Most popular song in each language

[vlad]

I've been trying to make a list of the most popular song in each language. I'm primarily using Spotify plays as the measure of popularity, though that might not be representative for certain songs.

It's hard because most sites/services do not let you search by language or identify the language at all, people on the internet misidentify the language, and sometimes the lyrics are wrong. Also Spotify doesn't let you sort by most plays, it just shows "popular" songs, which may not be the ones with the most plays.

This is what I've come up with so far. Probably there are more popular songs than the ones listed here that I've missed, and there are languages I don't have a song for yet.

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• Afrikaans: Ricus Nel - Hardekole (5.1 million)
• Albanian: Era Istrefi - Bonbon (136 million)
• Alemannic: Lo & Leduc - 079 (35.86 million)
• Amharic: Teddy Afro - Mar Eske Tuwaf (Fiqir Eske Meqabir) (2.1 million)
• Arabic (Algerian): Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (27.81 million)
• Arabic (Egyptian): DYSTINCT - Ghazali (60.21 million)
• Arabic (Levantine): Haifa Wehbe - Touta (11.1 million)
• Arabic (Sudanese): Sharhabil Ahmed - Argos Farfish (1.91 million)
• Armenian: JANAGA - Скажи мне/Ասա դւ (2.03 million) [bilingual]
• Azerbaijani: Sami Yusuf - Nasimi (8.05 million)
• Bengali: Anupam Roy - Boba Tunnel (6.36 million)
• Bhojpuri: Samar Singh, Anta Singh Priyanka - Kamariya Ko Touch Karne Na Dungi (11.02 million)
• Bulgarian: Coby x Krisko - Nove pare (4.24 million) [bilingual]
• Burmese: Sai Htee Saing - Chit Tar Ta Khu Tae Thi Tal (492 thousand)
• Chinese (Cantonese): Beyond - 海闊天空 (45.83 million)
• Chinese (Mandarin): Teresa Teng - 月亮代表我的心 (24.1 million)
• Cornish: Gwenno - Tir Ha mor (2.30 million)
• Czech: Karel Gott & Charlotte Ella Gottová - Srdce nehasnou (9.87 million)
• Danish: Tobias Rahim & Andreas Odbjerg - STOR MAND (55.47 million)
• Dutch: Bizzey - Traag (134.78 million)
• English: The Weeknd - Blinding Lights (4.07 billion)
• Estonian: Marten Kuningas - Tagurpidi vaal (1.5 million)
• Finnish: Eppu Normaali - Vuonna '85 (13.89 million)
• French: Édith Piaf - La vie en rose (161.98 million)
• Georgian: Zviad Bekauri - მე ყოველთვის მოგცემ (1.1 million)
• German: Rammstein - Du hast (526.73 million)
• Greek: Nikos Vertis - An Eisai Ena Asteri (18.19 million)
• Gujarati: Bhoomi Trivedi - Vaagyo Re Dhol (3.57 million)
• Gumatj: Yothu Yindi - Treaty (9 million) [bilingual]
• Hebrew: Static & Ben El - אפס מאמץ (13.56 million)
• Hindi: Arijit Singh - Kesariya (476.41 million)
• Hungarian: Quimby - Autó egy szerpentinen (5.2 million)
• Icelandic: Bubbi Morthens - Rómeó og Júlía (4.03 million)
• Indonesian: Agnes Monica - Matahariku (25.45 million)
• Irish: Hozier - De Selby (Part 1) (16.72 million) [bilingual]
• Italian: BLANCO, MINA - Un Briciolo Di Allegria (68.23 million)
• Japanese: YOASOBI - 夜に駆ける (555.23 million)
• Javanese: Via Vallen - Sayang (25.75 million)
• Kannada: Sid Sriram - Jagave Neenu Gelathiye (8.38 million)
• Kazakh: Turan - Ер Тұран (5.4 million)
• Khmer: Dengue Fever - Uku (2 million)
• Korean: BLACKPINK - How You Like That (976.80 million) [bilingual]
• Kwara'ae: Stegga - Kwisi Tala Amu (120 thousand) [bilingual]
• Latvian: Apvedceļš - Zemenes (1.2 million)
• Lingala: Kanda Bongo Ban - Muchana (Zouk Love) (1.66 million)
• Lithuanian: Biplan - O mes prie jūros (1.09 million)
• Luritja: Warumpi Band - Jailanguru Pakarnu (244 thousand)
• Manam: Quakes - Lulu (10 thousand)
• Nigerian Pidgin: Fela Kuti - Water No Get Enemy (26.90 million) [bilingual]
• Norwegian: Kaizers Orchestra - Hjerteknuser (41.34 million)
• Persian: Faramarz Aslani - اگه یه روز (7.45 million)
• Pijin: Elexter Jr - Lo Honiara (325 thousand) [bilingual]
• Polish: Republika - Mamona (7.51 million)
• Portuguese: Roberto Carlos - Cama e mesa (139.89 million)
• Romanian: O-Zone - Dragostea din tei (275.88 million)
• Russian: Miyagi & Эндшпиль feat. Рем Дигга - I Got Love (129.55 million)
• Sami (Inari): Amoc - Čuđeh (163 thousand)
• Sami (Northern): Intrigue - Eadni Nieida (1.43 million)
• Scots: Steeleye Span - Cam Ye o'er frae France (1.31 million)
• Scottish Gaelic: Emma Thompson, Peigi Barker - A Mhaighdean Bhàn Uasal (16.18 million)
• Serbo-Croatian: Coby x Krisko - Nove pare (4.24 million) [bilingual]
• Slovak: Adam Ďurica - Zatancuj si so mnou (10.07 million)
• Slovene: Joker Out - Carpe Diem (20.14 million)
• Spanish: Luis Fonsi - Despacito (1.69 billion)
• Swahili: Miriam Makeba - Malaika (1.43 million)
• Swedish: Ulf Lundell - Öppna landskap (30.08 million)
• Tagalog: Lea Salonga - Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal (2.11 million)
• Tamil: Sid Sriram, Sreejith Edavana - Kaadhal En Kaviye (113.53 million)
• Thai: Bird Thongchai - รักเอ๋ย (5.10 million)
• Tok Pisin: Lista Serum - Alfie (19 thousand)
• Triqui (Copala): Carlos CGH - Los Artesanos (not on Spotify; 18 thousand on YouTube) [bilingual]
• Turkish: Sezen Aksu - Biliyorsun (68.49 million)
• Turkmen: Ka-Re - Yarala Meni (18.09 million)
• Tuvan: Huun-Huur-Tu - Ancestors (1.4 million)
• Ukrainian: SadSvit - Силуети (19.07 million)
• Uzbek: Tohir Sodiqov - Kel Yashaylik Birga (586 thousand)
• Vietnamese: Sơn Tùng M-TP - Chúng Ta Của Hiện Tại (41.59 million)
• Welsh: Daniel Pemberton - The Politics & The Life (8.29 million)
• Xhosa: Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata (35.35 million)
• Yiddish: The Barry Sisters - Chiribim Chiribom (1.32 million)
• Yoruba: Fela Kuti - Water No Get Enemy (26.90 million) [bilingual]

