Have you ever heard “Non, je ne regrette rien” by Edith Piaf? Maybe “La vie en rose” by the same singer?
In the middle of the 20th century, Edith Piaf was one of the most popular singers in America, despite being French. In fact, during World War II and later years, there were quite well-known songs from different countries that raised the morale of their people.
The best-known example must surely ring a bell for many, “Bella Ciao,” which, though associated with much of Italian anti-fascist resistance, actually became popular a decade later. However, this song survives to the present day, being again popularized by the Spanish Netflix series “La casa de papel” (Money Heist).
As the years went on, jazz, rock and blues became predominant in the U.S. Not necessarily American bands, but English-speaking bands got the top spots on almost every chart.
It is a cultural phenomenon resulting from the American predominance in the Western bloc of the Cold War. When the cold war ended, thousands of products of Western popular culture were opened for Eastern Europe and some African countries even.
In turn, many products from the Eastern bloc eventually reached the Western countries, including music. Today – despite the current geopolitical situation – we have access to music and food from virtually everyone, but especially music. Platforms like Spotify and Napster allow anyone in the world to upload their songs so those on the other side of the globe can listen to them.
Regardless, in the U.S. music is predominantly sung in English, for obvious reasons. In other countries, although they have another language, English commonly appears on the top of the most listened songs.
Almost no one will recognize the name of Indila. She is a French singer and songwriter, and her songs are not especially heard on their own, but on TikTok and Instagram her songs make the background in no number of videos, like “Golden Brown.” Even at the Holmes Student Center you can hear Shakira or Don Omar from time to time.
We must recognize the value in non-English music, and we must make an effort to search for these songs so that they are not forgotten every time we swipe the screen.