#foreign language lyrics

[jules-has-notes]

A Crimpella — VoicePlay music video

This is one of the more odd and creative things VoicePlay concocted early on. They turned a collection of phonations, sound effects, nonsense words, and foreign language lyrics from two dozen songs into a delightfully goofy performance art piece. You will almost certainly recognize some of the samples. The set-up is a little drawn-out for my taste, but once the beat kicks in, it's off to the races.

Details:

title: A Crimpella

original songs / performers: [2:20] "Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was); [2:28] "Witch Doctor" by Alvin & the Chipmunks; [2:35] "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; [2:40] "We Go Together" from Grease!; [2:47] “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men; [2:55] "Imma Be" by the Black Eyed Peas; [3:03] "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard; [3:05] "Shoop" by Salt N Pepa; [3:12] "Jock-A-Mo" (aka "Iko Iko") by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford; [3:20] "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppet Show; [3:30] "Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin" by Journey; [3:54] "Goofy Goober Rock" from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; [3:57] "MMMBop" by Hanson; [4:10] "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede; [4:14] "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock; [4:19] "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka; [4:29] "Can't Get You Outta My Head" by Kylie Minogue; [4:32] "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen; [4:45] "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga; [4:51] "Limbo La La" by James Lloyd; [5:01] "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie; [5:18] "Wanna Be Starting Something" by Michael Jackson; [5:24] "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam

arranged by: VoicePlay

release date: 1 September 2012

My favorite bits:

the thump at 2:30 propelling Eli into the air

everyone "watching" the UFO fly by

their most concerted effort at choreography being to "Shoop"

all the tentative poking and grimacing as they try to figure out how to "fix" their necks

Tony rocking out solo while the other guys consider whether to join in

the string of silly noises starting at 4:08

Layne's lowkey Little Monster claws during the Lady Gaga section

Trivia:

○ The boys gnaw on five CD cases at the beginning, but only Earl's album contains a song included in the ensuing medley:

Earl — Cooleyhighharmony by Boyz II Men (1991)

Tony — The Doors' greatest hits (1996 re-release)

Eli — Pump by Aerosmith (1989)

Geoff — Toxic Audio's eponymous debut album (1999)

Layne — Contra by Vampire Weekend (2010)

○ Several of the songs referenced here have appeared in VoicePlay's later medleys or short videos:

The bell tone section from Motownphilly was also included in their Boy Bands in 5 Minutes medley.

Different sections of Bohemian Rhapsody were part of their Queen in 5 Minutes medley.

Hooked on a Feeling and Mahna Mahna have both been featured in recent short-form videos.

○ This piece was included in their setlist for the 2014 Sing-Off tour.

○ This medley was inspired by British comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh. TMB had a series of sketches containing absurdist songs / performance art pieces they called "crimping". (Fair warning, most of their "crimps" feature adult language and gestures.)

[sorry-75]

drive like i do

[zenasfuxk]

[sojutrait]

well… on the bright side cowboy carter will be getting that aoty

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

The Bed – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec // About You – The 1975

requested by anon 🤍

[daily1975lyrics]

❝she was part of the air force, i was part of the band i always used to bust into her hand in my, my, my imagination❞

[bitch-exe]

the new the 1975 album is already altering my body’s chemistry. i have listened to about you on repeat for half an hour. i am not who i was when i woke up. matty healy i want to kiss you and also hit you with my car.

[thecoldcoffeecup]

she's got two-tone everything

[thegreatestfilmnevermade]

The Seventh Seal (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1957) | Part of the Band by The 1975 (dir. Samuel Bradley, 2022)

[kaizey]

I had a hypomanic episode at 3am and theorised an irish historical reading of Hoziers 'Foreigners God'

So while I listen to alot of variety while working, Hozier is a common part of my weekly background, and while I was researching for an article on wells in gaelic culture after going out and taking photos of local Sí mounds aswell, I feel like I got hit with the conspiracy theory beam that sent me into an epithany hyperfixation while listening to Foreigners God and how you can read it as a lament for the last millenia of irish history

The first verse talking about a romantacism of pre-christian, or specifically, pre-protestant plantation Ireland (before the Tudor conquest in 1536), given even early irish catholicism was by papl standards, basically pagan, as a wilder, more free place without the stigma enforced through religious and planter society ["She moved with shameless wonder. The perfect creature rarely seen"].

