I am not a gamer. I’m a listener, maybe also a viewer. Perhaps this comes from being raised in the ’80s by parents who were already retired by the time I was 15. Like a dog, a home video game system was not seen as something I needed. As far as my folks were concerned, what I needed was a job.
By the time I got one, I was spending all my money on records, instruments, gas, booze and cigarettes. I never wanted to be at home except to eat, sleep and make mix tapes. And thus, I never became a gamer — apart from late-night drinking sessions at a couple of friends’ places, where I played PGA Tour Golf on the Sega. As an adult, I occasionally played EA Sports NHL on PlayStation. But that’s about it.
When I became a dad, both my kids turned out to be homebodies. So I got my first real home exposure to video games. When they got frustrated with a game, they’d come looking for me (of all people) to try and help. As a result, I developed a minor addiction to Webkinz, and a worrisome, embarrassingly serious problem with Pokemon Go. But mostly, I just watched them play. Turns out this is a thing. My older kid has spent hours watching YouTubers play video games. People actually make a living playing video games — not by being good at them, but by attracting an online audience. To me, this is up there with watching poker on TV. I don’t get it. But I digress.
One of the games they’d play is The Sims. It’s one of the most popular video games of all time, so I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of it. About 200 million copies of Sims games have been sold since it first came out in 1989. This is one of those games without a goal. Or, at least the kind of definable goal I was accustomed to with regular video games. They call games like The Sims “sandbox” games. You create a virtual person or people. You have to keep them fed, rested, engaged, healthy, active and creative for them to thrive. You buy them stuff and clothes and constantly improve their homes, property, decor, career, etc. You fail at this game by not looking after them.
The little Sims have a language, called Simlish. It’s basically gibberish, but there are several universal Simlish words, and things they all say at certain times — but which vary depending on their sex and age. A simulated life in a simulated world.
It really has no end, and you can even get expansion packs for the various (I believer there are now four) versions of The Sims. In each of these games, reality includes radio stations. It’s difficult to say just how many. I believe there are four in the first game playing up to 12 different styles of music with expansion packs. There are six in Sims 2 — but nearly two dozen if you get all the expansion packs. Sims 3 and 4 also have multiple radio stations — and now the ability to add custom stations.
This is where it gets interesting, because more and more, the songs on the radio are familiar pop and rock songs, sung in Simlish. Sometimes they’re by voice actors, but sometimes the actual artist has recorded a version of their song in Simlish. There have been more than 210 songs recorded in Simlish for the game. So, I thought it would be fun to do a roundup of the popular songs sung in Simlish by the original artists.
In terms of popular music, all you’ll find in the first iteration of The Sims is a pile of Mozart and a few traditional songs. In Sims 2, it’s interesting to note that almost all the in-game music — not the radio station stuff, just the ongoing background music — was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. At this point, I suspect he’s made more money from his extensive film TV and video-game music than from his original band. There’s one bit of in-game music called FreeTime Theme, used to accompany scenes of your neighbourhood, which was composed by They Might Be Giants. They also contributed a Simlish version of their song Take Out The Trash.
On the radio in Sims 2, you’ll hear a lot of an electronic duo called The Humble Brothers, one half of which is Canadian Ken “Hiwatt” Marshall. The first major artist to re-record their hits in Simlish were Black Eyed Peas for the 2004 edition of the game, dubbed The Urbz: Sims In The City. The Peas re-recorded nine songs, including Shut Up and Let’s Get It Started, or, Ga Ra Ta Da in Simlish.
Paramore recorded a Simlish version of Pressure for The Sims 2 in 2005.
On the Jam Bands radio station in The Sims 2, you’ll hear Government Mule’s redo of Mr. High & Mighty.
Even better, the College Rock station in Sims 2 has The Flaming Lips doing Free Radicals.
Amazingly, Depeche Mode contributed a Simlish version of Suffer Well to The Sims 2, on the New Wave radio station.
The same radio station in Sims 2 also included this re-recording of Howard Jones’ 1985 hit Things Can Only Get Better. Barenaked Ladies have three songs on the Pop station.
You can hear Our Time Now by The Plain White T’s in Sims 2 as well.
Lily Allen did a Simlish version of her big hit Smile for The Sims 2.
My Chemical Romance did a Simlish version of Na Na Na for The Sims 3.
Fefe Dobson’s I Want You can be heard on the Pop station in The Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack.
The Sims 3 Ambitions expansion pack features a version of Savior by Rise Against.
And the Generations expansion pack has Jimmy Eat World doing a Simlish cover of their song Movielike.
Katy Perry did two Simlish songs — Hot N Cold for Sims 2 Apartment Life, and Last Friday Night in The Sims 3 (above).
Canada’s Nelly Furtado did a version of Manos al Aire for The Sims 3.
Carly Rae Jepsen contributed to the latest edition of the game, The Sims 4, with a version of Run Away With Me.
Also in Sims 4, you’ll hear Five Seconds of Summer doing Want You Back.
Ottawa’s The Acorn even got in on the action, with a Simlish version of Restoration on the radio in The Sims 3.
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Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
