Line #47 Main/FamiliarSoundtrackForeignLyrics


1	A show wants to both hit a familiar emotional note and reinforce the foreign nature of the setting or character. The solution? A cover of a song most people in the audience have heard, in a language that [[RealityHasNoSubtitles the characters know but the audience doesn't]]. The cover usually keeps the tempo and instrumentation of the original for maximum recognizability, and the singer mimics the intonation of the original as closely as possible as well.
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3	Usually PlayedForLaughs, since the effect is a sort of auditory UncannyValley, and the disconnect can be hilarious to monolingual viewers even if the original song is a sad one.
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5	Related to ButNotTooForeign. For translations of songs in general, see TranslatedCoverVersion.
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9	----
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11	!Examples
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13	[[foldercontrol]]
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15	[[folder:Advertising]]
16	* A Taco Bell Super Bowl ad used [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lv6RQNJ7rI a Spanish cover of fun.'s We Are Young ]]
17	* A Comcast Wi-fi ad featuring an American boy making friends with a Japanese exchange student used a bilingual Japanese-English version of Music/TheWhiteStripes' "We're Going to Be Friends".
18	* A Panda Express ad used a Chinese cover of Music/JohnnyCash's "Ring of Fire."
19	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kbIAGbdVCg This ad]] for Corona beer, celebrating Latin American heritage, uses a Spanish-language cover of Music/JohnDenver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads".
20	[[/folder]]
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22	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
23	* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' has a plot point where Buzz develops a LatinLover personality after being accidentally rebooted in Spanish-language mode. This leads to a scene where he dances a pasodoble with Jessie to the sound of a Spanish-language cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me" (performed by the Gipsy Kings).
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
27	* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' soundtrack has a Spanish version (by the Gipsy Kings) of the Eagles' "Hotel California".
28	* The trailer for ''Film/BulletTrain'' features a Japanese cover of Stayin' Alive by Music/TheBeeGees.
29	* ''Film/ChanIsMissing'' is a film about the Chinese-American experience as seen through the eyes of a San Francisco taxi driver in Chinatown. It opens with a zippy cover of "Rock Around the Clock" with lyrics in Cantonese. What makes it even funnier is that in the Cantonese lyrics the singer is actually [[BilingualBonus complaining about the rising cost of rice and soybeans]].
30	* ''Film/ChungkingExpress'' features a lovely Cantonese cover of Music/TheCranberries' "Dreams" by Faye Wong.
31	* ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' plays a Canto-pop of Music/{{Madonna}}'s "Material Girl", 200 Degrees by Sally Yeh, during its CostumeTestMontage. The proposal on the airplane is set to a Mandarin cover of the Music/{{Coldplay}} song "Yellow" by Katherine Ho.
32	* ''Film/TheDictator'': Features several Arabic covers of English language songs, such as "9 to 5" by Music/DollyParton when the lead is reorganizing his love interest's poorly-managed supermarket, and MC Rai's "Everybody Hurts" plays as the lead wanders in despair.
33	* ''Film/TheFarewell'' has a Chinese-language cover of Music/{{Badfinger}}'s "Without You" play during its credits.
34	* ''Film/FinalDestination'': The song "Rocky Mountain High" is the signal that Death is near, so when it is suddenly recognized that the busker at the end of the movie is singing a version of that song in his own language....
35	* In ''Film/GetHimToTheGreek'', a French-language version of the Turtles' "Happy Together" plays as Aldous and Aaron dance while high on drugs.
36	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' opens on a nightclub performance of Music/ColePorter's song "Anything Goes" in Mandarin (except for putting the TitleDrop in GratuitousEnglish).
37	* ''Film/JojoRabbit'' uses German-language versions of English-language songs. The movie's opening credits use Music/TheBeatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" ("Komm, gib mir deine Hand"), a German version of Music/DavidBowie's "Heroes" is used later in the movie and a trailer used Music/JackWhite's "I'm a Believer" ("Mit all deiner Liebe").
38	* ''Film/KillBill'': The song "Woo Hoo" by the 5.6.7.8's is a cover of The Rock-A-Teens. There's barely any lyrics in the original, but it still plays on this trope by having it performed by a Japanese rock trio.
39	* ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'': A Brazilian member of Zissou's crew performs bossa nova cover versions of several David Bowie songs, complete with Portuguese-translated lyrics.
40	* ''Film/LoveInTheVilla'': This American film uses the occasional Italian cover of English songs to set the Verona mood. For example, Italian covers of Music/SmashMouth's "I'm A Believer" and Music/NancySinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" play over the prank war.
41	* In ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', one of the acts Betty and Rita see at the surreal Club Silenco is Rebekah Del Rio singing a Spanish version of Music/RoyOrbison's "Crying."
