I love cover songs performed in different languages than the original recordings. It provides a neat perspective on music, and unifies cultures in a cool way. Every culture cherishes music, and just like with books, there’s something really special about a musician honoring another musician from a different country by closing the language barrier and translating their works of art. Right now, I’m going to focus on two Portuguese musicians, Seu Jorge and Rita Lee, who covered David Bowie and The Beatles, respectfully. You may have heard of Seu Jorge before, especially if you are a Bowie or Wes Anderson fan, but you might not be aware of Rita Lee.
Seu Jorge has some great original music, and his acoustic David Bowie covers sung in Brazilian Portuguese are a great testament to his talent as a musician. I’ve been consistently listening to these beautiful covers since they were released back in 2005. If you are a fan of Bowie, and haven’t heard these covers, you have to listen to them immediately (and see Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou). Even if you aren’t a fan of Bowie’s, I still recommend you check out these acoustic songs.
Rita Lee is a famous musician in Brazil, and did a full dedication album to The Beatles back in 2001, Aqui, Ali, Em Qualquer Lugar (aka Bossa’n Beatles). The tracks bounce back and forth from English to Portuguese, which is kind of unfortunate, because the Portuguese interpretations have a lot more character than the English ones (though the English are still pretty good). Her cover of “In My Life,” which is one of my favorite Beatles songs, is incredible. The other covers in Portuguese include, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Here There and Everywhere,” “If I fell,” and part of “Michelle.” They are all fantastic.
If there are other musicians you know of that have good covers in different languages, please let me know! Also, I was thinking how cool it would be if somebody started translating songs performed in foreign languages into English covers…
The Life Aquatic – Studio Sessions featuring Seu Jorge (2005 iTunes Exclusive):
iTunes | Amazon (iTunes exclusive? Yeah, I dunno.)
Bossa’n Beatles (2001):
Rita Lee -Â Minha Vida (In My Life)
Rita Lee – Aqui, El, Em Qualquer Lugar (Here There and Everywhere)