Humans of
Migration
A Transnational Media Archive
Notions of the Transnational in Songss
In order to demonstrate the multifaceted notions of the transnational, we have asked several friends and interviewees to suggest songs or music videos which they feel either represent their concept of their own identity or their transnational experiences as a whole. Below each video, you can find a small blurb with either a translation or explanation on choosing to include the song or video as a prime example.
Leider Geil - Deichkind (Germany)
Submitted by: Tim
"The term 'leider geil' does not really translate into English at all. At best, you can say it means 'unfortunately super awesome'. I always have a hard time explaining it to my American friends, but after seeing the video they seem to understand it more and laugh at it it as much as my German friends who first made me listen to it. I guess this means that humor is all that is needed to understand other cultures."
"El emigrante" - Juanito Valderrama
Translation:
I must make a rosary
with your ivory teeth
so that I may kiss it
while I'm away from you.
With it's blessed beads
made of jasmin and spikenard
I shall pray to the one in San Gil
to keep me safe.
So long my beloved Spain
in my soul you'll reside
and though a migrant I am
I shall never forget you.
As I left my homeland
I looked back with tears
for I was leaving behind
what I loved the most.
The Virgin of San Gil
was my companion
a memory and the pain
and an ivory rosary.
So long my beloved Spain
in my soul you'll reside
and though a migrant I am
I shall never forget you.
I'm a poor emigrant
and I bring to this land
a banner on my chest
with the joy of Spain.
I wish to die
in my homeland with my beloved
with my rosary and the virgin of San Gil
"Copenhagen" - Vetusta Maria (Spanish)
Translation:
He ran, he was never taught to walk, he went
After some pale lights
She was fleeing from mirages and hours on the sea
Airports, some come and some
Go, like Alicias in the city
The courage to go, the fear when arriving
It rains in the channel, the current
Shows the way to the sea
Everybody is asleep already
To let oneself go sounds far too good
To play randomly
Not to know where to finish or where to begin
An instant, while the tourists leave
At dawn, a train managed
To set up the border between always and never
It rains in the channel, the current
Shows the way to the sea
Everybody is asleep already
To let oneself go sounds far too good
To play randomly
Not to know where to finish or where to begin
To begin
She sleeps after the gale
She took off her clothes and dreams of waking up
In another time and another city
To let oneself go
sounds far too good
To play randomly, not to know
where to finish or where to begin
To finish or to begin
To finish or to begin
“Elle me dit” - MIKA (France)
MIKA embodies transnationalism in many ways. Born in Beirut, Lebanon to Syrian parents, he migrated with his family to Paris due to political strife in the region. He then moved to London for school. Today, his music is popular in the U.S. and Europe, among other places, and his lyrics are often in English and French.
¨Helwa ya Baladi¨ - Dalida (Arabic)
Submitted by: Mena Ghobryal
This is a beautiful song that illustrates the idea of migration, and the feeling of leaving one's home behind. It is a story of longing for the country, and recounting memories of experiences with the hope of one day being able to return. The video features lyrics in both Arabic and English translation.
"Ich kenne Nichts" - Xavier Naidoo(Germany)
This song was not chosen basen on the lyrical content, but the purpose with which it was produced and performed. The artist, Xavier Naidoo, is a German-American soul musician who played an important role in the 1990s by encouraging artists to return back to the German language in pop music. You will notice that the song is performed in both English and German, and this move was quite intentional. Naidoo elaborates on this choice in an interview with Deutsche Welle:
"I think it was primarily the German language that made us unique. It was not only giving Germany soul music. It was giving the Germans a piece of soul back. After the Second World War it just didn't feel right to sing in German or to have lyrics with a proper meaning sung in Germany. People felt awkward when they traveled abroad, not wanting to say they were German, so how on earth would you expect to find decent German music? There was a lot of English and American music around, but I wanted to give Germans lyrics they could understand, so they could learn to handle pop music. The great thing about pop is to be able to read between the lines and identify with the song. We were missing out on that. I grew up speaking English and German, so I had the privilege of being able to read between the lines. [...] I wanted to give people that joy of understanding and identifying with what I was singing. So we started to do it ourselves."
