# Non-English language popular music



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

We have a thread for folk music, but not about other musical genres from non-English speaking world.

As we have a lot of members from all around the world, it would be good if we could have a thread where we could all share some good non-folk and non-classical music from our countries, or from anywhere, just avoiding songs in English.

I'll start with a couple of songs from France, Italy, Indonesia and naturally Bosnia and Serbia 

France: Zaz - Je Veux (This was a big hit in Balkans)






Italy: Carmen Consoli - Orfeo (I learned about this one in Italian class in University)






Indonesia: Iwan Fals - Bongkar (I stumbled upon this through browsing Wikipedia, and it's one of my favorite songs)






Bosnia: Dubioza kolektiv - Kažu (They are currently the most popular Bosnian band, and they play some sort of combination of Ska, Reggae and Folk...)






Serbia: Galija - Kotor (Rock with folk influences... Galija has their unique sound)


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Dutch:





German:





French:





Mandarin:


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Good songs, especially the French one. And how did you dig the Chinese one? I was wondering for a long time if we'll ever have sort of Chinese popular culture invasion, like Japanese and South Korean...


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Fabrizio de André - Dolcenera, Bocca di Rosa, Don Raffaè


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Oh... Fabrizio de Andre is one of my favorite singers-songwriters. I love his stuff! I was thinking about sharing his stuff too


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

a few of my favorite songs from Italy (I'm leaving out instrumental stuff or songs using english language)

pop:
Matia Bazar - Vacanze romane





Franco Battiato & Alice - I treni di Tozeur





Natalino Otto - Baexinn-a





Gino Paoli - Senza fine





neapolitan songs:
Ugo Calise - Nun è peccato





prog:
Locanda delle fate - New York





Stormy six - Stalingrado





singer songwriter:
Lucio Battisti - Anima Latina





new wave:
Litfiba - Pierrot e la luna





Diaframma - Gennaio





jazz rock:
Area - Luglio agosto settembre nero





Napoli Centrale - Campagna





folk:
Cade l'Uliva





Rosa Balistreri - Buttana di to ma





and...
a couple of my favorite anime italian themes 

Oliver Onions - Galaxy Express 999 (basically a krautrock song)





Orchestra Castellina Pasi - Lupin 3 (a great example of italian genre Liscio)


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Here are some songs by Ekatarina Velika (EKV), one of the best rock groups from Serbia (they were active during the time of former Yugoslavia):


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

ZJovicic said:


> And how did you dig the Chinese one?


My wife is Shanghainese................


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Il Ballo di San Vito - Vinicio Capossela


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Psí Vojáci - Žiletky


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

ZJovicic said:


> Oh... Fabrizio de Andre is one of my favorite singers-songwriters. I love his stuff! I was thinking about sharing his stuff too


Fabrizio totally ruined a PFM lp.


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

ZJovicic said:


> Oh... Fabrizio de Andre is one of my favorite singers-songwriters. I love his stuff! I was thinking about sharing his stuff too


Fabrizio totally ruined a PFM lp.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Some stuff from Croatia (mostly so called Dalmatian pop...)





















And now some rock:


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

I really like some Danish and Swedish acts. Usually from Northern Europe, rather than Spanish music.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Italian - Lucio Battisti





Cuban - Gloria Estefan





Ukrainian - Natural spirit


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Frysian:






Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I lived in Vienna for a couple of years, so I can list some of my favorite Austrian/German music. My real favorite Austrian band is Christoph und Lollo, they made several albums called Schispringerlieder (the ski jumping songs) and each song is about a different ski jumber, for example this one is about Funaki. If you can speak German, the lyrics are very funny





Die Ärzte (the doctors) is acutally a band grounded by doctors





and of course this


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

O Zone- Dragostea din tei Video Clip Oficial

O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It received positive reviews from critics and shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100,
Was no escape on any station radio and TV back in 2004


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Jacck said:


> Die Ärzte (the doctors) is actually a band grounded by doctors


Fake news? I can find no reference to this, German Wikipedia states that there was no specific reason for choosing the name, in the English Wikipedia states that the band members noticed that the folder with the umlaut "Ä" was empty in most record stores. Neither talks about the band members being doctors.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I appologize, ArtRock. I did not bother to check their CVs. They are probably not real doctors.

