A language is a system of communicating with other people, exchanging opinions, expressing yourself verbally. There are many languages in the world, each and every single one of them unique in their own way, and there are billions of words and phrases you can use to express yourself, so why just stick to English? Have you ever wondered how different a song might sound when the lyrics are translated to another language? Would it hold the same beauty or will it turn out even better than the original?
One spoken word can be translated in so many different ways, for example your standard word used for greeting each other, “Hello”, can be said as “Bonjour”, “Zdravo”, “Merhaba”, “Hallo”, “Cze??”, “Olá”, “Hallå”, etc. So what would happen if you took an entire song with loads of words, originally written and performed in English, and translated it to a completely different language?
Just to show you the beauty that one language can hold, we have asked you guys to tell us some of your favourite songs, sung in another language. After adding some of our own ideas, we came up with a list of popular English songs and found their identical twins in other languages. Some of the lyrics may have been changed in order for the song to go well with the instrumental, but it’s basically the same thing.
And here’s our list, enjoy:
“Love You Goodbye” by One Direction, in Spanish
Is it possible that this song sounds even more beautiful in Spanish? If anyone can make this happen, it’s Felix. You have not lived if you haven’t heard this version.
“Photograph” by Ed Sheeran, in French
The song made us emotional, the video made us emotional, the French version by Sara’h made us bawl our eyes out.
“Wings” by Little Mix, in Korean
While we’re waiting for Little Mix to collaborate with a kpop artist, why not check out the songs that Little Mix themselves remade for their Korean fans!
“Wings” by Little Mix, in Japanese
Also we have a Japanese version. These girls are on fire, and we can’t decide if we like this better than the original… It’s definitely just as catchy.
“7 Years” by Lukas Graham, in German
The lyrics are a bit altered, but it still holds it’s original glory, and instead of the original lyrics, Voyce sang about his life experiences (growing up in Germany and all that), and even mentioned a girl that “joggled with his heart”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0O3mmeI41k
“Sorry” by Justin Bieber, in Spanish
Leroy here covered JB’s recent massive single in Spanish, and it may be Leroy himself, or the actual translation, but whatever it is, it brings a bit of softness and beauty to the song, don’t you think so?
“If I could Fly” by One Direction, in Russian
Russian has never sounded more lovely. While you’ll mostly hear it on the TV from a guy that’s running the mafia, one of 1D’s most emotional songs has been converted to this language, and suddenly it has a different ring to it, as covered by Vs Kas
“Hello” by Adele, in Croatian
Kristian‘s amazing vocals really come to show in this, the Croatian version, of Adele’s most popular song. This one song made us realise that we definitely need more Croatian song translations.
“Stitches” by Shawn Mendes, in Arabic
By singing “Stitches”, throwing in a little Arabic, Mok Saib (along with Alice) came up with the perfect carpool song. We’ve still got goulili goulili stuck in our heads.
“Sorry” by Justin Bieber, in Danish
Ruedrued only doesn’t always (more like ever) translate songs to Danish, but after this short video you’ll be asking him for more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Yw0ILgml4
“Rude” by MAGIC!, in Arabic
Arabic singer Bosla has covered many songs by translating them to his own language, but this one is definitely our favourite. So if you’re ever interested what Maroon 5, Coldplay, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, and other artists would sound like in Arabic, he’s your answer.
“Break The Rules” by Charlie XCX, in Japanese
Just like the ladies of Little Mix, Charlie XCX has taken it upon herself to sing her songs in Japanese, like Break The Rules for instance….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZTTi_HIglA
“Boom Clap” by Charlie XCX, in Japanese
…or her massive single, TFIOS’s Boom Clap
“Uncover” by Zara Larsson, in French
Sara’h is back, this time with an amazing translation of “Uncover”. The song itself sounded beautiful, and it’s hard not to shed a tear when you hear it translated to the language of love.
“Impossible” by James Arthur, in Italian
Zcalacee has blessed our ears when he uploaded Impossible in Italian. Such beauty, it’s hard to describe the satisfaction of listening to this song.
“Baby I” by Ariana Grande, in Japanese
Maco has got Ariana’s vocals down, so why not see what it would sound like in Japanese? The answer? Absolutely amazing.
“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift, in Swedish
Don’t get us wrong, we adore this song when it’s sung by Taylor, but Alexander‘s voice sounds so smooth, it’s hard not to love it.
“Pillowtalk” by ZAYN, in Italian
ZAYN’s very first solo single, sung by Manuel in Italian. That’s all. You’ll want to wrap yourself with this song while chilling with your laptop on a lazy Sunday. And look at that, today is Sunday.
“Flashlight” by Jessie J, in German
Whoever says that German is a mean language, just show them Ced’s version of Pitch Perfect‘s song Flashlight. Raise your hand if you want Ced to make a guest appearance on Pitch Perfect 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I11FS7lvRBI
“Let Her Go” by Passenger, in Swedish
We just can’t get enough of Alexander! His voice perfectly matches this song, making it even more satisfying to listen to in Swedish.
“Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding, in Russian
We’re almost positive that this sounds batter than the original. Is it about the language or Lika‘s amazing delivery, we can’t say for sure. One thing we know is that this version makes us feel someway.
“Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber, in Korean
You may want to turn on subtitles for this one. Or not. Totally your choice. Either way, XOi makes it sound absolutely amazing.
“The Heart Wants What It Wants” by Selena Gomez, in Spanish
Selena does have Latino origins in her. We’re sure a lot of people would sing a petition for Sel-G to sing this in Spanish, but until then Laura has done a ridiculously accurate cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtV3Ke7kLYM
“Give Your Heart A Break” by Demi Lovato, in Italian
Oldies goldies. Or should we say Italian goldies. Seriously though, Mirko‘s Italian version of the song should be considered a national treasure.
“Bo$$” by Fifth Harmony, in Portuguese
As if this song wasn’t good enough in English, Tiago had to go and make a Portuguese version. Is it just as goor or better than the original? You tell us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaNp9blgBHU
“Amnesia” by Five Seconds Of Summer, in Spanish
Spanish is a lovely language, okay? We had to include another Spanish version of a song, and when you listen to it, you’ll see we made no mistake. Thank you, Kevin, Karla & La Banda!
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran, in Gaelige
For our last song, we have chosen Ed Sheeran’s song, translated into Gaelige. It seems fitting, considering the fact that Ed is Irish. Now, while RTE2fm already made a good cover, we couldn’t help but wonder what it would sound like if Ed sung it himself.
Šta ste mislili o pjesmama, je li vam se svidio izbor? Avez-vous l’aimes? Qué piensas al respecto? Du solltest uns auf Twitter folgen und Sagen was du denkst über die Songs CelebMix, as well as our linguistic skills.
Bye! ?ao! Auf Wiedersehen! Ciao! Arrivederci! Adiós! Au revoir! Sayonara! Güle güle!