A trend that is spreading a lot. And I find particularly disturbing the choice of several groups to sing in English, as well as the arguments they have used (see the three interviews that were recently published in the number 2,261 of Luz). The fact that certain styles seem better to the ear in English is what is often repeated. But when the trend is beginning to generalize, we should be blind if we only see the aesthetic option. And deaf, if we did not hear the echo of broader social phenomena.

I would say that there are many factors that have brought us to this situation and among them, the decline of the musical counterculture that was structured around the patriotic left in the 1990s is not the least. The generation led by the Red Winter was able to unite the diversity of origins and the dialect, a yoke of militancy. Mixing musical styles from all over the world and singing in Basque, several groups managed to maintain the dichotomies of “punk vs. society” and “Basque vs. Spanish citizens” that came from the 1980s; but also, as anthropologist Jacqueline Urla says (We are all Malcolm X! : The winter. The Reds, Hip-Hop and the Basque political imaginary), as well as the creation of the dichotomy “Euskara vs. the languages of the State”, and the bridging of other liberation struggles in the world through this symbolic opposition (the transformation of James Brown’s famous “say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud” by Negu Gorrak as “I am Basque and I’m proud” could be the main example of this cultural strategy).

Attention, however, because the language of the Basque State proposes a dichotomy Urla, that is, “Basque vs. Spanish” and “Basque vs. French”; and he emphasizes that the records of the Red Winters are not monolingual; the English, among others, occupies an important place. But not included in anything: “The English that we find in the work of the Red Winters evokes that voice of blacks, the experience of
socio-cultural marginalization.” In other words: Abrego, Arkarazo, Kazalis and the Muguruza brothers used languages that can be articulated around a particular political message.”

Those days have passed and have left at least two consequences. One: the political engagement that can be identified with the patriotic left is not as fashionable as in previous decades. Two: the explicit proclamation of euskalidad has become a cliché (even the most committed groups will hardly sing to you today “in Basque and that’s it” or anything like the “I’m Basque and I’m proud” mentioned above, at least in such a visible way; and that’s a good thing because, in my opinion, it shows that some foundations have been laid). A third must be added to the previous ones: The Internet has greatly increased access to music produced in the Anglo-Saxon world. It's free of charge.

From the combination of these three, in my opinion, the choice of singing in English has broadened. The process can be summarized in so many other movements: 1) “We must not claim to be Basque every time we stand in front of the microphone or give any political message. It’s enough to do it in Russian.” 2) “And we Basques are in the world, our cultural tradition is not only born here, we have always heard music in English, why not treat these styles?” 3) “Therefore, once our dialect and worldliness are implicitly accepted, there is no problem even to sing in English. In addition, it is easier because that is how we have always heard it and adapting this music to the Basque language, in addition to asking for work, does not give the same result aesthetically.”

Personally, I only agree to the second point. The rejection of explicit self-affirmation is a decision taken from within the dialect. With the second movement, so to speak, we bring the world to us (or at least “domesticate” the cultural expressions that are in the dominant pole of this world, to put it in the words of Urla). With the third, however, it is the Basque musicians who move their center, subjecting them to the force of attraction that surpasses them. Artists who, singing in Basque, would have the centrality of the local scene closer, place themselves on the periphery of English music, become marginal. And the multiplication of this tendency makes the whole local scene marginal: If most of the bands in the Basque Country sang in English, what would be the bands here in the world music scene? A small marginal neighborhood, in my image.

Someone will say that it doesn’t have to be, like the Zarautas Delorean, who appeared on Pitchfork’s list of the 50 best albums of the past year. Some exceptions simply confirm the rule: check otherwise how many groups on this list belong to non-Anglo-Saxon countries.
Music is an important activity because, among other things, people form our imaginary by listening to songs; and it is also by sharing our tastes with those around us that the common imaginary of a society is built. As in other public activities, the mere fact of being in Basque gives prestige to the language, shows that it is possible, that it is not impossible to make rock and roll with a Scandinavian air in Basque, nor hip-hop, dub, grindcore or indie. When done in English, Basque seems incapable, when the problem is, in any case, that of the speakers.
Aren't we capable of doing some things in Basque? Are we trying? Are you going to try?