3 of the Best Foreign Language Music Tracks
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Literally translated as ‘then we dance’, Belgian hip-hop musician Stromae’s electronic dance number ‘Alors On Dance’ is surely one of the most mind-numbing songs we’ve ever had the misfortune of hearing. Yet after sweeping the charts in nearly twenty countries across Europe, it is apparent that ‘Alors On Dance’ was simply impossible to ignore.
An intensely passionate and emotional number, Franco Battiato’s ‘La Cura’ shows off just why Italian is seen as one of the world’s most beautiful languages. It’s just a shame I can’t understand a word of it.
Emerging from the misty backdrop of West Berlin in the 1980’s, 99 Luftballons tells the story of a collection of 99 children’s balloons let loose over the Berlin Wall into the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. Mistaken for a ‘UFO’, the innocuous balloons kick off a 99 year war across both sides of a hopelessly separated city. With her chic appearance and soft voice, German popstar Nena beguiled listeners across Europe and ‘99 Luftballons’ became one of the defining songs of new wave music in the 1980s, as well as a symbol of both despair and optimism in a city torn apart by the vanity of war. An English version was released in 1984 and achieved pole position in 3 countries, although it never matched the legacy of the German version, Nena herself even opted to perform the German version at English concerts.