Here’s something different – Blackbird sung in in the Mi’kmaq language which is spoken by a mere 11,000 people in North America.
I bet nobody can come up with any Beatles songs sung in other unusual languages, eh readers?
Musings on the byways of popular culture
Here’s something different – Blackbird sung in in the Mi’kmaq language which is spoken by a mere 11,000 people in North America.
I bet nobody can come up with any Beatles songs sung in other unusual languages, eh readers?
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Or can they…?
Blackbird again, this time sung in Scottish Gaelic by Julie Fowlis.
A rather young Björk from her first album. What a delightfully foolish thread
That’s a gem @myoldman.
Brimful of Macca on the 45.
Here comes the sun in Catalan
The Beatles made quite an impression in Catalonia. The Fabs played in Barcelona in July 1965.
In 2010 a whole tribute album was recorded in Catalan.
https://www.catalannews.com/culture/item/catalan-groups-cover-the-beatles-in-a-special-tribute-to-the-liverpool-band
Here is the track list.
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Submar%C3%AD-Pop-Tribut-Catal%C3%A0-A-The-Beatles/release/9776587
Not from that album, but here is In my life by Lluis Gavalda.
And here is Xavi Lloses’s rather eccentric reworking f Strawberry Fields
I have a copy of Help in Braille.
Posted below.
Surely it would be better in semaphore?
I am surprised that I have not found a Beatles song in Welsh. But here’s one by Lennon.
We may find Beatles covers in smaller languages, But we are unlikely to find something as odd as this Soviet era reboot of Let it be.
And here’s a charming story about Russian Beatles fans
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/the-surprising-history-of-the-beatles-in-yekaterinburg/
With subtitles.
And here’s a very useful comment from ilshyf on YTube:
For those who don’t know: this clip is an excerpt from made-for-TV musical “Волшебный фонарь (‘Magic Lantern’), broadcast in 1976, a holiday special for Easter (that explains its festive and ‘variety’ style). Here’s the links for https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Волшебный_фонарь_(фильм,_1976) (article about the film), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTUFSlE6yb0&t=2314s (full movie; if you want to just check this part, go to 38:40), subscribe.ru/group/mir-iskusstva-tvorchestva-i-krasotyi/6580679/ (detailed explanation about the song and the movie). I recommend you to look up “Féerie” and “Television in the Soviet Union” (the first one is a theatrical genre to which the movie belongs) in Wikipédia to get some wider perspective, because the Soviet state channel’s programming resembled more to BBC or PBS than to North Korean one, with more political undertones.
Off we sail to Helsinki!
And Tampere
Not Beatles ( of which there are many covers) but the Japanese equivalent of the Jackson Five, The Finger 5!
Nice one, Pessoa.
I must Find some of those Japanese versions.
In the meantime, here are the Tokyo Beatles from the mid 60s.
https://mashable.com/2014/12/01/the-tokyo-beatles/
Swedish songstress Anita Lindblom (RIP), here singing a cocktail jazz version of Do You Want To Know A Secret; “Lyssna”:
And here is her version of A Hard Day’s Night; “En Hård Dags Natt”:
I confess I love them both, as cheesy as they are.
Alas @Locust the videos are unavailable but finger popping over to youtube I found them.
However the cover for Pssst is decidedly a strange shot, a floating torso supported by hands and arms turned outwards!
A bit like the bird ladies of the horror classic Freaks! 😀
I really enjoyed those two Anita Lindblom tracks, @Locust. I’d not heard her before.
A true star! I love Swedish cheese and am not ashamed to admit it.
As soon as I saw this thread title I thought, kaisfatdad will be all over this. And so it proved! I love these little YouTube rabbit holes you treat us to, Mr k. Long may you browse aimlessly for obscure musical oddities.
I couldn’t find any Beatles songs in te reo Maori, which is surprising because they must exist – but I did read that the extended coda in Hello Goodbye was called the “Maori Finale” and is reportedly Maori phrasing repeated.
http://wogew.blogspot.com/2013/06/maori-finale.html?m=1
Thanks @Arthur Cowslip. You are so right I am thoroughly this quest.
