Quote:
Originally Posted by Tea Supremacist
It's one thing hearing a song you understand and thinking 'yeah, those are great lyrics' but I wouldn't go out of my way to translate what I don't understand.
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Actually you don't have to translate anything. Translations are already made. They are on the Internet, available for anyone who wants to have a look.
To bother to consult them or not, depends on several things (music genre, personal tastes, band or singer's features, etc.). Sometimes the strong point of a band or a singer are lyrics. Sometimes just the sound. Sometimes both things. But if I find out that certain artist I like stands out for his lyrics, I personally don't mind taking two minutes to read a translation. Unfortunately I don't have those paranormal abilities to grasp the "essences" of a song that some people seem to own.
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EDIT. To clarify my own ideas I've decided to put an example from a specially talented singer-songwriter. That is, one of those cases in which knowing the lyrics could be interesting for a music lover. Extract from
Ne me quite pas (Jacques Brel):
"Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas"
OK, so, listeners who don't speak French can be divided in three groups:
A. Those who don't care if the guy says "I'll offer you pearls of rain that come from countries where rain never falls" (which is what he really sings) or "I hate this f***ing Parisian weather".
B. Those who are confident that their paranormal capacities work propely, in order to get the meaning mentally.
C. Those who decide to consult a translation on the Internet.