Radio Resistencia

If you live in the States and listen to the radio, probably every single word you hear is in English or perhaps occasionally in Spanish. A German-language hit pops up only once or twice per decade, from Nena (99 luftballons) to Falco (Rock Me Amadeus) to, more recently, Rammstein (Du hast).

But when was the last time anyone heard a song from another language on the radio ? Yeah, I know - it was Korea's Gangnam Style. But how about in French ? Belgium's Singing Nun hit the top of the charts in 1963. Since then, I can only think of the few verses from the Beatles' Michelle. These days, the French imports all sing in English : Phoenix, Daft Punk, Chinese Man. Likewise for the Swedes : ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, Europe (who finally counted down). So in a lifetime of listening to American radio, you might actually only hear three or four languages, or about 0.05% of all languages out there.

Although I am musically quite anglophilic, I'm sure English doesn't have a total monopoly on good music. Whoever heard of Zulu on the radio ? I haven't. But how about Serbian or Tamasheq (it's from North Africa) or Swedish ? What do these languages sound like when sung ? It certainly isn't the Swedish Chef singing, "bork, bork, bork." There must be some good songs in these tongues. Why don't we ever hear them on the radio ? Luckily, I happen to know a song or two in Serbian, Tamasheq, and Swedish.

What about in other countries ? What about South America, where 90% or more of the continent speaks Spanish or Portuguese ? I've been living or traveling here for over two years, and I've never heard anything other than Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Not a single song. No Aymara, no Quechua, no Guarani, or any of the hundreds of other languages spoken here.

And then we met Gustavo and Andres, two artists living in Resistencia, in northern Argentina, and who have a radio program every week. Gustavo immediately offered us a spot on his show, which worked out pretty well since his show was all about travelers and their musical likes.

And so, northern Argentina, used to hearing exclusively Spanish and perhaps some English or Portuguese hits on the radio, had the opportunity, whether they wanted it or not, whether they liked it or not, to hear a Swedish song, one of my favorites.  It's a Swedish oldie, by the late Dutch-born Cornelis Vreeswijk, called Somliga går med trasiga skor. This program wasn't the call-in kind, so I will never know what the Argentinians thought about Swedish people walking around with worn-out shoes.