With the arrival of the english "liar brought the thunder", with the lie being able to maybe be read as the lie of "civilising us" ["Since some liar brought the thunder"]

In this, you could view the "She" as being an anthropomorphism of Éire, with the spirit of the people looking towards the author, either a singulr or collective representation of native irish, whos been continuously emptied out spiritually and culturally under colonialism, and now is filled with a growing hatred for not only the planters, but protestantism itself , even at personal cost ["But still my heart is heavy. With the hate of some other man's beliefs"]

The pre-chorus could be seen as a reinforcing of the scorn for the colonial planters, who especially in the 18th and 19th century, would have been mostly interacted with via the landlordism of wealthy protestant english aristocrats who maintained that their actions were justified in the name of "civilising" us, which would always hinge on violence ["Always a well dressed fraud. Who wouldn't spare the rod. Never for me"]

The second verse could be read as the most forward and lamenting, since it opens with the speaker rhetorically questiong their attempts at conforming to the heirarchy and imposed british way of life, and how often for the likes of peasant and working class irish, would mean performing the role of the simple, obediant but charming worker, to cling onto both employment and avoid potential backlash from the planter ["Wondering who I copy. Mustering some tender charm"].

The line returning to the state of Ireland and, assuming this vague time around the 1700's- early 1800's, our country had in essence been stripped of the majority of its natural and cultural resources, let alone any autonomy held by our people. And in that state of oppression, with minimal success in terms of organsed large scale revolution or uprising (e.g the 1798 uprising), Ireland could be read as having little hope of gaining freedom ["She feels no control of her body. She feels no safety in my arms"].

The last stanza of the verse could by far be the most emotional, especially for gaeilgeoirí, with the author lamenting his lack of language to express his pain for whats happened to the irish people. Explicitly, this could be read as being through the massive, systematic decline of Gaeilge. At the end of the 1700's, our population of ~5 million had estimated 3.5 million irish speakers. By 1851, following the famine, this had dropped to 1.5 million, and by 1900, only 600,000 remained on the island. This targeted attempt at cultural extermination had been going on for centuries, largely through the implimentation of Na Péindlíthe, or Penal Laws, specifically and extension of the staute of Kilkenny, which banned the use of irish when natives spoke to colonisers, and in 1851, banned any use of Gaeilge in areas under english rule. And any attempts to use or express our native language, music or culture was met with either legal, or often, violent rebuttal. All which you can read the author as expressing how with all that leaving them increasingly unable to truly express or show true love for the old Ireland that irish people and growing republicanism at the time wished to return to ["I've no language left to say it. But all I do is quake to her. Breaking if I try convey it. The broken love I make to her"]

It then just gets outright literal with the pre-chorus. English was and is not our language. The english cultural, historical and political weights placed on us were not ours. They were foreign words, and foreign ideals of a coloniser forced upon us ["All that I've been taught. And every word I've got. Is foreign to me"]

In no way saying is this valid or a well informed reading, but it was hard not to get sucked into the theorising and seeing serendipity betwen the sadness and loss in our history and the lyrics from one of our best musicians. Anyway. Hope if you enjoyed the mental ramblings if you got this far

[breakmyheartwithlyrics]

The 1975- About You

[growing-sidewayss]

My list (in no particular order) of the best lyrics from The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language:

1. WOMAN, YOU ARE 64 YEARS OLD!!

2. You ask about the cows wearin’ my sweater

3. I think I’ve got a boner but I can’t really tell

4. Central Park is sea world for trees

5. DONT FUCK IT, YOU MUPPET!!

[sorry-75]

// i love you don’t you mind? //

[zenasfuxk]

The 1975, BEING FUNNY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (2022)

[brickwall1yrics]

Bejeweled - Taylor Swift

[lyricallymnded]

human too // the 1975