[Man in Space]

That’s cool! The Weeknd taking top honors in English does surprise me.

[Raphael]

The Weeknd taking top honors in English does surprise me.

Same, though that might be a sign of my age.

[xxx]

thank you for sharing, nice discoveries....

[Elancholia]

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• Chinese (Mandarin): Teresa Teng - 月亮代表我的心 (24.1 million)

I think the biggest lesson of this bullet point is that the Chinese internet doesn't use Spotify. (And possibly that Cantonese-speakers use it more than Mandarin-speakers.)

[vlad]

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• Chinese (Mandarin): Teresa Teng - 月亮代表我的心 (24.1 million)

I think the biggest lesson of this bullet point is that the Chinese internet doesn't use Spotify. (And possibly that Cantonese-speakers use it more than Mandarin-speakers.)

Could also be that there's some other more popular Mandarin songs that I just haven't found yet.

[Linguoboy]

That Welsh-language entry is unexpected. I wonder if maybe it was used in a video game or something, in addition to the movie?

Equating "song" with a manifestation of a work (to use FRBR terminology) also skews the numbers in a particular way, away from traditional tunes and old standards which have been recorded by many different artists and towards recent pop hits. (Just adding up the viewing numbers for a clutch of videos of "Yma o hyd", the unofficial anthem of the Welsh national football team, I quickly get to nearly 7 million.)

[rotting bones]

I'm pretty sure no one goes to Spotify to listen to Bengali songs. I'm getting a higher view count by searching YouTube for "bengali OR bangla OR বাংলা song" and sorting by views: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... p=CAM%253D

[xxx]

we should all come up with our favourite song in every language...

[Jonlang]

That Welsh-language entry is unexpected. I wonder if maybe it was used in a video game or something, in addition to the movie?

Equating "song" with a manifestation of a work (to use FRBR terminology) also skews the numbers in a particular way, away from traditional tunes and old standards which have been recorded by many different artists and towards recent pop hits. (Just adding up the viewing numbers for a clutch of videos of "Yma o hyd", the unofficial anthem of the Welsh national football team, I quickly get to nearly 7 million.)

Welsh-language popular music is like an underground movement in Wales. Right now, in February 2024 I'd say that Dafydd Iwan's "Yma o Hyd" is probably the most popular Cymraeg song, though maybe not reflected on Spotify. Of all Cymraeg popular music, however, songs like "Sosban Fach" have been performed and recorded by so many people in so many iterations that I'd be very surprised if it's not actually the most popular. But I suppose we'll never really know. If you went out into the streets of Wales and conducted a survey asking people what their favourite Welsh-language song is I suspect "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (the Welsh national anthem) would come out on-top.

I should also add that "Yma o Hyd" is more the unofficial anthem of the Welsh football fans rather than the team. Kinda how "Hymns and Arias" is the unofficial anthem of the Welsh rugby fans. "Yma o Hyd" is also adding fuel to the Welsh independence movement, which in turn is making the song more popular. It's been in-and-out of the public consciousness since it was released, becoming popular whenever something anti-Westminster happens in Wales.