Chinese





Czech





French


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Alice e Franco Battiato - I Treni di Tozeur 1984

Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. 
Dutch television in Zierikzee.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Shalom - Shalom
Czech "Depeche Mode". The singer was Jewish. He suffered from bipolar disorder and commited suicide during one of the fits of severe depression


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Spanish:






Japanese:


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Art Rock said:


> Spanish:







An iconic song in our country that represented us in Eurovision. I'll comment no further. -_-


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Some hard rock from Serbia:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Vicky Leandros - Après toi
Silent crush from my dad.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Laura Pausini is among more commercial Italian pop stars, but she has a fantastic voice, and this song in particular I think stands out. With this song she won in Sanremo festival, in the 1993, in the newcomers section:


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Jacck said:


> Italian - Lucio Battisti
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Natural Spirit - Kolybelnaja ... what a fantastic song!


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Jacck said:


> Shalom - Shalom
> Czech "Depeche Mode". The singer was Jewish. He suffered from bipolar disorder and commited suicide during one of the fits of severe depression


Nice song, but indeed has a melancholic tone...


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ZJovicic said:


> Laura Pausini is among more commercial Italian pop stars, but she has a fantastic voice, and this song in particular I think stands out. With this song she won in Sanremo festival, in the 1993, in the newcomers section:


italian pop music is already quite mediocre but there are some gems, why mention the worst things 
I don't have anything against her as a person, but the music she makes is terrible. I don't think she has even a great voice onestly.

(I will never understand why the most popular italian "artists" are Pausini, Ramazzotti, Toto Cutugno, Raffaella Carrà, Eiffel 65 and stuff like that.)


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Honestly, she is much more hated in Italy than abroad. Probably because people in Italy got sick of her, whatever is overplayed becomes nauseating. I don't know that much of Italian music, I listened to some more serious authors like Fabrizio de Andre too, but I still have so much stuff to discover.
Regarding Eros Ramazzotti, well, Italians are probably sick of him too, but for many people abroad he was among those who attracted them to Italian music in the first place. I personally like some of his songs, like Se Bastasse Una Canzone and Terra Promessa, but I am not a big fan generally.

I'd appreciate you posting some more Italian songs that you consider good. I want to discover it !


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Regarding Laura Pausini, I like "La Solitudine" and "Strani Amori", and that's about it. Tried listening to other songs, but I found them rather bland. But I like these two songs.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Elis & Tom - Aguas de Março


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

From Wales, Meic Stevens' _Môr o Gariad_ ("Sea of Love"), accompanied by some nice footage of the coast near where I live:


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Granate said:


> I really like some Danish and Swedish acts. Usually from Northern Europe, rather than Spanish music.
> 
> (...)


Unfortunately it´s difficult to tell of the text content, but some examples of the fine, earlier *Danish examples* in native language have been:

****** og Chanel*: Smuk og Dejlig





*Lone Kellermann*: Fuglen er Fløjet





*Gasolin*: Pilli Villi





*Savage Rose*: Solen var også Din (they usually sing in English; very varied production spanning 4+ decades, they declined a major career option in the US)





*C. V. Jørgensen*: Costa del Sol





*Gnags*: Vestergade





*Kliche*: Stjernerne





*Bisse* (apparently a creative genius, incredibly productive & has a lot to say)


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ZJovicic said:


> Honestly, she is much more hated in Italy than abroad. Probably because people in Italy got sick of her, whatever is overplayed becomes nauseating. I don't know that much of Italian music, I listened to some more serious authors like Fabrizio de Andre too, but I still have so much stuff to discover.
> Regarding Eros Ramazzotti, well, Italians are probably sick of him too, but for many people abroad he was among those who attracted them to Italian music in the first place. I personally like some of his songs, like Se Bastasse Una Canzone and Terra Promessa, but I am not a big fan generally.


