Language in Music: Not really a barrier

So our amiable moderators decided to choose a unique theme for this week's web3 music competition: Performing in a second language of your choice.
Honestly, I saw this theme as unique because it's in itself a force.

Now, have you ever found yourself vibing to a song in a language you didn't really understand? Like, you have no clue whatsoever what the lyrics were saying, but somehow it felt so right? Like suddenly you’re in your feels or dancing like nobody's watching. That, my dear music lovers, is the magic of music.

It’s literally wild when you give it a thought. Naturally, language, as amazing as it is, can be a huge barrier. Fatal wars have started, just because people couldn’t communicate. But you see music? It slides past all that barrier like butter on a hot pan. There is little or no need for translation. You just need to vibe to the sound and get in the mood.

Now let’s see it in this light; before we ever had Google Translators or the language learning apps we have today, people were actually already connecting to music through melody and rhythm.
Think of the tribal drums, folk songs and even chants, then your mind goes straight to the stories and emotions that were passed from one voice to another’s heart, then across generations and eventually around the globe.

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Fast forward to this day, and you’ve got K-pop fans in Brazil; oh I'm actually going too far, my colleague and friend @young-tari is a lover of K-pop and mind you she's Nigerian and that's like one out of the millions of those in Nigeria. We literarily have Latin trap blasting in Sweden, and Bollywood soundtracks playing in Nigerian weddings.

See, It’s not just that people like foreign music; it’s that they actually and honestly feel it in their bones. Even if you don’t know what Despacito literally means, chances are you’ve mumbled it at a party and you had a great time doing it.

Now here’s the gist, the actual truth is that music speaks emotion fluently and that’s what I always say in my blogs. The feelings of heartbreak, joy, rebellion, love or even nostalgia are all human experiences and do not have anything to do with language. You can literally hear a song in Italian and you would still know that this singer’s heart is breaking.
What words alone can’t tell you, the tone, tempo and delivery will. It’s like reading somebody’s body language. Nigerians would understand when I say it’s like understanding the eye contact of our mothers.
And the coolest part is that people get to learn a new language and culture just by listening to music in another language. I’ve seen people who get curious about Japanese because of anime intros. Like it teaches you stuff without making you feel like you’re being taught anything.

So next time you see yourself dancing to a song in a language you don’t understand, don’t try to see if you can decipher anything. Just allow yourself to get drawn into the rhythm and melody and always know at the end of the day we’re actually speaking different versions of the same language.