My Foray Into Foreign Music

As a chorus student, I often sing a lot of foreign language songs. But they're mostly Latin church songs or Spanish folk songs, and I never really like them all that much. I never really thought about the songs and I never thought they could have just as much meaning as all the other music I listen to.

On my way home from work one day, a friend of mine, Mike, stopped by to give me a ride home. And I got in. And when I got into his car, the most beautiful pop music was blasting away in his speakers. "Contramano, A" was playin, and Mike was singing along. Badly, yes, but still.

And I hate pop music. That's the thing.

But this person singing was incredible. Nek had incredible music, and he sang beautifully. And I can say that just fine without feeling weird that he's a guy.

So I thought, "Hey, if Italian music is this good, maybe I should start listening to other foreign artists!"

The music i listened to was very limited, basically with me listening to just alternative rock and Japanese rock.  But from that moment, I began listening to Romanian band O-Zone, and many, many others. I found myself liking many of their songs, and my exposure to music grew. While I hated American pop songs, I found myself drawn to Japanese pop, like Utada Hikaru and Shimamiya Eiko. Because I started to love O-Zone, I began listening to American techno music as well, and found bands such as Crazy Frog.

All in all, I began to love music in general, became more open-minded, and just loved music for music. Where there was once a point where I refused to listen to anything that wasn't alternative rock, I now will begin listening to anything so long as it's good.

It all began when I got into a friend's car and heard "Contramano, A" by Nek, an Italian singer.