One of the most interesting things I've noticed here in France is how much American music is played. It boggled my mind at first why people would care to listen to music they understood only in varying degrees and the answer I got from the French people I asked responded "we listen for the beat."
That's all well and good but you miss something I feel but by not fully comprehending the lyrics you're missing something great... that soaring feeling you get when you connect with a song on that lyrical level.
However, it makes sense economically for bands to sing in English. The United States is I believe the third largest country in the world with 300 million people combined with the anglophones living in Canada, Australia and of course Great Britain make the English speaking audiences the ones you want to target for the most bang for the buck.
I've been listening to Phoenix a lot this past week because their songs are good summer songs, light qnd qiry anot not too serious... plus they're French so I feel an added sense of approval for listening to them. Anyway I found an interview where the band discusses its motivations for singing in English, you can watch it down below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=y3QGd1EW2Lw&feature=fvw
I'm really impressed by Phoenix songs. Their lyrics show a pretty intimate knowledge of the English language in terms of slang and the way the construct sentences even. When I first heard of them I'm pretty sure I didn't realize they were French. My friends and I met some really cool French kids our age and we were talking about French bands and one of the boys asked if they sung with an accent andf I told him no because the only way I could tell they're French is by their accent when they talk not sing. Very interesting
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