Re: Japanese DJ Patter

"swt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:

[ about japanese singers who mix in english lyrics ]
 
> Foreign tongues aren't as popular in American pop music, although
> there is a rise in the number of people getting kanji tattoos.

well, maybe not, but you should try a little harder. I mean "domo
arrigato, mister robot" may be one of the few well-known examples
of passing mention of japanese words in american songs, but you're ignoring 
all the languages that americans *do* like to drop into their lyrics.

FRENCH: saying "merci" or "bonjour" in an american song is reasonably 
common. we also have the examples of "Ma Belle Amie" (performed by '70s 
one-hit wonder Tee Set,) "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" (notable 
for being grammatically incorrect,) Hank Williams "Jambalya" (and also tons 
of zydeco stuff,) ... and (temporarily changing canadians into americans,) 
"Sweet City Woman". mixing french into american songs was more popular in 
the swing/big band era.

GERMAN: elvis singing "I Don't Have a Wooden Heart" half in german comes to 
mind. also, Zappa's "Fuck Me (You Ugly Son of a Bitch)". and Wayne Newton 
singing "Donke Schone".

SPANISH: what, you never heard of ritchie valens or tony orlando? or rico 
suave?

actually, I can see where the misunderstandings come from. first, there's 
so much french, spanish, and german words borrowed into english in the 
first place, so it's kind of hard to determine why a composer is using a
foreign word in english lyrics. second, there are so many imported songs,
americans get a taste of foreign languages without american composers 
needing to even try. both the english and german versions of "99 Red 
Balloons" got airplay, for example. and when a beatles song becomes popular 
in america, but it includes french words, how exactly do you count that? 
does it make americans hipper for listening to songs with non-english 
words, or stupider because they have to have foreigners do their singing 
for them?