How much of the music you listen to is in a language you're not fluent in?

[WokiBakoki]

Music in languages you don't understand taught me how much I'm really interested in the raw sound over meaning and lyrics. Even the vocals, despite just being noise to me, scratches the itch, and there's an argument to be made that maybe some music is better without its messages or lyrics funneling it into one category of enjoyment. What I mean is, a song about love that you understand, that's always gonna be a love song no matter how you feel. But if it's in a different language, it's just a nice set of sounds you can use in a wider range of moods.

 

[ArchienineArchienine's icon]

I hear mostly instrumental music so not a lot really.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Very little — I listen to some Polish and Finnish bands, but I can sorta understand them.

German bands on the other hand...

 

[Clippy]

Most of the time I don't understand the lyrics of any given song even if it's in a language I speak. Such is the joy of being a metalhead

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

roughly 30-40%

 

[shaggi]

I rarely listen to songs that i don't understand. Lyrics is important part of song for me.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

Until my late-teens/early-20s, I couldn't understand the majority of lyrics in the majority of music, period..
Vocals were basically just another musical instrument to me. This is the reason why most Death Metal pisses me off. I love everything about the genre EXCEPT the vocals (it throws everything off). One of the only bands that I ever heard "do it right" for me is Amon Amarth..

But now that I can understand most of it, the lyrics just annoy me >90% of the time. Hence why I tend to prefer instrumentals, such as Video Game music!
Most of what I have is either straight OST or remixes..

 

[Princess Viola]

Look probably a good 85-90% of my music playlist is Japanese pop, Japanese rock, or Japanese metal these days. I do not speak Japanese.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Most of the time I don't understand the lyrics of any given song even if it's in a language I speak. Such is the joy of being a metalhead

"Static" should be a recognized language.

 

[RestoredaftrLostv2]

A lot. Multiple languages. I have several mp3 players all full of different types musics.

 

[YoshifreakZX]

VGM wise, I like me some Katamari music as well as Japanese vocal Mega Man tracks, such as Electrical Communication from MM8 and Moonlight from X6. Besides VGM... I have listened to Rammstein and I like their songs (from what I heard at least, which is admittedly not much lol), but that's all I could think of at the moment.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

VGM wise, I like me some Katamari music as well as Japanese vocal Mega Man tracks, such as Electrical Communication from MM8 and Moonlight from X6. Besides VGM... I have listened to Rammstein and I like their songs (from what I heard at least, which is admittedly not much lol), but that's all I could think of at the moment.

Rammstein is the shit! But I do prefer listening to them in their native "Deutsch"..

 

[PhrawzT]

I enjoy bands like Maximum the Hormone despite not knowing any Japanese and Bloodywood is a great band with a lot of their lyrics being in Punjabi. I saw Bloodywood live last year and it was a great show.

 

[Ikagura]

I love songs with a made up language sometimes (like that one from Klonoa 2 and that other one from Kirby and the Forgotten Land).

Sadly when I want to hear a song in Latin that isn't ancient chants it's harder to come by. Give us pop songs in Latin for once.

 

[AxelThunderstrike]

The older I get the more diverse my music tastes have become. Right now I would put it at around 40% of the music I listen to daily is in a language that I do not understand. When I was younger I would have listened to almost exclusively music in my native language with the occasional song that I would have heard on a movie soundtrack.

 

[random0nonsense]

It started out with Japanese thanks to anime and video games but has gradually expanded. It's still mostly Japanese, but I've gone even more global.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I listen most of it in English and I understand it (but with some help reading the lyrics, not all by ear), but yersterday I was listening to Sotiria, a German singer, and I don't understand it even if I like the music.

 

[Mr. SyS]

Occasionally if we're not talking about video game soundtracks. I wish I can understand it. If I don't though? Well the voice does count as another instrument, at least to me.

 

[blahbleh]

english is foreign to me so it's %100

 

[Ikagura]

I love songs with a made up language sometimes (like that one from Klonoa 2 and that other one from Kirby and the Forgotten Land).

Sadly when I want to hear a song in Latin that isn't ancient chants it's harder to come by. Give us pop songs in Latin for once.

So apparently there's a playlist of songs in Latin

Not a foreign language per se but I loved that Belter cover of Highway Star in The Expanse

 

[Megarockman _1987 Megarockman _1987]

Like the 80-89% for me

Post automatically merged: May 11, 2026

So apparently there's a playlist of songs in Latin

Not a foreign language per se but I loved that Belter cover of Highway Star in The Expanse

Wow a cover about deep purple!!!
Nice

 

[Ikagura]

Wow a cover about deep purple!!!
Nice

You meant from Profundus Purpura?

 

[Scotty Scotty]

Most of the time, if I'm not jamming out to my favorite game OSTs, I'm listening to Japanese Pop and Japanese Rock.

 

[ObscureJigglypuff]

90% In my case.

 

[Rioru]

Uhhhhh.......Yeah pretty much a good 85%-90% . Maybe more than that on most days. Also VGM of course.

Most of it is Japanese music and I do feel like I should branch out from that, but every time I listen to Wpop (american pop, yes people are inventing new terms ) I feel soooo put off by it, like I tried listening to Chappell roan and I stopped because pop artists can never be drama free and/or sincere most of the time. Still listen to english rock/metal but yeah pop is just no, I will never relate to it deeply lmao (Except for jpop and old wpop I love you Ayumi Hamasaki & Kumi Koda, etc.)