42	* ''Film/TheRussiansAreComingTheRussiansAreComing'' is a UsefulNotes/ColdWar satire about the comic hijinx that ensue after a Soviet submarine runs aground off the shore of a small New England island. One scene has the sailors hiking down the road as "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" plays, with the lyrics in Russian.
43	* A scene in ''Film/{{Sneakers}}'' has a Chinese man sing a karaoke rendition of Music/JimCroce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" in Mandarin.
44	* The scene in ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' that establishes Jean Girard as a badass driver, and a real threat to Ricky, is scored with Marie Laforet's French-language cover of "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones. The joke is that Jean Girard is a cartoony French stereotype.
45	* At the beginning of ''Film/ToBeOrNotToBe'' (1983) vaudeville entertainers Fredrick & Anna sing "Sweet Georgia Brown" in Polish before the movie [[TranslationConvention switches to English]].
46	[[/folder]]
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48	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
49	* ''Series/{{Acapulco}}'': The pool singers, Augusto and Adriana, are frequently singing Spanish-language covers of popular songs. Justified, as they're entertaining wealthy English-speaking tourists at a Mexican resort.
50	* Although ''Series/TheBrothersSun'' has an entirely Asian cast, the soundtrack is mostly from the West. One (half) exception is a Mandarin cover by Bo Wang of Music/CatStevens' "The First Cut is the Deepest".
51	* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' occasionally features [[ConLang Votan]]-language covers of popular songs. For example, the third-season finale features a cover of Music/DavidBowie's "Everyone Says Hi" with a verse in Votan.
52	* The ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'' episode "The End of the World" features singer in a nightclub in Japanese-occupied San Francisco singing Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World" (mostly) in Japanese.
53	* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Many early episodes had Japanese or Korean language versions of traditional American songs played over the PA in order to emphasize the fact that they're in Korea.
54	* In the ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' episode where they go to Mexico to bring back Catalina, Earl agrees to marry her to grant her citizenship. Earl tries to sort this out with Randy while the latter is being followed around by a mariachi singing a Spanish version of "Time After Time".
55	* ''Series/OrphanBlack'': Sarah's impersonation of Katja is set to a German-language cover of "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" ("Die Stiefel Sind Zum Wandern" by Eileen).
56	* ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'': Kimmy and her Vietnamese friend Dong dance in front of the fountain from the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' opening to a Vietnamese cover of the ''Friends'' theme song.
57	* A memorable moment from the movie ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' is Santanico Pandemonium's dance set to Tito & Tarantula's song ''After Dark''. Said moment was recreated in the TV show ''Series/FromDuskTillDawn'', this time set to a Spanish cover of the song by Creator/RobertRodriguez' band Chingon. Said cover also serves as the show's title theme.
58	[[/folder]]
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60	[[folder:Theatre]]
61	* ''Theatre/JerseyBoys'' opens with "Ces Soirees La", a rap song that samples "December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)" being played in French, establishing the popularity the Four Seasons would reach later in their careers.
62	* In the ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'', the song "Muqin" performed by the two Chinese characters is a Mandarin translation of the Al Jolson number "Mammy (The Sun Shines East)."
63	[[/folder]]
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65	[[folder:VideoGames]]
66	* ''Castle Rock'' in ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' uses a gibberish cover of ''Music/RamJam'''s Black Betty.
67	* From [[VideoGame/TheSims2 the second game]] onward, ''VideoGame/TheSims'' regularly featured [[SpeakingSimlish Simlish]] versions of real songs, from artists ranging from Music/LilyAllen to Music/GaelicStorm to Music/BarenakedLadies. The full list of songs redone like this is [[https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Songs_in_Simlish very long.]] The spinoff ''VideoGame/TheUrbz'' did one better and actually got the Music/BlackEyedPeas themselves to do the Simlish covers of "Let's Get Retarded" and "Shut Up", plus a number of original songs that they recorded for the game. ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' also had Music/KatyPerry endorse its ''Showtime'' expansion pack and record [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxyW6AJ-yIk the Simlish cover]] of "Last Friday Night".
68	[[/folder]]
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70	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
71	* A version of this is implied when the protagonist and title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' go to a karaoke bar. There’s a minigame at this outing when the protagonist has to sing a song (the real song being by the Arctic Monkeys) with all the correct lyrics, simulated by three multiple choices during the song. However, the correct lyrics in the game are not the same as the actual real-world lyrics of the song.
72	[[/folder]]
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74	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
75	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. In "Husbands and Knives" the comic book store owner sings along to a Korean version of "What's New Pussycat?", which is also played over the credits.
76	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FamiliarSoundtrackForeignLyrics