That Catalan tribute , for example, introduced me o lots of interesting artists.
Like Bikimel here.
The only word i understand is montanas but is a beautiful song anyway,
The Finnish research led me to the Harmony Sisters.
http://www.alternativefinland.com/finnish-music-the-golden-era-of-finnish-language-covers/
Very educational!
And as for that Soviet Let if be! Find of the week.
Keep searching @Black Celebration. Good on you!
There were rather a lot French covers of the Fabs.
Here’s Elle t’aime by Nancy Holloway.
YT has a whole list of 25 of them
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa6aN7DZirlgstFAVFNCpKh471Sbv0N1s
Off to Rio now.
The very talented Rita Lee has done a whole album of Beatles songs bossa style.
A perfect soundtrack for your space-age bachelor pad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDd17D6fu-w
Bearing in mind how important Hamburg was for the Beatles career, it struck me there really ought to be a few songs in German.
Jawohl! Here is Get back!
Emma Stevens has such a gorgeous voice that it would be very churlish not to post her singing, in English about her home: Unama’ki (My Cape Breton).
The clip is beautifully filmed and I get a strong impression of what a beautiful place it is.
More power to the Allison Bernard Memorial High School!
And would you believe it? Macca is a fan of Emma’s.
Difficult not to be moved by his enthusiasm for her version.
This just came up haven’t heard it yet.
Maybe worth a listen.
https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/spring_2021/guildhall_studio_orchestra/
Back to the OP: that’s the best Beatles cover I think I”ve ever heard. What a purely effortless voice she has, and what a lovely guitar accompaniment, exquisitely played. Just superb.
Translating the text was a real labour of love.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.5118294/meet-the-n-s-teenager-who-sang-blackbird-by-the-beatles-entirely-in-mi-kmaq-1.5118296
I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any Fabs songs in Hawaiian.
But I did find this stunning cover of While my ukulele gently weeps by Jake Shimabukuro.
Enjoy! Jake is a maestro!
Off to Manchester with Jake!
I was not expecting that!
At the risk of piquing your interest, @kaisfatdad, again not the Fabs, but Dylan has had the full ethno twice, with the two From Another World covers projects.
https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/06/from-another-world-tribute-bob-dylan-review
Thanks, Retro. Definitely a topic to cover, But, like Lenard Cohen, it is an enormous area to explore. So I will put it on hold for the moment.
Foe the moment I am staying in Germany.
Here are the Sweetles, an all-girl combo jumping on the Beatles bandwagon
Here’s the story
http://readysteadygirls.co.uk/sweetles/4526003260
Off to Italy where Chriss and the Stroke make this song their own.
Patrick Samson – Dille si (Let it be)
I am the Walrus
I feel like Sir Galahad this evening. I’ve found the Holy Grail for those interested in Beatles songs in foreign languages.
A list of 100 songs complete with YT clips.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/collection/foreign-versions-beatless-songs-vol-i
and then volume 2
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/collection/foreign-versions-beatless-songs-vol-ii
Want to hear Yesterday or Let it be in 10 different languages? This is the site for you.
The list reminded me of the wonderful French combo: Les Rolling Bidochons.
Their Franglish wordplay with the lyrics will be much enjoyed by those of you who speak French.
Great fun!
Here they are doing the Stones. Wonderfully silly.
On the subject of Australia and the Beatles, here’s the story of a young Welshman who was feeling homesick Down Under and posted himself home as freight.
“Robson bought a box “the size of a mini-fridge” and packed it with pillows, a suitcase, a book of Beatles songs and two bottles – one for water and one for urine.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/08/thinking-inside-the-box-the-welsh-teen-who-tried-to-post-himself-home-from-australia
What possible use (other than bogroll!) would he have had for the book?
Please do not try this @mikethep!
Here’s my playlist from this thread. Eight different languages and 26 tracks. I suspect there will be a few more.
A few oddities included too, like this Brazilian hit from 1970 written by Joyce.
They loved the Fabs down in Bossaland. Here is a rather fine song from Milton Nascimento.