I don't think it's a matter of being overplayed, I mean there's a lot of music that I hear again and again that I like, and I don't listen to her a lot (with the exception of her Una donna innamorata, probably her worst song ever and for a period it was played endlessly). 
De Andrè is on complete different level, and I love his work. But as other famous singer songwriters (like Dylan or Cohen) his talent is especially in his lyrics, the songs are not musically particularly creative (and he was the first to admit that).



ZJovicic said:


> I'd appreciate you posting some more Italian songs that you consider good. I want to discover it !


I don't know if you have heard the songs I've posted in the other page, those are in my opinion some of the best examples of popular music. I've not mentioned this song for instance (written and arranged by Manuel De Sica, the son of Vittorio)





that to me is one of the best italian songs ever. I've not mentioned it only because it's in english and sung by Ella Fitzgerald. Truly a wonderful song in any case and basically completely unknown in italy. Maybe also because is on the soundtrack of Amanti, considered one of the worst movies ever (I've never seen it entirely onestly, but the first scene of the movie with this song and the beautiful Villa Barbaro is a joy to watch)

Estate (Bruno Martino) is probably the only italian song that could be considered a true jazz standard. 




(I'm not a great fan of the arrangement and the voice on the original version, but the song is beautiful). I love this guitar arrangement of it, that in my opinion is much better, but it's obviously without words 





CCCP are probably the best italian rock band ever, but I've not mentioned them before because the lyrics are the most important aspect of their work. The music is an hallucinated crude post punk that musically is often very monotonous, if you know bands like PIL or Suicide... that kind of stuff. They are great, But I'm not sure about the appeal they could have with someone who doesn't understand what Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, (their singer, one of the most charismatic figures in italian rock music) is saying.






Other stuff, let's see... (I'm trying to avoid to post music that like De Andrè or CCCP where the lyrics are the main attraction, and a lot of italian music is great lyrically but not very interesting musically)






Franco Battiato in his experimental period in the seventies


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

some other commercial songs that I like




















Fossati was also the arranger of the last album of De Andrè (that is one of the best he ever made)






(this one was written by Ennio Morricone)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Reinhard Mey - Gute Nacht Freunde
This is used every day at late nigh talk show on Radio 1


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

@norman bates: Thank you for sharing. Interesting selection of songs. I listened to them yesterday before sleeping, but commenting now with fresher brain  I find experimental stuff like CCCP and Franco Battiato interesting. I also like that you included one more lively song, namely Anna Oxa- Un Emozione da Poco. Other than that, my favorites would include "Estate" and "Controvento"

Now, here is a selection of best pop and rock music from the other side of the Adriatic sea, all the countries of former Yugoslavia, usually the songs that came before the war:

Croatia - Josipa Lisac (rock influenced pop):






if you like this, you can try this too: 




Bosnia - Bijelo Dugme (Progressive rock), BTW, Bijelo dugme was certainly the most popular rock band in whole Yugoslavia. Some of their early stuff is among the pinnacles of Yugoslav rock music. The song that I am sharing belongs to this early period. Later they commercialized a lot and weren't as good as before.






another one: 




And now one of the defining songs of Bosnian, so called "Sarajevo school of rock'n'roll", by another band, Indeksi:






Now from Serbia, Riblja čorba is still the leading Serbian rock band, and one of the longest lasting. I can't remember how many times during high school we would meet somewhere in park or behind the school, and one of my friends would play guitar, and we would drink beer and sing songs like this:






and this song was also legendary, mainly for its lyrics (criticizing social and political situation in Yugoslavia in 1980s), but it's interesting musically as well:





Now another band from Belgrade, one of the most progressive and experimental bands of the New Wave in 1980s.

Their signature song:





and one song from their songs from the most acclaimed album "Odbrana i poslednji dani" (Defense and last days):






to be continued...


