Globetrotting: Non-English Music Rankdown V1 (complete)

[singingrulebritannia]

It makes sense that one of the two European songs to make this top 10 was heavily influenced by a trip the artist took to South America

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6

Anima latina
Lucio Battisti

Language/Country of Origin: Italy/Italian
Romanized/English Title: Latin Soul
311 points
Standard Deviation: 8.272

wrip - 2
Red - 2
recordyear - 3
khan - 4
eidde - 5
Ernesto - 5
BB🌕 - 5
Steel Sponge - 6
Leo ✔ - 7
singingrulebritannia - 7
dremolus - solarpunk - 9
MoD - 9
willapted33 - 10
@trilogy - 14
nathanalbright - 15
decadevia - 15
aerodynamite - 15
fearlessarrow - 16
YotamTS - 17
zippy - 19
reputainbow - 21
wheatsquares33 - 22
Gonza'90 - 26
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 27
HamedM1 💔 - 30

Movement
9 1 1 2 4 4 11 9 6 9 11 11 6 6 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Spectators:
razorshark

SPOILER: Click to show

{Remaining Songs}
Te revoir
分裂
Tren Al Sur
Lança Perfume
パズル

[singingrulebritannia]

--#5

Highest Ranking: 1 (x2)
#1s: 2
Top 5s: 9
Top 10s: 13
Top 16s: 17
Bottom 10s: 6

4th highest SD

Highest Movement: 1
Lowest Movement: 18
Lists Spent in top 10: 20

[singingrulebritannia]

condolences to Red and myself
Obviously my most scrobbled song was going to be my #1 here. Is it my favorite song of all-time? I'm not sure. But it is the most replayable, clearly. All the pinpoint melodies and all the emotional power behind the band and Romain's voice never wears out

---

5

Te revoir
Eiffel

Language/Country of Origin: French/France
Romanized/English Title: See You Again
308 points
Standard Deviation: 10.082 (4th highest)

Red - 1
singingrulebritannia - 1
eidde - 2
decadevia - 2
Gonza'90 - 2
nathanalbright - 3
Steel Sponge - 4
willapted33 - 4
wheatsquares33 - 4
aerodynamite - 6
Ernesto - 7
BB🌕 - 7
Leo ✔ - 10
zippy - 11
recordyear - 14
fearlessarrow - 14
YotamTS - 16
MoD - 17
reputainbow - 19
HamedM1 💔 - 24
wrip - 26
@trilogy - 26
dremolus - solarpunk - 29
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 29
khan - 30

Movement
12 7 18 14 8 12 7 3 3 2 2 2 3 1 1 3 3 4 3 4 5 5 5 5

Spectators:
razorshark

SPOILER: Click to show

{Remaining Songs}
分裂
Tren Al Sur
Lança Perfume
パズル

[zippy]

We got a song to represent Italy and a song from France yet no German songs.

[singingrulebritannia]

Aug 12, 2023 12:08:12 GMT -5 zippy said:

We got a song to represent Italy and a song from France yet no German songs.

Picking songs from Germany was hard for a few reasons. First, their best artists tend to sing in English. Second, a lot of the great German-language bands have already been covered well in previous rankdowns--plus I certainly wasn't going to include Rammstein so soon after Till Lindemann was exposed as being a huge piece of shit. And a lot of the ones that haven't stray into more extreme genres that wouldn't fit this series. There will be German songs in later volumes though.

