if you're trying to learn a new language i highly recommend listening to music in it. it really helped me learn German (thanks Die Aerzte, Fettes Brot, Die Fantastischen Vier). Each time you listen to a song you understand a new line, and it makes you really feel like you're making progress!

I would say about a quarter of my songs on my iPod are in Japanese. I enjoy watching anime with my friends and we tend to download the opening songs from our favorite shows.
an example: "Rewrtie" by Asian Kung Fu Generation for the opening of the final season of Fullmetal Alchemist.

I listen to a lot of J-pop, and I'm fine with the language barrier

Well most of Sigur Ros' songs are not Icelandic, but are actually the lead singer's own language that he coined as "Vonlenska", which is just gibberish/scat singing.

hil34, I love the j-pop as well!

It depends on the music. I love latin music and I don't have a clue what they are saying.

i voted yes, but when i got thinking about it, i love the song Dragonstea Din Tai, and also love a couple good French songs

so I guess it depends, but generally i like English music

U guys remember that song 99 hot balloons, I think it was german!

TidalWave - I thought the singer referred to the 'language' as "Hopelandish" or something to that effect. either way you're right, Sigur Ros is a bad example here since they're not actually singing in a defined language

I speak / understand about 6 or 7 languages so my iPod is fairly multilingual, and I like a lot of songs well outside my language range as well - I think some music is just very universal regardless of lyrical content (though I frequently look up translations if I'm curious about what a song is about).

fauxtographic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigur_Rós#Vonlenska

"Vonlenska is a term used to describe the gibberish sung by the band,[12] in particular Birgisson. It is also commonly known by the English translation of its name, Hopelandic. It takes its name from "Von", a song on Sigur Rós’s debut album Von where it was first used."

We're both right!!

I actually know another language, that being Spanish, and besides that I recently listen to a lot of music in French which I sort of understand. I'm pretty sure I've listened to music in Japanese and probably a couple of other languages too. I'll listen to anything good.

TidalWave - oh that's funny. I probably wouldn't be able to tell Icelandic from many other languages including "Hopelandish" or "Vonlenska" It's still not my native language, so the example still applies. Actually, it might be the best example because it's nobody's native language!

I'm gonna say yes, even though most of the music I listen to isn't in my own language, seeing as Engilsh isn't my mother tongue. But I understand it, and that's what matters. However, lyrics aren't always very important, so I can like some music that I don't understand, it just doesn't happen very often. Mostly because I don't bother checking it out, I guess, because the places where I find most of my music recommendations are mainly focused on music in English (or Norwegian).

I don't put too much emphasis on lyrics in general. Of course, I can really love a great lyric or (more likely) get turned off by really stupid lyrics, but all in all, they're not as important to me as the melody, arrangement, etc.

I listen to a lot of non-English-speaking artists. Most of them are from France or the Scandinavian countries; some artists sing in Japanese, Spanish or Dutch. As long as the song sounds nice, I don't care what language it's in.

i actually have a lot of music that's not in English and i LOVE to listen to it. one of my all time favorites is MC Solaar from France. i only understand words here and there since he's a rapper - but i LOVE LOVE LOVE to listen to him on my iPod.

Oh my gosh I love sigur ros, they are amazing!!

I like a lot of Spanish music. And French and Portuguese.

not at all. i have songs in about 7-8 languages and i know all the lyrics to them.

In Quebec where most people talk french, music in english gets a lot of airplay, high sales and are in demands. Much more than music in french. Also, there the biggest summer hits can be in spanish.

I think it's about the arrangement, the melody, the rythm and the hooks more than just the lyrics.

supertramp, you're right. The original title is "99 Luftballons". If you like that one, here's an (imo) even better Nena song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WdZevSqGCg

For me it depends on the music. If the song has a strong melody, I don't really care about the language. I listen to a lot of English songs, even though that's not my first language, but I suppose that doesn't count.
A while back, I couldn't stop listening to these two Czech songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8ZMqfaFak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaZEnj113pU

I love Yael Naim! If the music moves me, it moves me so I guess I don't have a language barrier problem.

