Music is something that crosses all barriers, including the language barrier. It’s so much easier to learn songs in a foreign language than it is to actually learn the language itself. But there’s something interesting that happens for people who normally speak with an accent when singing. Suddenly their accents are gone.
Some of the biggest singers in America didn’t grow up in the United States and yet when they sing, they do so with an American accent. Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Harry Styles to name a few, are all from England with the exception of Capaldi, who hails from Scotland. They’re some of the most popular singers in the world but their speaking accents are drastically different than their singing accents. But why is that?
Dave Huxtable, a language coach explores why singers who aren’t from North America, sing as if they are in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.
In his video Huxtable dissects pieces from Adele, Harry Styles and discusses what it would sound like if they were speaking the same words they were singing.
“It’s actually not just British people. It also happens to people from Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and all other parts of the English speaking world,” Huxtable says.
The language coach explains that it was The Beatles who were some of the first artists from the UK to start singing in an American accent but they certainly weren’t the last. Huxtable reveals that American mainstream music is so popular and easily accessible now that it makes sense that listeners would pick up singing in the accent of the artists.
It’s quite trippy to hear the stars talk in their normal accents then immediately hear them sing in another. When only listening to their music you almost forget that they have an accent at all. But Huxtable’s impressions of the artists and his deeper explanation on how it all works is a must watch to get the full effect.
Source: https://www.upworthy.com/the-fascinating-reason-british-and-australian-people-sing-in-north-american-accents
