Around The World in 18 Songs
- ICHIDAIJI — POLKADOT STINGRAY (Japanese)
- Haдiя є — Mad Heads (Ukrainian)
- Dommage — Bigflo et Oli (French)
- 自動勝利 Let’s Fight — Ekin Cheng (Cantonese)
- Nuestra Canción — Monsieur Periné, Vincente Garcia (Spanish)
- Bazen — Ezhel, Emel (Turkish)
- Ek Ho Gaye Hum Aur Tum (Bombay) — Remo Fernandes (Hindi)
- Der letzte Tanz — Bosse (German)
- LIAR LIAR — Oh My Girl (Korean)
- Quem Você Pensa Que é? — Juccas, Kell Smith (Portuguese)
- Autogram — Ceca (Croatian)
- Senorita — from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hindi/Spanish)
- Toxic — Britney Spears (English)
- Dragostea Din Tei — O-Zone (Romanian)
- ก่อนนอนคืนนี้ — YOUNGOHM (Thai)
- Dil Le Gayee — Jasbir Jassi (Punjabi)
- Occhi Lucidi — Leon Faun, Duffy (Italian)
- MORE — K/DA (English/Korean/Mandarin)
At this point, it’s become meme status how massive the University of Toronto’s student body is. Although the HUGE class sizes and long lines at every cafeteria on campus can sometimes become annoying, the large student body brings about note-worthy diversity. Our diversity exists in ideas, subjects, interests… and nationalities. U of T has students coming in from all around the world, 164 countries to be exact, of which a mere 20 have English as their native language.
Recent years have seen an influx of foreign music into the North American markets. Genres such as Kpop, Jpop, French Rap, and Spanish tunes have all made it onto our Spotify playlist at some point, proving just how universal the language of music can be. Our goal, through a carefully curated playlist, is to shed light on the beauty of multilingual music, in honour of International Mother Language Day!
With the help of all you Innis students, we have curated 18 songs with lyrics in languages from French and Spanish to Turkish and Thai! The playlist is a mish-mash of themes and genres so that every song brings something different to our international jam session. My personal favourite has to be ‘Senorita’ from the Bollywood movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. This Spanish-Hindi musical duet has the singers’ voices alternating back and forth singing to each other about love and life in their own native languages. Everyone else dances along, somehow knowing what they are trying to say, without understanding a single word.
It’s the perfect playlist to listen to when you are cramming lecture notes the night before that big midterm, when getting ready to go out into the chilly weather for that evening jog, in the middle of that unbeatable video game boss battle, or any other time you need to get yourself pumped up. The songs are so poppy, catchy, and energizing that even if you do not understand any of the lyrics, I guarantee you will find yourself tapping your feet and bopping your head!