Songs in Made-Up Languages

[Eclipse_31]

This has been a topic that's intrigued me for some time: songs with lyrics in imaginary languages. It's a shame that this is such an underdiscussed topic, because it can certainly add an air of intrigue and mystery to a piece of music, and give a sense of verisimilitude for whatever civilization the language came from. Not only that, but I think it can transcend language barriers in ways other music can't.

Perhaps the most well-known instances of this can be found in Howard Shore's score for the Lord of the Rings films, especially in The Fellowship of the Ring, which masterfully use Tolkien's imagined languages.

https://open.spotify.com/track/05q7lfYerRkqqNDua3vJOL:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/5IHpHBugLoWXDyoOEkfdWU:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/1bemsRXGIucdodYDoAZwHa:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/3nfmgykmdHpX0M5dSVnMnX:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/2DjjHvVoVIDlETBC7FJHT1:small

The NieR games are another instance of a soundtrack using an imaginary language, although, instead of multiple languages like Sindarin, Adûnaic, Khuzdul, etc., we are instead treated to one language, the mysterious "Chaos Language". It certainly lives up to its moniker, because nothing is known about the language and according to an interview with Emi Evans, who wrote and sang many of the tracks, the lyrics do not really mean anything, and simply add an emotional and aesthetic dimension to each song. Each track featuring the Chaos Language is based on mixtures of different languages, such as Latin, Japanese, French, or Gaelic, allowing for a diverse amount of sounds.

https://open.spotify.com/track/7EFnTKDaM0WiIy6v3NOO97:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/4vr1YnZEJnCOrk5RbymjFa:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/65T8C91gpRHOKuWebM5qby:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/4d54i5M0BiT0R0u3alJTMC:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/1bawDCkXcLpGjRp8LwpD6K:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/3IuyxBjMuu5Yp4cR1ublKi:small

Here are works from other artists who have dabbled in made-up languages:

https://open.spotify.com/track/4X8eI0IxdwyixaeOPOeeGh:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/6k41naacsmD4L3i9AzCFom:small

https://open.spotify.com/track/0poF86R3x9YMsdinTBtQmv:small

[AdamDamon]

Great topic, @Eclipse_31!

One band that comes to mind for me, which might be considered to have songs in a made-up language, is Kikagaku Moyo—a Tokyo-based psychedelic rock band who were active from 2012 to 2022. 

Most of Kikagaku Moyo’s songs feature vocals consisting of made-up syllables, which the band members composed for their sonic effect in the music rather than for any specific meaning.

Ahead of the band's fifth album and final tour in 2022, Kikagaku Moyo guitarist Tomo Katsurada has been quoted as saying, "It is absolutely possible for music to cross borders, language barriers and to be created imperfectly.” I’d say that the band’s imaginary language of invented syllables is a way that their songs can sound more universal—or as you mentioned in your post, presents a way that the music “can transcend language barriers in ways other music can't.”

As an example, I’ll share my favorite song by Kikagaku Moyo here, “Gatherings” from their 2018 album Masana Temples:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5npBZxim12CKui1b7GPawB?si=924a40a32c3f47e6

Cheers!

[MadmanOnWheels]

Hey. I just saw this post, and I immediately thought of Enya her lyricist. I'm not a "Lords of The Rings" fan, at all, but I also know that, there's an Enya song called "May It Be", in one of the movies. I didn't know until now, for both, about Elvish and that a part of it is in Elvish. Enya also has an instrumental piece called "Lothlórien". Roma Ryan, her lyricist created a language called Loxian that was used in five Enya songs. I didn't realize that it was more than one song, and I had to look it up, because I didn't know which songs used it. I just knew about it. Here are the songs:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5oUr1pTznee9AVd6Txbsc9?si=suqCCGYRSHqm89FZ3SwjFg&context=spotify%3Aal...

I don't really hear much being sang, so I don't get it, for this one (above).

https://open.spotify.com/track/1eVosR3JxBfD0KDbKAK5ep?si=od44wOF_RZaYU97YzVq7ig&context=spotify%3Aal...

https://open.spotify.com/track/4X8eI0IxdwyixaeOPOeeGh?si=t0skbLl9TeqEe03qaUQOnw

https://open.spotify.com/track/3RiBRjMbyN8iWXgfvTtJZy?si=mSJBrIrLT9Ob54x829Z7Qw

https://open.spotify.com/track/0uOskbuGVd6E4IJqOpp5nd?si=GWpvbzXrSlW9tIDGDclJMA&context=spotify%3Aal...

Here's more information about it.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/enya/the-loxian-gate

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/15/enya-dark-sky-island-album-feature

https://open.spotify.com/track/6kJurPKGg7X7De52CPpLAu?si=zWVFb0XTRJGw3yRG_nd4ng&context=spotify%3Aal...

[Xenia]

That’s a very interesting topic. I thought I had a few songs to contribute, but after double-checking it turned out most of them aren’t made-up just died-out.

The only ones I was left with is the Hymn of the Fayth from Final Fantasy X, which is sung in the made-up Al Bhed language that works like a cipher:

English E P S T I W K N U V G C L R Y B X H M D O F Z Q A J
Al Bhed A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

spotify:track:0aSV6lD1MoTtncciotsdaB

And the Minion’s language (if that counts) 😅:

spotify:track:45WZ2N9hK3b7KhOECCUGkh

[Joan]

I know I'm a bit late to the party but this is such an awesome topic that I wanted to contribute!

The first example and a well known one are French project ERA, who sing in a made up tongue designed to sound kind of like Latin while not actually being Latin. This is then used to create their iconic Church gospel-like sound.

spotify:track:7mfvOqsvzZaUl7sfbcNk4E 

The other example is yet another French project called Öxxö Xööx (don't ask me how it's pronounced, I don't know either lol). They've made up their own language called Laurent Lunoir and it's really something else to behold.

spotify:track:0k2JhNESXxbZZuRWX6nex1 

Cheers for the question and happy listening!

[AdamDamon]

Hi again @Eclipse_31, today I was looking through artists in my Last.fm library to find bands that I might be interested in revisiting, and when I scrolled past the doom metal artist Paul Chain, I remembered your thread, since the vocals in his songs typically don’t have discernable lyrics.

I’m not sure whether Paul Chain’s vocals would be considered to be in an imaginary language, but according to the entry for this artist in the Metal Archives website, “Paul Chain uses an entirely phonetic language for vocals which may or may not resemble real speech, and so the songs have no lyrics unless guest performers write their own, like Lee Dorrian did on the album Alkahest.” 

Here’s one of my favorite songs from Paul Chain as an example:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1qC4vNKEcT7SPO5UhjUUe2?si=e21916b40d3d4458

Cheers!