Although karaoke (meaning “empty orchestra”) started in a Japanese snack bar as a way to entertain and draw in customers, the craze has spread to all parts of the globe.
This means that karaoke is sung not only in Japanese, but in English and many other languages as well.
The karaoke craze spread from Japan to other Asian nations first. There are, of course, many karaoke songs available in Japanese, but you can also find karaoke music in Chinese and Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Thai, Malay, and Philippine. Of course, the craze spread far beyond Asia, and there is a large library of Spanish karaoke music, even Arabic, Brazilian, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Jewish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish karaoke music!
As peoples from South America, Asia and Europe search for and purchase karaoke music, they do find a great deal of music native to their cultures. However, they find a greater number of songs from North America, which are then translated into another tongue.
For example, a recent release of 80s pop in the Spanish karaoke genre included the following tunes that were originally recorded in English, but have had the lyrics translated into Spanish for the karaoke releases: “Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now,” by Starship, “The Promise” by When in Rome, “Square Rooms,” by Al Corley, “All the Love,” by the Outfield, “Call Me,” from Blondie, “Summer of ’69,” from Bryan Adams, “Like a Virgin,” the popular Madonna tune, “I Love Rock and Roll” from Joan Jett, “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics, “Talking in Your Sleep,” from the Romantics, and “Addicted to Love,” by Robert Palmer.”
Then a new “Tex-Mex” release has the following titles: “Ay Papacito,” from Limite, “Como La Flor,” by Selena, “Dame Valor,” from Limite, “Si Una Vez” as sung by Selena, “No Es Tan Facil,” by Limite, “Amor Prohibido” by Selena, “Yo Sin Tu Amor” by Limite, “El Chico Del Apartamento 512” from Selena, “Te Aprovechas” by Limite, “Baila Esta Cumbia” from Selena, “Esta Vez” from Limite, and “Bidi Bidi Bam Bam,” as sung by Selena.”
These songs are only in Spanish. Even the English versions of pop music are immensely popular across Asia, South and Central America and Europe, and in some karaoke machines and clubs in these nations, most of the songs on the playlist are in English, with no translation.
Singing karaoke, especially with songs that are very familiar in your own tongue, can be a great way to learn a new language. Because karaoke is popular all around the world, using the vast library of English tunes available as karaoke recordings has become a popular way to learn or brush up on English skills or learn the English Language.
So karaoke music is available in many languages across the world. Although there are North American pop songs that have been translated into other languages, there are also native songs transcribed from native languages. Some people even find singing karaoke a great way to learn a foreign language, so jump on board the karaoke express and give it a try!
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