[singingrulebritannia]

--#4

Highest Ranking: 1 (x3)
Top 5s: 8
Top 10s: 14
Top 16s: 19
Bottom 10s: 3

Highest Movement: 3
Lowest Movement: 18
Lists Spent in top 10: 13

[singingrulebritannia]

Faye Wong has taken a lot of risks relative to the Chinese pop industry as a whole, and they've tended to pay off. People in the West usually learn about her from her cover of The Cranberries' "Dreams" that appeared in the movie Chungking Express and in the "Holy shit! PISS!" video. Here, she sings a song that the Cocteau Twins wrote for her
my condolences, BB, Recordyear, and Dremolus

---

4

分裂
Faye Wong

Language/Country of Origin: Chinese/China
Romanized/English Title: fen lie/Divided
268 points
Standard Deviation: 8.672

BB🌕 - 1
recordyear - 1
dremolus - solarpunk - 1
willapted33 - 2
reputainbow - 2
Red - 3
Steel Sponge - 3
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 4
nathanalbright - 6
MoD - 6
singingrulebritannia - 8
decadevia - 8
@trilogy - 9
aerodynamite - 10
HamedM1 💔 - 11
wheatsquares33 - 12
wrip - 12
fearlessarrow - 13
zippy - 14
Leo ✔ - 19
Ernesto - 20
YotamTS - 21
Gonza'90 - 24
khan - 26
eidde - 32

Movement
5 11 17 18 13 15 14 12 11 10 12 12 7 11 10 8 6 5 5 3 3 3 4 4

Spectators:
razorshark

SPOILER: Click to show

{Remaining Songs}
Tren Al Sur
Lança Perfume
パズル

[singingrulebritannia]

--#3

Highest Ranking: 1
Top 5s: 4
Top 10s: 16
Top 16s: 20
Bottom 10s: 1

2nd lowest SD

Highest Movement: 3
Lowest Movement: 10

[zippy]

I haven't heard a dream pop song sung in Chinese before. Very nice!

[singingrulebritannia]

This was one of the first songs I put in the playlist when I was researching songs for the series, way back in December of last year. RIP queen
my condolences Gonza

---

3

Lança Perfume
Rita Lee

Language/Country of Origin: Portuguese/Brazil
Romanized/English Title: Perfume Sprayer
260 points
Standard Deviation: 5.649 (2nd lowest)

Gonza'90 - 1
recordyear - 4
singingrulebritannia - 4
HamedM1 💔 - 4
Red - 6
zippy - 6
Leo ✔ - 6
dremolus - solarpunk - 8
willapted33 - 8
MoD - 8
fearlessarrow - 8
eidde - 8
BB🌕 - 9
wheatsquares33 - 9
wrip - 9
YotamTS - 10
Steel Sponge - 11
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 15
decadevia - 16
Ernesto - 16
reputainbow - 17
@trilogy - 17
aerodynamite - 18
khan - 19
nathanalbright - 23

Movement
7 9 10 7 10 8 8 5 4 8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 3 3

Spectators:
razorshark

SPOILER: Click to show

{Remaining Songs}
Tren Al Sur
パズル

[singingrulebritannia]

Your final 2.

Tren Al Sur
パズル

Tale of the Tape:
This was the top 2 for 14 movements (non-consecutively)
One of the songs spent 12 movements at #1; the other, 6
These songs have a combined 28 top 10s, 17 being top 5s and 8 being #1s.
6 bottom 16s remain, 3 being bottom 10s.
No one can get a perfect top 2. The best pair of rankings is wrip's 1 vs 6.
3 players have no top 10s left. the worst pair of rankings is zippy's 15 v 20.
One of these songs is the 3rd lowest SD. The other is the 4th lowest.
The difference between the songs is 21 points.

[zippy]

Wow, I thought Rita Lee was definitely going to make it to the top 2.

