Home » Music » 60s Music » Popular Songs with Non-English Lyrics in the 1960s: Volare,The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Pata Pata, and Sukiyaki

Popular Songs with Non-English Lyrics in the 1960s: Volare,The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Pata Pata, and Sukiyaki

© Patricia Jacobs

From the late 1950s through the 60s, a string of foreign-influenced hits proved that Americans recognized a great song, even if it was entirely in another language.

The trend may have started with "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu," the no. 1 1958 song by Domenico Modugno. This was the first foreign-language single to hit no.1 in the rock era, and, according to Billboard, the biggest hit of '58. The Italian title translates to "The Blue Sky, Painted In Blue."

Dean Martin also had a top 20 hit with this song in 1958, subtitled "Volare," and Al Martino took the song to no. 33 in 1975 (called "Volare" with English lyrics.) Bobby Rydell did a breezy, English version called "Volare," a no. 4 hit in 1960.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The U.S. version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a no.1 song by The Tokens in Dec. 1961, wasn't sung in a foreign tongue, but the song originated in South Africa. It was a Zulu hunting song called "Mbube" (lion).

In 1948, the South African Record Company sent a copy to Decca Records in the U.S., and folk singer Pete Seeger began working on an English version. In the 1950s, Miriam Makeba recorded this with the Zulu lyrics, and Seeger and his group, The Weavers, did the revamped English version and called it "Wimoweh." The group had a no.15 hit in 1952. The Kingston Trio also sang this in 1959. "Wimoweh" wasn't the original word - it was something like "Uyimbube," which is like "scooby dooby doo" or " shoe bop shoe bop."

In 1961,The Tokens sung "Wimoweh" as an audition song, and impressed noted producers Hugo (Peretti) and Luigi (Creatore). Hugo and Luigi rewrote the lyrics and called it "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." "Lion" was the B side of a song called "Tina." A New England DJ started playing that B side, and "Lion" became a no. 1 smash.

The Singing Nun

"Dominique" was a no. 1 hit for The Singing Nun,  Sister Luc-Gabrielle (born Jeanine Deckers) from a Belgium convent. Sister Gabrielle wrote several songs that won prizes at religious youth retreats. They became so popular that one of the order's elders asked her to record an album, of which the convent could make a few hundred copies to pass out as gifts. When the record company executives heard the songs, they released the album commerically in Europe to great success.