"Bailando" - Enrique Iglesias ft. Sean Paul, Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona (English)
"Bailando" - Enrique Iglesias ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona (Spanish)
"Bailando" was originally a cuban song, and is now more popular than ever. Both production and performance were based with a transnational audience in mind, producing versions in both English and Spanish. At an initial look at each video without sound, it may be difficult to distinguish versions, as the visual symbols and images remain constants for both renditions. However, the multiple versions in separate languages enable a larger audience in identifying and understanding the messages within.
"Der Gastarbeiter" - Eko Fresh
(German Rapper of Turkish Descent)
Translation: "The Guestworker"
My grandpa came to this land in a green Opel commodore Sivas to Lemgo, 7 children without cash with my grandma, six girls and a boy
he was stricht about work, had everyone here complelled he wanted, that we would have it better sometime. Becuase we did not move here for better weather. Nothing with school, where was the government. When my mother was 15 she worked in a paper factory probably the youngest there
it was the time, that she fell in love with an artist
My father sang for Peace as he saw her from the stage. Love in a strange country and culture
My grandpa did not want this, therefore she eloped
eventually she came back and kissed grandpa’s hand soon afterwards as her little son emerged
who knew her, Ekrem a workers son
earlier Rap fan, now a busines icon
We are a certain type of person
We have struggled hard our entire lives
Little cash, yet we continue. I repeat: Guestworker
We love Germany like crazy from the heart
yet unfortunately every time it does not love us back Who likes to see his neighbor fail?
unless he is a Guestworker
Believe me that this Freeze here speaks truth
What about Language lessons, back then we worked. I remember, how our freetime looked
We son’s of Guestworksers were only alone at home. I grew up with my cousins Inan and Cem
Meanwhile my parents separated.
As would three big brothers always
we were not rich, plain happy children
Who knows how the stars in the Universe fall
Our Inan died in a traffic accident
Since then the family was never the same
and yet we wanted only satisfaction
what should we do? One can look forward
but had already lost our Laugh in the Face
I loot a you and that makes me brave
Because of that it is on my back: Akbulut
Everything will fall into place.
My youngest aunt Handan was not much older
She lived with us like my sister
She was a Rebel, what today i know
She has shown me the music called Hip-Hop
She went to America as an Au-pair
Where she tragically lost her life
and that was our second stroke of fate
although I don’t like this word
This is the story of my Family
Who came from Turkey to Germany
My grandpa died this year, he was sick, God forbid
He worked his entire life and could not speak the language. a generation which sacraficed themselves so that today i can have
if he had not come to Germany back then
I would not have recorded this song for you
The Guestworker
"Cuando salí de Cuba" - Celia Cruz
Translation: "When I left Cuba"
I will never be able to die
My heart I don't have here (with me)
Someone is waiting for me
They're waiting for me to go back there
Chorus:
When I left Cuba
I left behind my life, I left behind my love
When I left Cuba
I left my heart buried in the ground
It beats and continues beating
Because my land gives it life
But the day will come
When my hand will reach it
Chorus
A sad storm
Is battering me without rest
But the sun of your children2
Soon will make the calm reach you
Chorus
"El Extranjero" - Bunbury (Spanish)
English: "The Foreigner"
*You may have to enable English subtitles manually.
“Behesht” - Googoosh (Iran)
Googoosh is an international pop star from Iran. She was very popular in Iran and Europe during the 1960s and 1970s, but she left Iran after the revolution. She is still touring and producing music. Her latest video for her song, “Behesht,” contains pro gay rights themes, a known controversial topic in her home country of Iran.
“Flawless” - Beyonce (U.S.)
This popular track by American pop singer Beyonce includes a featured excerpt from a TEDx Talk given by award-winning Nigerian novelist and global feminist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Can transnational feminism be pop music, too?
"Gangnam Style"
Who doesn't remember this viral music video from South Korean musician, Psy? Although the song has a local focus on the Gangnam District in Seoul, people from around the world have taken an interest in the video and in Psy's signature dance moves. This makes us wonder, how does the local become global?