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What language do you prefer vocals to be in?



Posts: 146   Visited by: 297 users

Original post

Posted by -Soulreaper-, 10.12.2008 - 19:48
For the most part a lot of European or foreign bands sing in English and not in their native language. Although there are the exceptions that will sing in their native language (what comes to mind is Tyr, Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Manegarm) but for the most part it is mainly English lyrics.

For one thing, I was wondering why is this? Whenever I listen to a band and the vocals are anything other than English it just seems more powerful and more natural. Although, on the other hand with English vocals, mostly everyone will know what the lyrical content means. I don't know if this is just me, but how do you feel on this matter?

Poll

What language do you prefer vocals to be in?

Doesnt matter as long as it sounds good
98
English
87
Native Tongue
16

Total votes: 201
07.06.2011 - 06:04
Written by Guib on 06.06.2011 at 01:14

Usually as long as the music rocks I don't mind.

Same here, Finntroll, Moonsorrow etc would sound just as good to me if they were signing in english. I understand why a lot of bands/fans prefer English though, makes it more accessible to a broader fan base.
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07.06.2011 - 18:17
Guib
Thrash Talker
Yeah I guess its pretty much why most people like to have it in english
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07.06.2011 - 21:20
king_matt
I don't care, I barely even listen to lyrics.
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07.06.2011 - 21:35
GroundZero
English: because it's the most spoken language and Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, etc.. were made to be sung in English, I mean, those genres sound better in English.

Just imagine somebody singing Mariachi in French or English. It would suck!
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08.06.2011 - 01:11
king_matt
Written by GroundZero on 07.06.2011 at 21:35

English: because it's the most spoken language and Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, etc.. were made to be sung in English, I mean, those genres sound better in English.

Just imagine somebody singing Mariachi in French or English. It would suck!

I can see your point, but I disagree. Unless you actually enjoy the lyrics in songs, it doesn't matter what language they are sung/growled/screamed/yelled in.
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08.06.2011 - 05:21
GroundZero
Written by king_matt on 08.06.2011 at 01:11

I can see your point, but I disagree. Unless you actually enjoy the lyrics in songs, it doesn't matter what language they are sung/growled/screamed/yelled in.

Yes, maybe you're right. Personally I am habituated to listen to metal, rock and other genres in English. I have some rock albums in Spanish, they are good, but anyway, I prefer to listen to those genres in English, in my opinion, they sound better.

But, to be honest with you, sometimes it's very difficult to understand what the bands are singing about in genres like death or black metal, and it's perfectly the same whether such songs are sung in English or any other language
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08.06.2011 - 05:37
king_matt
Written by GroundZero on 08.06.2011 at 05:21

Written by king_matt on 08.06.2011 at 01:11

I can see your point, but I disagree. Unless you actually enjoy the lyrics in songs, it doesn't matter what language they are sung/growled/screamed/yelled in.

Yes, maybe you're right. Personally I am habituated to listen to metal, rock and other genres in English. I have some rock albums in Spanish, they are good, but anyway, I prefer to listen to those genres in English, in my opinion, they sound better.

But, to be honest with you, sometimes it's very difficult to understand what the bands are singing about in genres like death or black metal, and it's perfectly the same whether such songs are sung in English or any other language

You are right. Also the accent of some vocalists may not be to the appeal of some. But usually you can't notice accents anyway.
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13.09.2015 - 09:18
Creativinity
I listen to anything that sounds good. In fact, German is my preferred metal language, even though I can't understand a word of it.
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13.09.2015 - 21:50
Ganondox
Well, I guess I'd generally prefer for it to be in English as that's what I understand, but some singers sound MUCH better when singing their native language than when singing in English.
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13.09.2015 - 21:54
Karlabos
^ hah. I'm the opposite. I prefer my music not to be sang in Portuguese, so that I can choose not to understand what's being said =p
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13.09.2015 - 23:04
Zap
I agree Karla, usually I get really annoyed when I hear that the lyrics are in Dutch and I can understand them. If they're unintelligible I'm okay with it though.
For other languages I'm usually okay with it if I understand what's being sung though (as long as the lyrics are actually good) so I must just hate Dutch.
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22.09.2015 - 07:28
Wukk
I'm torn. I care a lot about lyrics and I like to understand what I'm hearing, so English is naturally better for that, but lyrics in the band's mother tongue have more of a personal feel (and a much lower chance of broken English or generally naff lyrics). In fact, I'm inclined to say my favourite language to listen to songs in is German - I have a growing love for bands like Dornenreich, Finsterforst, Der Weg einer Freiheit and Todtgelichter for that reason.
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22.10.2015 - 14:23
Vetrarnott
Account deleted
I prefer anything that sounds good specially native languages I like to ear even without understanding them. If I'm interested about the band I translate the lyrics and work a bit deeper on them. It takes a lot more work in languages as norwegian, which are not easily translated online. so I prefer bands who sing in norwegian, german, french and english. other languages are ok but if I don't like the sound of some language I probably don't waste much time listening to the band.
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24.10.2015 - 00:40
theFIST
Written by Creativinity on 13.09.2015 at 09:18

