I blame my sister. I can’t remember the exact year, but one day she suggested that I might like this new, young and amazing singer. His name was Josh Groban. And, as I do with so many things that end up being a passion, I resisted. I thought his music wouldn’t be my thing. I thought he was too young to be that good. I thought I had too many other things that I loved to add more to the list.
But finally, I gave up the fight and bought his latest CD, Closer. I remember sticking it in the car’s player as I drove home and feeling so blown away by the power in his voice and the emotion he portrayed. I was hooked and went all out for Josh Groban for years after that, buying all his CDs, going to all his concerts, and watching anything he posted online.
But the biggest catch? He sang mostly in Italian! How could I feel such emotion from songs in a language I didn’t speak? How could I love this so much when I didn’t know what the lyrics were? I realized then that the language of music absolutely didn’t matter and I started seeking out other songs in other languages. I loved MIKA, Stromae and Indila who all sing in French. I discovered Kendji Girac who sings in French, Spanish, and his native language, Catalan. I found songs by Denez Prigent who sings beautiful songs in Breton. I learned there was this amazing band called Sigur Rós from Iceland. Then, thanks again to my sister, I found music from Korea.
And that’s when my life really changed.
I absolutely devoured it all, not only the Korean pop music that most people have heard of, but other genres from Korea as well. For example, there’s something called “trot,” which is too hard to explain. You just have to go listen! After that, my musical world opened up to everything Asian, something I never dreamed would happen. I found out I not only loved Korean music, but Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, and one of my favorites, Kazak! It blew my mind to realize the amount of music that’s out there that I never knew existed. Sometimes I even get anxious thinking about how much more is out there that I’ve yet to discover and let into my life.
The world is amazing. Music, in all the languages, is amazing. And I have Josh Groban and that first CD, Closer, to thank for opening my eyes to it all.
Written by Kerri Sue J. (Administration)
