elements, which is why we can identify with something we can't undertand the syntax.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely agree with this concept. There is an icelandic band called Sigur Ros which actually sings in a made up language of sounds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigur_ros#Vonlenska. I agree with Andrew - sometimes I would rather not know what the lyrics mean at all! (It is just too distracting.)
ReplyDeleteI love listening to music from different cultures, especially popular music. You can learn so much about a culture from pop because it is chosen by the public to become well known. I would also agree with what you said about most audiences not paying attention to lyrics, but then again pop music isn't about as much about the lyrics as it is the beat and "dancablilty" of it.
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