English Only?

When I first started this site, I faced a small conundrum. I was unsure of whether to post songs in languages other than English or to make this a strictly English only site. I know this dilemma probably sounds completely absurd considering this is a site about international music. Really, how can a person claiming to have an interest in international music only include music written and sung in English? Well the answer is pretty simple: Most Americans simply don’t listen to music sung in other languages.

I was of course am trying to appeal to the masses. If you are an American, try to recall how many foreign language songs have become popular here. I took this challenge earlier, and I could only think of La Tortura by Shakira. After a quick Google search I was also reminded of La Bamba, The Macarena, Livin’ La Vida Loca, and Bailamos. I also learned of the song Sukiyaki by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Yes, I just reached back to a handful of Latin songs and a song that became hugely popular in 1963. That’s pretty pathetic. To refresh your memories, here are the videos for La Tortura and Sukiyaki:

I originally started thinking about this issue because I stumbled upon a Chicago Sun-Times article about the Latin singer Enrique Bunbury trying to increase his popularity in America. Here is a striking passage from the article:

The man is being compared to Bob Dylan, and I had never even heard of him. Admittedly, my own ignorance is partly my fault; however, I also believe that there are larger cultural elements contributing to this problem. America is a country that is firmly, and almost exclusively, devoted to English. Just last week, Tim James (a candidate for the Alabama governorship) released this campaign ad promoting the exclusive use of English for drivers’ license exams:

I’m not trying to get into a debate about the role of English in America, but I think it’s important to understand that a hostile situation makes it increasingly difficult for people to become open-minded about a wide scope of music choices. If people are this defensive about the use of English in such a minute area of life, how do you think these same people will feel if the music around then suddenly became saturated with sounds of a language not their own.

Part of me is sympathetic to this way of thinking. I understand the unfamiliar and unknown can make people uncomfortable; however, the majority of me realizes that placing cultural limitations on yourself is an incredibly stupid thing to do.

I am also a person who believes in the importance of finding solutions, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t really have any (besides writing this site). I sincerely hope that Enrique Bunbury becomes insanely popular here. I also wish that record labels would have a little more faith in Americans. Promote more foreign language artists here. We can take it! I think increased exposure will allow Americans to become more comfortable with the idea of foreign language songs. Despite singing in Spanish and Japanese respectively, Shakira and Sakamoto were able to create large amounts of success. I believe this can happen again. For the sake of cultural awareness, we should not be English only.

For those unfamiliar with Bunbury, here are a couple of tracks from this latest album Las Consecuencias:

Frente a Frente -

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Los Habitantes -

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To contact the author of this post e-mail: anise@offtheradio.com