Although Colombia is, without a doubt, a country with an amazingly comprehensive, dynamic, and proud heritage of home-grown music; and while this music accounts for a significant chunk of the tunes you’ll hear and dance to here, every now and then, you’ll come across a song with English lyrics. There are some I wasn’t suprised to hear blasted out of speakers, such as “Yesterday” by the Beatles, “Let’s Get it Started” by the lamentably ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas, or most any song by Bob Marley, but there are some tracks that stopped me in my…eh….tracks when I realised how inexplicably popular they were here…
1. Sweat (A La La Long) – Inner Circle.
When I was in high school, I remember downloading this song. I mean, I remember pressing “record” on my tape deck one time when this bizarre track came on the Rock 40 Australia radio program. Apparently, and bewilderingly, it made it all the way to Number One. After a few listens of it, I think Radiohead’s “Creep” came along, and appealed more to my burgeoning teenage angst (I just wanted to be special, dammit!), and that description of a reggae singer’s grimy intentions for the upcoming night (he’s talking about forcing a lady to run on a treadmill until she collapses from dehydration, I think). faded into a distant memory. That was until I made the move to the Magical Realism (TM) that is Colombia. This song is MASSIVE here. Still!!! I don’t really get it, but it does make me smile that such a sneakily explicit, and, frankly, gross song has made it into the collective consciousness of Colombia.
2. Repent – Shaggy.
Now, I’ve never particularly got Shaggy. I don’t really see the attraction in listening to some dude with a cold mumbling about a lady touching him on the back. Not to mind, though; as Colombia definitely does get him. Shaggy is some kind of god here. Such a god, that it’s difficult to decide which timeless work of art crafted by this consummate performer should be singled out for particular attention. I’ve landed with “Repent,” as I’d never even heard it before I was confronted with it being proudly blasted in a club straight after a reggaeton song.
3. What is Love – Haddaway.
Remember the explosion of pop techno that hit the world stage in the early nineties? No? Don’t worry; you’re not missing terribly much – although Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic has probably the best film clip featuring a lady with a perm and a bumbag (in the States, they’re called fanny packs…) ever. “What is Love” may possibly stand out for this country because, unlike most of this genre, it doesn’t feature a guy who has somehow convinced his DJ mates that they should let him do a “rap” in their song (SNAP! et al., I’m talking about you, here. And I’m serious as cancer).
4. Thunderstruck – AC/DC.
I’m very proud to say that Scotland’s finest band, or Acker-Dacker as we Aussies like to call them, are a pretty big deal here; especially with those who frequent the gloriously dingy Rock Bars of Bogota and Cali. And why not? For a bunch of blue-collar lads to make it to the seriously big stage by releasing 11 (oops, sorry, Angus: 12) albums that sound exactly the same is a pretty commendable effort. Why fix what ain’t broke? Seriously, though, I’m happy about the Colombian popularity of this song – what an intro! What a band! What’s not to like?
5. Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil.
I may be biased here, but this is a truly great song. Back when the Honourable Peter Garret MP could still speak – and dance – the way he really wanted to, his ultra-political, ultra-good band, Midnight Oil, was huge. In Australia. I didn’t realise they had any popularity outside of the world’s smallest continent at all. I may have only heard this song seven or eight times during my entire life here, but I never expected to come across it even once, and it still strikes me with a poignant shock right up the spine whenever I hear it in a Colombian context.
But that’s just my top 5. Do you disagree? Please do! What would you choose instead, then, hey?
