Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I thought you'd like the cat story, Zaqarbal.  |
Yes, I liked it. And it also reminded me of
this Mürfila's music video, with that kitten... (btw, she looks hotter than Bonanza's coffee pot
).
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I enjoy reading your thoughtful translations (...)
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Thank you very much! I'm glad someone appreciates my work. If you knew how difficult to translate a song is!! Sometimes it's like a mental torture, really. I know that a "
lost in translation" result is almost inevitable (Italians say:
traduttore, traditore, which means "
translator, traitor"), but I always get neurotically involved when translating a song. I lose my mind trying to find the most accurate words, consulting bilingual dictionaries, synonyms dictionaries, etc. It's about to convey meanings, ideas, feelings, emotions... not just words. And that's really, really, very difficult. Besides, the rhyme cannot be "translated". For instance, apart from its superb music,
Sidonie (one of my fave bands) is notable for its
rhyming lyrics. Like these:
"Tus huesos son ................................ Your bones are
un arrecife de cristal ................................ a crystal reef
en un océano ................................ into an ocean
de carne ideal. ................................ of ideal flesh.
Mis ojos derraman ................................ My eyes shed
oro líquido en el mar ................................ liquid gold on the sea
y te coronan ................................ and crown
la cabeza de coral. ................................ your head with coral."
That's the kind of thing that I always wanted to say to all my platonic loves (if possible, during some summer holidays in the
French Riviera).
But
with the rhyme it sounds even better! Sadly, as I said, rhyme cannot be "translated". That's why I use to post the original lyrics together with their translation.
Well, here you are, one of the best Sidonie's love songs, made under a blessed musical influence from The Beatles.
Costa Azul ("
French Riviera", 2007):
♫ "Tus huesos son ................................ Your bones are
un arrecife de cristal ................................ a crystal reef
en un océano ................................ into an ocean
de carne ideal. ................................ of ideal flesh.
Mis ojos derraman ................................ My eyes shed
oro líquido en el mar ................................ liquid gold on the sea
y te coronan ................................ and crown
la cabeza de coral. ................................ your head with coral.
Mutando el viento ................................ When wind changed,
la marea me arrastró; ................................ tide swept me away;
nadé en abrazos ................................ I swam with strokes
de azulada dimensión. ................................ of bluish dimension.
Creí que tus brazos ................................ I thought your arms
eran la sal de mi nación. ................................ were my nation's salt.
América es bella ................................ America is beautiful
pero naufragué en Japón. ................................ but I was shipwrecked in Japan.
En la Costa Azul, ................................ In the French Riviera,
una foto nuestra a contraluz, ................................ a photo of us taken against the light,
un beso para siempre, ................................ a kiss forever,
fundidos en cuerpos siameses. ................................ fused as siamese bodies.
Aunque de un vaso roto, ................................ Although from a broken glass,
mi boca bebió ................................ my mouth drank
la sombra del otoño ................................ the autumn's shadow
y el último adiós. ................................ and the last farewell.
Todos los mares ................................ I will put all the seas
los pondré en un jarrón, ................................ into a vase,
y nuestro verano ................................ and our summer,
enmarcado en mi salón. ................................ framed at my lounge.
En la Costa Azul, ................................ In the French Riviera,
una foto nuestra a contraluz, ................................ a photo of us taken against the light,
un beso para siempre, ................................ a kiss forever,
fundidos en cuerpos siameses. ................................ fused as siamese bodies.
En la Costa Azul, ................................ In the French Riviera,
una foto nuestra a contraluz, ................................ a photo of us taken against the light,
un beso para siempre, ................................ a kiss forever,
fundidos en cuerpos siameses. ................................ fused as siamese bodies." ♫
Lyrics' general meaning is good, but it's the whole (music + lyrics + rhyme...) that makes this love-song a Sidonie's masterpiece, in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I like the Mürfila song, too. The video should be used as a Public Service Announcement to teach the principle that "Crime Doesn't Pay!" The couple in the video made a very nice couple...up until they started getting their thrills and turn-ons from stealing other people's things as if that somehow made them more free.
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Well, you know, music-video directors are strongly influenced by Cinema. And since
Bonnie and Clyde, that kind of couples are very popular too: Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw in
The Getaway, Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette in
True Romance, etc. Nevertheless, I think there's a beautiful "poetic connection" between song and video:
Song, through a female voice (Mürfila), says: "
without you, / people ask me / what day I died. / And I answer: / since you decided to go away from here". At videoclip, the boy
dies and the girl decides to
go away, which apparently is the opposite thing. But if you see it as a metaphor, it's not. It's the same thing: Sometimes, a person is no longer the same, when the beloved disappears from his/her life (for several possible reasons). So, in a way, we could say that he/she dies as a certain personality. And the association between death and
leaving is a classic topic in Western literature (and art in general). At a popular level too. In fact, dead people are called "
the departed".