Sure! My native language is Spanish, but I learnt English at a very young age and have no problem understanding lyrics. I also like some Brazilian artists and French ones too.

I think their albums are best when you listen to the entire thing and you're just chilling. I don't listen to them in the car or when I'm at work...but when I want to relax at home...and it's the entire album, not just a song here or there.

i listen to music in my own language
that is spoken in africa which i like
but other than that i dont really listen
to music in other languages

Oh, and I totally make up my own lyrics to their music. I mean, I just sing the English words that sound like whatever they're actually singing.
Do you think they have a Rosetta Stone program for "Hopelandic?"

I said no. I do sometimes wonder if I'm dancing around to a song about removing eyeballs and eating them (or other such nonsense) but if I am.. oh well!

I love listening to Nina Hagen. I know about 3 words in German, but her music and singing style is so cool that I don't care.

It's not really that much of a problem to me. Sometimes it's frustrating not to understand the lyrics exactly as a native speaker would BUT what attracts me to a song is usually the music. The voice can be nice, too! I'm lucky I'm bilingual because I get to listen and understand to lyrics both in English and Spanish but I also listen songs in French and other languages...and of course, I listen to Bjork's Icelandic songs, too! Karvel comes to mind

Chritsina Sturmer is awesome but I really wish I could sing along to her songs!

Not at all! A good portion of the music I listen to is in French and Portuguese -- I've also got some German, Japanese, and Italian in my collection. Listening to these songs has definitely helped me pick up some vocabulary, and I've even learned several entire songs! Along with my love of foreign films, my love of foreign music has got me on my way to being multi-lingual

If you ever want to impress your friends with an "exotic" song, here's one of my favourite ones in Swiss German:
Züri West - I schänke dr mis Härz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qVADii3Ja0

Also, if you ever feel like listening to some German music and need some recommendations, just ask me.

Nope...not I"m not sure if I'm going to get all Icelandic but I listen to French HipHop and my French is poor to say the least but it's still great!

Oh and I like Tatu as well the Russian version of there album was way better than the english version

The only albums that I listen to on an occasional basis that are in a different language are Selena's "Dreaming of You" album (some songs are in Spanish) and Celine Dion's "The French Album," otherwise known as "D'eux."

No, I listen to a lot of french Music .....Vanessa Paradis, Ina-ich...., Japanese rock as well....Maximum the hormone, etc...., I do not know any of the two languages but I definitely love their music

I love Sigur Rós even if I have no idea what their songs mean--the same goes for random artists in my library like Alex Ubago or Eros Ramazzotti. Japanese rock is addictive, too.

I don't mind when it's not a language I can understand. I think the 'problem' with Sigur Ros is just that they don't really have albums you can sing along or listen to for 5 mins then stop for 2 mins. I know I have to be in a specific context to be able to really enjoy them.

Talking about that - I'm seeing them this weekend at the Festival! Woohoo!

I don't think so. When I lived in Ecuador it was really common to hear music on the radio in Portuguese or French even (aside from music in Spanish & English of course), so I've always liked listening to music in all different languages. I'm usually more into the beat anways

My mother tongue is German and generally speaking, I'd prefer german lyrics over english ones if they're done right. I just think that you can do so much more with german, it's such a complex language that it gives you many more things to play with. So I'm all for witty german songs!

I also love swiss german rap since it's very similar to the dialect I speak.

French rnb and rap is wonderful to listen to when studying french, it really helped me a lot.

i almost forgot:

Peter Gabriel's german albums are the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. They're so unintentionally funny, pure genius!

If it sounds good, I listen to it. I also try to get a translation of the lyrics, though.

I

*I love Japanese music (L'Arc~en~Ciel, T.M.Revolution!) and Bjork, and some French and Spanish music. Makes me very happy.