[singingrulebritannia]

This is the theme song for Welcome to the NHK. I have never seen anyone talk about the series, so I don't even know if it's supposed to be good or bad lol. Doesn't really make a difference when it comes to this bop, though.
my condolences, Willapted, Wheatsquares, Wripwrap, and Trilogy

---

2

パズル
Round Table

Language/Country of Origin: Japanese/Japan
Romanized/English Title: Pazuru/Puzzle
246 points
Standard Deviation: 6.555 (3rd lowest)

willapted33 - 1
wheatsquares33 - 1
wrip - 1
@trilogy - 1
singingrulebritannia - 3
Red - 4
dremolus - solarpunk - 5
YotamTS - 5
reputainbow - 8
Gonza'90 - 9
eidde - 9
decadevia - 9
aerodynamite - 9
recordyear - 12
HamedM1 💔 - 12
fearlessarrow - 12
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 12
nathanalbright - 12
MoD - 13
BB🌕 - 13
zippy - 15
Leo ✔ - 15
khan - 15
Steel Sponge - 24
Ernesto - 26

Movement
1 4 3 4 5 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

---

South America/Spanish speakers win the first edition with a wistful new wave classic!
congrats to MoD, Leo, Steel Sponge, and Ernesto

---

1

Tren Al Sur
Los Prisioneros

Language/Country of Origin: Spanish/Chile
Romanized/English Title: Train to the South
225 points
Standard Deviation: 6.658 (4th lowest)

MoD - 1
Leo ✔ - 1
Steel Sponge - 1
Ernesto - 1
YotamTS - 2
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 3
khan - 3
Gonza'90 - 4
singingrulebritannia - 5
wrip - 6
wheatsquares33 - 7
recordyear - 8
nathanalbright - 8
BB🌕 - 8
willapted33 - 9
decadevia - 11
fearlessarrow - 11
aerodynamite - 13
dremolus - solarpunk - 14
eidde - 14
HamedM1 💔 - 14
Red - 17
reputainbow - 20
zippy - 20
@trilogy - 24

Movement
16 3 2 3 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Spectators:
razorshark

[MoD]

VIVA CHILE CONCHETUMARE

[singingrulebritannia]

Rankdown Closeness:

SPOILER: Click to show

Red - 4.500
wrip - 5.125
singingrulebritannia - 6.125
wheatsquares33 - 6.313
nathanalbright - 6.313
@trilogy - 6.375
eidde - 6.625
decadevia - 6.688
Steel Sponge - 6.688
Leo ✔ - 6.750
recordyear - 6.813
willapted33 - 6.938
fearlessarrow - 7.438
aerodynamite - 7.750
HamedM1 💔 - 7.938
BB🌕 - 8.125
zippy - 8.188
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 8.375
dremolus - solarpunk - 8.688
YotamTS - 9.125
MoD - 9.250
reputainbow - 9.500
Ernesto - 9.813
khan - 10.063
Gonza'90 - 10.375

Perfect Rankings:

SPOILER: Click to show

Steel Sponge - 4
@trilogy - 3
willapted33 - 3
CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker - 3
Ernesto - 2
zippy - 2
Red - 2
aerodynamite - 2
Leo ✔ - 2
eidde - 2
nathanalbright - 2
wrip - 2
khan - 1
decadevia - 1
YotamTS - 1
recordyear - 1
dremolus - solarpunk - 1
MoD - 1
HamedM1 💔 - 1

So happy about how this rankdown turned out! I think I want to go ahead and continue the series with all this positive momentum. The thread for Volume 2 will be posted tomorrow.

[zippy]

So an anime song did make the top 2, just not one of my top favorites. And Chile does have great music, but Tren Al Sur didn’t get me hooked like other songs did in this rankdown.

Thank you for hosting gates. I plan to participate in your next one.

[Deleted]

some people find artists they'll listen to until pigs start to fly from rankdowns, i uncover a whole ass 24 episode anime and maybe novel if i look hard enough

[decadevia]

just got back from a trip to the grocery store but te revoir was on the shortlist for the decadevia rankdown. such a good song and its only gotten better with more listens. abricotine is an album i need to relisten to eventually since basically every song still on my playlists from it has grown on me significantly

the round table song was a really pleasant surprise as well. someone in the indie pop rym server recommended one of their albums to me a year ago and i didn't like it very much, but this song by them was kind of... awesome. makes me wonder if the album might be worthy of a relisten. after all, i was half asleep while listening to it lol

[wheatsquares33]

i'll provide some insight on the anime series here

- flcl is a series i wish i liked more. it's stunningly animated, and the soundtrack is iconic as mentioned, i just didn't get it. i think i watched it around 2016 though, so it does bear rewatching.

