Alright, I hereby implore all you music fans and/or linguistics nuts out there to comment on the following video. Well, not so much on the video, but more on the fact that the bands in the video (two of which are comprised, in part, by my students) sing in English. Why is it that English has become the standard for pop music even among those who can't understand it?
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4 comments:
I can't watch the video here at work, but I can answer your question: it's the same reason that Italian is the standard for opera. Rock music is rooted in English and the sound of the language is as inseparable from rock as the sound of an electric guitar. You can have rock that is in a different language just as you can have rock that doesn't use electric guitar. But it just doesn't sound the same.
Kade, you're good. You have a phenomenal eye for detail - unexpected and soothing in a weird way.
Anyway, linguistically: I have to agree with Deckard here. I think pop/rock music is practically the folk music of America. It's steeped in all that is culturally American, even the rebellion against the mainstream. I actually heard about the exact complement to this situation on NPR. There is a Cajun music resurgence in Louisiana right now, sung entirely in French by a generation that doesn't speak it as a native tongue. Musicians are actually going to Quebec for immersion camps so that they can sound authentic in their lyrics.
Prediction (well, maybe it's already happened, or begun to): given long enough, someone will totally break from the "English as baseline language" for punk rock, in order to establish their own identity or show their defiance of the established punk identity.
Linguisticsgasm!
Good arguments above, but I think it's the same reason that English tshirts are so popular for Europeans to wear even when they don't speak any English. It's a fashion statement. Jazz, another style that is rooted in English, has some amazing songs in Spanish, Portugese, Italian, and French (proly more). And I think that those jazz songs DO have the same sound as jazz songs in English.
Interestingly, in Spain during the Franco period, there wasn't any music allowed that wasn't Spanish. So artists who wanted to sell their stuff here had to make albums in Spanish. There are Spanish versions of songs from that age that are pretty interesting. (Remember that Franco was around until the '70s.) Of course there were still underground places to buy original versions of stuff like the Beatles and etc. that was popular in the rest of the world, and as a matter of fact we went the other night to watch a ''Beatles Tribute'' concert by a bunch of old Spaniards. It was pretty sweet.
Anyway, I think it's just a trend. Just like having Lacoste trucker hats and D&G bling belts. And tiny, tiny man purses. Listening to English songs lends you a certain 'street cred,' just like singing in English lends your musical portfolio that little something.
I think we're both right, Suzy. American (or Anglophone) culture is very trendy right now in many places around the world, which is part of why rock music is trendy. Logo tees are also internationally thought of to be an American form of fashion, so there's a connection there too.
There are all sorts of contemporary genres of music that originated in Latin America and are immensely popular there, and they are always sung in Spanish. But I bet you a lot of rock bands there still sing in English. It's definitely part of the culture that is associated with the genre.
Jazz might display more linguistic diversity because it has its roots in purely instrumental style, having no attachment to any language. Or maybe it just doesn't because it doesn't and I'm reading too much into it.
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