American Music

Spanish culture is rich and amazing, but there´s something particularly comforting about the American songs and movies I already know and love. I´ve embraced Spanish television wholeheartedly, from skits by hilarious Spanish comedian José Mota to viewing my favorite American films in Spanish (Shawshank Redempción, anyone?).
Occasionally, however, only American will do. A few times I´ve heard an American song at just the right time, so here I present...

5 Best Incidents of American Music in Spain:

5. American pop music medleys at Camelot, our regular club. Even songs I previously despised, like Rihanna´s ¨Under My Umbrella¨, become awesome and beloved when they´re the first English words I´ve heard in days. Tonight´s Gonna be a Good Night and Bad Romance never fail to get us on the dance floor.

4. Last night a series of unfortunate events led to me spending a solid 2 or 3 straight hours on Madrid public transportation. With my grey converse sneakers, skinny jeans, and alternative music, I felt artsy and hipster. At first. As time passed I became increasingly angsty. I planned my alternate life as a rock guitarist, and decided to title my first album ¨Good Songs for Rainy Days¨ because that´s about how I felt at the time. Thank you Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So´s, Belle & Sebastian, and Dashboard Confessional- the Madrid metro system would have been unbearable without you.

3. Scene: Cádiz. After touring and walking for most of the morning, we sat for a while to cat-nap and catch our breath. Laura pulled out her iPod, and soon the beautiful sounds of Sweet Southern Comfort and other country songs had increased my mood considerably. America!

2. Last week I tried to meet Erika at the Centro Comercial (mall) for some shopping. I missed my bus stop (typical) and had to switch buses and backtrack. Before I had time to wallow in misery, the wonderful ¨Wake me up before you go-go¨ burst onto Toledo public radio. Absolutely excellent.

1. I´ve visited the local Opus Dei center a few times. This Friday, I helped out at their girls´ club for junior high girls. I´m not even sure how this kind of thing happens, but we ended up putting on a lot of popular American music for me to translate into Spanish. The girls had all heard Taylor Swift´s Love Story but none of them knew what the words meant. Obvious solution: as the song played, I translated it out loud for them. The girls were so attentive, and excited... They practically swooned at the end. They found the lyrics so beautiful and were thrilled to finally understand them.
Yeah, I would say I´m a pretty good ambassador of American culture.