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Writer's pictureSara Holmes
Sep 26, 20238 min read

Episode 92: Song Sampler #4 - Spanish, Spanglish and More!

It's been a while since we did a song sampler (Episode 54: Song Sampler #3 - Unique Dance Styles of Spanish Music, to be exact)! For our special episode today, we'll look at a list of at 13 songs that are either in Spanish, Spanglish, or have a multitude of languages (including, of course, English and Spanish! ;D This is a podcast about Spanish, after all!).


Since this is a special episode, and music is a cultural thing, we won't have a Cultural Tip today. Next episode, though, we shall start a new Cultural Tip series on Paraguay. Entonces, ¡empecemos!

 
 

10 Bilingual and Multilingual Songs

Let's begin first with songs that are just in Spanish.


Spanish Songs

Here are 4 songs that are sung in Spanish (or Spanish and a language other than English). Two of these songs also have English versions (and one a French version!).


1. "La Llorona" from Disney's Coco

Of course, this song doesn't have an English version. But you can find the English translation here. I love this song. It has so many great elements: great vocals, haunting melody, and it is steeped in the Mexican folklore of La Llorona, the terrifying ghost of a weeping woman who mourns the children she drowned. Disney did such a great job with this movie.


2. "Aún Existe Amor" by Celine Dion

Did you know she could sing in Spanish? I didn't! Do you ever ignore a singer because everyone knows her, to the point where it just seems like surely it must be all hype? That's how I felt about Celine Dion before this episode. Sure, I have enjoyed some of her songs, but is there really anything that sets her apart from any other superstar? I have discovered with Celine, the answer is yes: her amazing linguistic range! She has sung in 9 languages: French, English, Spanish, German, Latin, Neapolitan, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese! You can see a compilation of 7 of these examples here, as well as one of her singing in Chinese here. Needless to say, my respect for her has skyrocketed. :D


For this episode, I wanted to highlight the Spanish version of her French song, "L'amour existe encore". It's a very sweet and pretty song. It is also pretty simple, so would be an easy song to learn in Spanish.


3. "Así Soy" by Maite Perroni, Spanish Version of "This Is Me" from Disney's The Greatest Showman

I love almost all of the songs in Disney's The Greatest Showman, and "This is Me" is definitely a rockin', emotion-bursting, strength-infusing song! So I was delighted when I learned about this Spanish version done by Maite Perroni. It's definitely a bit more tricky than Celine Dion's song, at least in terms of lyrics and memorization, but totally worth it! I also found a cover by Greta Rocha, that Mexican Voice Teacher I mentioned in a previous episode.


4. "Waka Waka (Esto es Africa)" by Shakira

I first heard this song in Spain while watching a murder-mystery play. It was a really cool play; the audience voted at the end to determine who the murderer was! But at the beginning, while they were getting setup and had the actors and actresses moving around on stage, they played this song and I just had to look it up! It is such a fun, rhythmic song! And it has multiple languages (I think it is in Spanish and Xhosa, but it was very hard to track down, so if you know what the other language is, please tell me! There is also an English version).


Songs in Spanglish!

These next 4 songs highlight a growing trend in music that I absolutely love; mixing it up with Spanish and English lyrics (a.k.a., Spanglish)!


5. "Stand by Me" remake by Prince Royce

Who doesn't love the original version of this song by Ben E. King? Although, truthfully, my favorite version may be the Disney one with Timon and Pumbaa :D. That being said, this song is a classic, and it is so cool to have a version with Spanish and English!


6."Forever After All" by Kat & Alex

This is a country music duo. Country music in Spanish? YES PLEASE! I can't tell you how delighted I am to have found this band. This is such a sweet love song, about how time affects all things, but their love is going to last. They have more songs in Spanish, English, and Spanglish, so check them out!


7. "Let the Heavens Open / Que Se Abrá El Cielo" by Christine D'Clario (Featuring Deborah Hong)

While it was hard to find songs in Spanglish that weren't glorifying things I'd rather not glorify, there are also a lot of Christian worship songs in English and Spanish. And I am here for it. A lot of modern worship Christian music is pretty repetitive, with the idea being that you can meditate on what you're singing to God. And this also means it is easier to memorize (plus, Christine D'Clario has a lovely voice and is just fun to listen to).


8. Cover of Lauren Daigle's song, "You Say", by Jada Facer and Featuring Jeff Keylor

I love Lauren Daigle's voice, and her song "You Say" is such a great reminder during hard times or moments of doubt about God's amazing love and every individual's inherent worth. Jada, who does this cover, has a lovely voice, as does Jeff Keylor. This song already touches my heart, but to have a Spanglish version just makes the world that much brighter.


Multilingual Songs

Yes, many of these next 5 songs are Disney ones, but don't let that diminish your enjoyment of them! These songs all have English and Spanish in them, but they also have at least one other language involved.


9."Raise A Hallelujah/Levanto Un Aleluya" Cover Song by Faro Church with ASL

Continuing on with the worship songs, I found this lovely Spanglish version of "Raise a Hallelujah". The reason it is included here, though, is because it has an ASL cover! I am a huge fan of ASL (especially with teaching babies ASL; don't even get me started! I did a whole speech on that for the Women in Language conference 2 years ago), and so you can be sure I'm going to watch this song many more times. :D


10. "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole

I included this song because, frankly, I can't believe that it exists. :D But yes, Nat King Cole made a multilingual version of "L-O-V-E", and while his accent leaves a lot to be desired, it is still so endearing that he tried.


11. "Let It Go (25 Languages Version)" from Disney's Frozen

I don't know about you, but I was absolutely obsessed with this version of the song when it came out. My husband actually bought me for my birthday one year the CD with all 27 linguistic versions of this song, and I was so happy when Disney actually put together a version of all of them that you could buy and download. I love that this particular video includes the lyrics for the different languages, as well as translations into English! It made it a lot easier to memorize :D. There is also a similar video/compilation for Disney's Frozen 2, "Show Yourself". I highly recommend checking it out!


12. "Surface Pressure (27 Language Version)" from Disney's Encanto

While this video doesn't have all of the great lyrics/translations as the Frozen videos do, it is such a fun song that I wanted to include this. Encanto is another great Disney movie, and I love the songs from it. They also have a multilingual compilation for "What Else Can I Do?", although the video isn't as good as "Surface Pressure".


13. "How Far I'll Go (24 Language Version)" from Disney's Moana

This video is just as good as the Frozen ones, in terms of having lyrics and English translations. So if you love this song as much as I do, you've got the perfect tool right here to learn it! :D


Also, for all of these DIsney songs, I really recommend checking out their different Spanish versions (Latin American or Castillian), as they also are lovely and fun to listen to! (Or memorize, take your pick. :D) If you want more Song Samplers, then check out Episodes 54, 40, and 20!


Next episode, hopefully we can tackle some more grammar items and begin our cultural tip on Paraguay! See you in 2 weeks!


Remember, learning a language is a lifelong journey.

¡Aprovéchalo, Disfrútalo y Compártelo!

 

Cultural Tip: None

 

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Intro and Closing Music by Master_Service from Fiverr

Cultural Tip Transition Music edited from song by JuliusH from Pixabay


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