In Defense of Incomprehension
Music is a magic made mundane by its ubiquity, but it is magic all the same. As many like to say, it is a universal language unrestricted by linguistic barriers, but not everyone takes the opportunity to venture out and listen to music not in their native tongue. This tendency is an unfortunate one, as listening to music in languages you don’t understand has irreplicable merit and a magic of its own.
Of course, this is not to undermine or understate the power of lyrics—I myself have been moved to tears by certain lines from energetic dance tracks. It is far from my wish to disvalue the dedication of lyricists who toil to craft poignant lines of purposeful poetry. But in the same way watching the complementary music video during my first listen of a new release will inevitably and irreversibly inform my impression of the song, lyrics can sometimes play an outsized role in shaping the persona of a piece, potentially distracting from the essence of the music itself.
The lyrics of a song are what give it its message, but how a song makes you feel is what gives it its meaning.
Opera is performed in languages that the audience, more often than not, is not versed in, yet patrons have flocked to opera houses for centuries, and classical opera vinyls are worth a pretty penny. The explosive wave of K-pop that has steadily undulated throughout Asia and more recently crashed onto the distant shores of continents like North and South America is a renewed attestation to how the fluent grasp of a language is not a necessary condition for understanding or feeling a meaningful connection to a song.
Removing language comprehension from the equation can actually enrich the listening experience as well. The way having limited use of one (or more) of the five senses may enhance the performance of the rest, this redirects our attention to the subtler details of a song that we don’t typically catch on to when our brains are dealing with the immediacy of lyrical comprehension, details like complex layered production and emphasis of certain syllables. Berklee College of Music professor Pat Pattison remarks, “If I don’t understand the lyrics, I’m then able to appreciate the singing itself—I’m able to listen to the vocal quality and so on. Even more importantly, I think, I’m listening to a human voice. And in terms of language or communication, a small percentage of our communication takes place with the actual meaning of the words. There’s so much more communication that takes place with tone of voice, with body language.” This is what gives music in all dimensions of performance its expressive power.
Because music is an integral part of a country’s culture, it only makes sense that the two mutually impact and shape one another. This ongoing interaction results in a swirling cocktail blend of cultural values and influences, musical trends and traditions, and the particular atmosphere that infuses a country, coalescing into a distinct musical identity. As this nuanced essence is unique to each culture, it can only be experienced when listening to songs that were formed within it. This is true even for songs of parallel genres, as articulated by a YouTube comment (originally written in Korean that I’ve translated to English) under a Korean playlist of Japanese songs: “Listening to K-pop feels exhilarating and electrifying, like my heart’s been struck by lightning, and listening to J-pop feels like my heart is floating atop a gently drifting cloud.” Both genres technically fall under the catch-all umbrella of pop, but a perfunctory listen would tell any casual observer why a different letter precedes each.
Whether to explore the personality of another culture’s music to see if it is compatible with your own, discover songs saturated with distinctive hues only producible with local dyes, remove a complication to facilitate the appreciation of musicality, or simply to study to songs with words that won’t derail your train of thought, listening to songs in foreign languages is a rewarding experience that brings benefit regardless of your reason for pressing that play button.