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> From Wales, Meic Stevens' _Môr o Gariad_ ("Sea of Love"), accompanied by some nice footage of the coast near where I live:


I really like this! The Welsh language sounds so familiar to me; my grandfather was Welsh, & his accent was so thick that as a child, I could barely understand anything that he said, (or sang in church; he had a wonderful voice) but I _loved_ listening to him. Can you recommend any particular albums by Meic Stevens? (or any other "similar" singer?) Thanks for posting this!


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Jeanne Moreau - Le tourbillon de la vie


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Jacques Dutronc "Il est cinq heures Paris s'éveille" |


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Cœur de pirate - Place de la République


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

laurie said:


> Can you recommend any particular albums by Meic Stevens? (or any other "similar" singer?)


I'm glad you like Meic, Laurie  You might check out "Ysbryd Solva" and "Mihangel" to get a good idea of his range. Although not entirely similar, you might also like Dafydd Iwan; here's his most popular song _Yma O Hyd_, i.e. "We're still here" ...


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Ne me quitte pas, Jacques Brel


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

One song from Russia.





One from Indonesia:





One from Belgium:






One from Greece:






One from Italy:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

A few more Dutch songs:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je t'aime... moi non plus/Original videoclip (Fontana 1969)


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

New song from Banja Luka, by Vanja Mišić, one of the most talented new indie rock artists in Bosnia:


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Pugg said:


> Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je t'aime... moi non plus/Original videoclip (Fontana 1969)


The sweetest song posted here so far. I'm blown away.
I've heard this ages ago before, but had no clue about the name of the song/artist... Wonderful song indeed.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Edith Piaf - Non, Je ne regrette rien
Nena ‎- 99 Luftballons


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Montenegro:





Bosnia & Herzegovina


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> I'm glad you like Meic, Laurie  You might check out "Ysbryd Solva" and "Mihangel" to get a good idea of his range. Although not entirely similar, you might also like Dafydd Iwan; here's his most popular song _Yma O Hyd_, i.e. "We're still here" ...


This is great! And I'm enjoying checking out the Meic recommendations, too; thanks so much for this!
Do you speak Welsh yourself?


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

laurie said:


> Do you speak Welsh yourself?


Thank you, Laurie. Yes - Welsh is my first language.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Some more rock from Serbia:

1973:





1977:





1985:





1991:





2007:


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Szpilman: Nie wierzę piosence, Katarzyna Skrzynecka





Szpilman: Tych lat nie odda nikt, Anna Maria Jopek





Songs of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish composer and pianist, the author of The Pianist. I liked Uri Cain's trio album _Szpilman_ with Wójciński and Rasz very much (I have not heard any Szpilman composition before) and checked out his songs. I think they are very good.

Nie wierzę piosence played by Uri Caine trio


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

ZJovicic said:


> The sweetest song posted here so far. I'm blown away.
> I've heard this ages ago before, but had no clue about the name of the song/artist... Wonderful song indeed.


That song was once banned in Europe and USA. Gainsbourg recorded the song with Brigitte Bardot earlier. I read that she did not give permission for release, but I just found it available on youtube. This is extremely sexy.

Je T'aime Moi Non Plus - Serge Gainsbourg & Briggit Bardot


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Hako Yamasaki - Tobimasu/山崎ハコ - 飛・び・ま・す (1975)


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Seidir Ddoe ("Yesterday's Cider") by _Plethyn_






The other songs in the playlist are great, too.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

a couple more italian pop songs

Teresa de Sio - Voglia 'e turnà





and one from Giuni Russo, probably the greatest italian pop singer (from Sicily, like Rosa Balistreri that to me is the best italian folk singer)


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Slovenian language: 





Croatian language:


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Original Vs Cover.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

I've been pleasantly surprised by songs I encountered in Indian film Taare Zameen Par (Like Stars on Earth) (2007):


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Vladimir Vysotsky - Koni Priveredlivye


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Great band from Quebec. These are from their second album.


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