I listen to anything that sounds good. In fact, German is my preferred metal language, even though I can't understand a word of it.

it"s my native language, and the one i least like songs to be in
german is great for expressing thought out concepts in complex structures, in a way barely any modern language can, and while it works for everyday conversation, but once you try to make something artistic out of simple phrases it sounds obnoxiously stupid in a way very few languages can before the text loses any meaning
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Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:

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25.10.2015 - 20:23
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by theFIST on 24.10.2015 at 00:40

Written by Creativinity on 13.09.2015 at 09:18

I listen to anything that sounds good. In fact, German is my preferred metal language, even though I can't understand a word of it.

it"s my native language, and the one i least like songs to be in
german is great for expressing thought out concepts in complex structures, in a way barely any modern language can, and while it works for everyday conversation, but once you try to make something artistic out of simple phrases it sounds obnoxiously stupid in a way very few languages can before the text loses any meaning

I agree, latin language don't work so much, Portuagese is for frado, not metal, more north, more snow, more compex lang. more fits for metal, but English is best in many cases-..... why HM bands from E Europe are popular maybe in naibouting Slavic lands or hardly goes touring in Austria or Germany because Pols, Cechs or Slovaks lives there...
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Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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26.10.2015 - 01:25
Karlabos
Written by Bad English on 25.10.2015 at 20:23

Portuagese is for frado, not metal

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- Reimu Hakurei
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26.10.2015 - 14:31
Vetrarnott
Account deleted
Written by Karlabos on 26.10.2015 at 01:25

Written by Bad English on 25.10.2015 at 20:23

Portuagese is for frado, not metal



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28.10.2015 - 18:25
Cavernous
When it comes to metal, i'm an english language supremacist.
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12.06.2017 - 20:57
Antares8001
Well I really don't like it when I can't understand the lyrics, and since I only really speak English and German and I think that German is a terrible language for singing, I prefer English vocals.
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16.06.2017 - 19:02
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Antares8001 on 12.06.2017 at 20:57

Well I really don't like it when I can't understand the lyrics, and since I only really speak English and German and I think that German is a terrible language for singing, I prefer English vocals.

Ger and any other Germanic languadges are good to song, best lang group to sing
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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17.06.2017 - 00:57
Antares8001
Written by Bad English on 16.06.2017 at 19:02

Written by Antares8001 on 12.06.2017 at 20:57

Well I really don't like it when I can't understand the lyrics, and since I only really speak English and German and I think that German is a terrible language for singing, I prefer English vocals.

Ger and any other Germanic languadges are good to song, best lang group to sing

I think it just doesn't sound good, at least when we're talking about melodic singing. And singing in German always feels quite awkward to me, as it is a naturally much less melodic language than let's say English or French. It just has these harsh consonants and short vowels that I feel take a lot away from the "flow" if you will.
I can't even understand a lot of opera or more advanced singers in general who sing in German, because they have to kinda butcher the language to make it sound good. I think German lyrics can work well in the context of let's say death or black metal, or in aggressive and thematically dark songs in general. For example Mahler's Kindertotenlieder would be a great example of German singing I enjoy. But overall I'm definitely not a fan of German lyrics, especially when we're talking about heavy metal. Just my personal opinion though.
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24.07.2017 - 23:51
dmiller458
Depends on what they're singing. What are we talking about when it comes to lyrics? "I can drink more, boink longer and rock louder than any man aliiiiiiiiiive - and we worship the devil!"

OR "I'm gonna get in touch with my Norse roots by banging a dead body on a pagan altar; right after I cannibalize my bandmate."

IF that's the best they can come up with, then I'd prefer it in a language I can't understand.
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03.09.2017 - 23:36
TeachNThrash
Aside from the fact that I can't understand a lot of the lyrics from some bands, I prefer it to be in languages I understand. This would really be English because I don't listen to any bands that sing in Spanish or Japanese.
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20.09.2021 - 02:53
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
Doesn't matter to me, whatever you the artist think is best.
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27.11.2022 - 08:10
JoHn Doe
Doesnt matter as long as it sounds good
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27.11.2022 - 16:21
Metal Diogenes
Doesn't really matter that much, most metal songs are sung in English anyway. From what I've heard I really like French, Polish and Hungarian.
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