- love live isssss a series i have sat down and watched literally all 8 seasons of for some reason lol. it's not good, but as someone deep in anime idol bullshit, it is naturally something i have watched. i don't remember any of the songs except snow halation. idol music is at its core very lame, but snow halation is actually rightfully a standout track.

(actually season 1 of love live superstar is alright, good art direction and a narrative that's not completely mind numbing)

- welcome to the nhk is, imo, pretty essential anime viewing. one of the best portrayals of social anxiety and depression out there, but also just a very entertaining watch. and puzzle is absolutely an iconic opening, one of my all time favorites

[YotamTS]

after all, the top 3 was perfect and nicely spread out between languages and genres.
Such a fun rankdown! Looking forward to pt.2

[Leo ✔]

Y NO ME DIGAS POBRE POR IR VIAJANDO ASI

[Ernesto]

What a fantastic hosting job from singingrulebritannia!! I enjoyed this one quite much!!!

[Gonza'90]

Thank you Gates for hosting. I had a great time with this Rankdown.

[Leo ✔]

Last set of comments

1 Los Prisioneros - Tren Al Sur: Goat react
15 Round Table - パズル: Super enjoyable
6 Rita Lee - Lança Perfume: I really loved this
19 Faye Wong - 分裂: Ok
10 Eiffel - Te revoir: Banger
7 Lucio Battisti - Anima latina: Really enjoyed this
3 Selena - El Chico Del Apartamento 512: Languuage bias but is great
5 μ's - Snow halation: Great discovery
11 Gal Costa f/ Caetano Veloso - Baby: Lovely song
24 The Pillows - Ride On Shooting Star: Solid enough

[willapted33]

would’ve loved to see round table take this but a great winner nonetheless

and yea Faye’s song here & her Dreams cover are the only ones I’m familiar with & both are stellar. also Chungking Express is perfection

thanks for hosting gates! incredible list

[recordyear]

She has a few competitors when I made my list, but eventually I chose Faye Wong's song as my #1 because the dream-pop vibe is so well done. I have heard the comparison of her to Cocteau Twins all the time and I finally know why. Also maybe language bias, but I really like the double meaning of "growth of longing" (cell division as growth) and "unrequited love" (divided reactions between both lovers) in the lyrics. Feels like best lyrics among all song in the rankdown too.

Shakira and Rita Lee songs are both great bops. Really think Pitchfork should review Shakira's most acclaimed Spanish album instead of the following one.

Gal Costa gave me Patsy Cline vibes from the grand-sounding music and relatively simple and emotional delivery of infatuated in love.

Lucio Battisti's song stands out nicely in this list. Maybe finishing the David Bowie rankdown awakens my sense for more experimental songs.

As my sister likes some of the J-pop music (not the anime or vocaloid kind featured in this rankdown though), I have heard Tokyo Incidents before, but not the song chosen. That said younger me will probably dismiss Ringo Sheena's vocals being too pitchy, but this is me right now ranking their music and it's quite a fun and imaginative listen.

Thanks singingrulebritannia for hosting!

[khan]

Let's goooo Spanish wins at it SHOULD. (ignore the language of my #1 song) Tren al Sur is such a deserving winner, so ahead of its time and every little piece sounds perfectly placed there. I genuinely gasped at some of the instrumental moments.

Still baffled at my low closeness because it feels like I did great but hey that's just how good the songs were. Wish I hadn't been busy during reveals so I could've commented more but just know that singingrulebritannia I thank you much for the dozen new songs that have entered my regular rotation! A quality rankdown is easy to curate, but one as fascinating as this is just impressive.