I started listening to Chen Weilun (陈伟伦)’s album, Think Miss Sorrow (念思愁), which just came out last week. While adding it to my iTunes library, it struck me how difficult it was to translate the song names. xD
For those who don’t know because you’ve just stumble upon this post, I usually keep a very organized library of foreign music, which includes ‘Original Name (romanization) – English Name/Translation’; so I was looking if there were official English titles for the songs on Chen Weilun’s album available on Xiami, KKBox or iNDIEVOX. There were not. On my search, already on title #3, I realized they were all titles (or most are, I haven’t gone through all of them yet xDDDDD) for Li Qingzhao (李清照), who is known as the greatest Chinese female poet of the Song Dynasty, mostly for her ci (词)/lyrics form of poetry [1][2].
So this is going to be a (hopefully brief) project to translate just the song names xDDDDDDDD
一剪梅·红藕香残玉簟秋
A Twig of Plum Blossoms: The Jade-like Mat Feels Autumn’s Cold [1][2]
念奴娇·春情
The Charm of Nien-nu: Spring Feelings [1][2]
如梦令·常记溪亭日暮
Like a Dream: I Will Always Recall that Day at Dusk, the Pavilion by the Creek [1][2]
相见欢·无言独上西楼
Happy Meeting: Wordless, A Lone Ascend Up the West Tower [1][2]
浪淘沙令·帘外雨潺潺
Waves Against Sand: As the Rain Patters Outside the Drapes [1][2][3]
声声慢·寻寻觅觅
The Sounds of Adagio: Searching and Searching [1]
An ode to all single mothers working multiple jobs.
An ode to Mrs. McDull.
Even when the whole world doesn’t trust you, I trust you. Even when the whole world doesn’t love you, I love you. I love you with my intestines. I trust you from head to toe.
I’m currently basking myself in the beauty that is Henry Huo’s (霍尊) first full-length album Heavenly Song or Tianyun (天韵). He was the winner of the first season of Sing my Song (中国好歌曲) when he cause a ruckus with his song Rolled-up Pearl Curtain (卷珠帘) [1], which he ended up performing at the 2014 CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
You can listen to the album over at Xiami or Migu Music (for US locked).
Lyrics, English/Español translations and song embed below the break~
Once again, all Chinese translations by me to be taken with a pinch of salt. xD
Todo lo que se diga de mí es mentira, no soy Doña Diabla, ni una mujer sin alma, ni mucho menos China Poblana que se queda con lo que no es suyo. Con la imagen que el público tenía de mí, no hubiera podido vivir, me conformaba con que dijeran que soy la mujer más bella del mundo, salí de El Peñón de las Ánimas y llegué a París como La Bella Otero, he sido una eterna enamorada, pero no soy una diosa arrodillada. He sido La Generala de mi pueblo en Sonora, así como Doña Bárbara, La Mujer de Todos, me conocieron como La Devoradora porque todos eran los ambiciosos que querían a la Maclovia de Pátzcuaro.
Everything that’s been said about me is a lie, I’m not Doña Diabla nor the Woman Without a Soul, much less a China Poblana that keeps what’s not hers. With the image the audience had of me, I wouldn’t have been able to live, I settled for them saying I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I came out of The Rock of Souls and made it to Paris as La Belle Otero, I’ve been A Woman in Love, but I’m not The Kneeling Goddess. I’ve been La Generala of my hometown in Sonora, just like I was Doña Barbara, One Woman for All. They knew me as La Devoradora because everyone else were the overambitious that wanted the Maclovia from Patzcuaro.
I ran into this oldie clip of Chulpan Khamatova reciting an extract of an Andrei Voznesensky (Андрея Вознесенского) poem, shot by Peter Shepotinnik (Петра Шепотинника) titled Lirika (Лирика)- though, I don’t know whether that’s an extract of the Voznesensky’s works of the same title. I couldn’t find a literal extract of the poem online that wasn’t taken from the video.
Ты мне прозвонилась сквозь страшную полночь:
“А ты меня помнишь?”
ну, как позабыть тебя, ангел-звереныш?
“А ты меня помнишь?”
твой голос настаивал, стонущ и тонущ –
“А ты меня помнишь?” “А ты меня помнишь?”
и ухало эхо во тьме телефонищ –
рыдало по-русски, in English, in Polish-
you promise? Astonish…
а ты меня помнишь?
А ты меня помнишь, дорога до Бронниц?
И нос твой, напудренный утренним пончиком?
В ночном самолете отстегнуты помочи –
Вы, кресла, нас помните?
Понять, обмануться, окликнуть по имени:
А ты меня…
Помнишь? Как скорая помощь,
В беспамятном веке запомни одно лишь –
“А ты меня помнишь?”
Buongiorno, Principessa! Stanotte t’ho sognata tutta la notte, andavamo al cinema, e avevi quel tailleur rosa che ti piace tanto, non penso che a te principessa, penso sempre a te!
-I just realized… the English quote is so weirdly translated.
… or dusting off my lacking Chinese skills xP, so I ask anyone reading this to 1. Take these with a big grain of salt… and 2. If you’ve got a better translation/tips/corrections/etc. let me know. But… in the age of the internet, where fandoms translate songs en masse, I felt a little “left hanging” with Faye Wong lyrics.
So here are my tries. My mother tried to help, but she gave up. LOL
After much deliberation, I think I like Cong Cong Na Nian (匆匆那年) a bit more, though I didn’t like Ai Bu Ke Ji (爱不可及) on the first go, it’s really grown on me as a song.
Common courtesy for credits and/or link-ups, please.
You do probably know that my Hindi should suck, but that doesn’t stop me from keeping my iTunes library in order… which means I take all of the tracks from Indian movies that I’ve downloaded and try to give an English translation — after all, I should know, at least, what the title of a song means! That, of course, means that titles from hard-to-find movies/OSTs have to do with my own interpretation. One of them is Hu Tu Tu, because no one’s bothered to translate the songs… and my copy of the movie doesn’t come with subtitles in the sung parts.
Most of the titles are easy- Chhai Chhapa Chhai is classic onomatopoeic Gulzar (Jhini Mini Jhini from Maqbool gave me a clue), Jai Hind Hind (Hail, India!), Bandobast Hai (It’s the System), Ghapla Hai Bhai (It’s a Mess, Brother), and Jago Jago Jagte Raho (Get Up, Always Be Awake) seem quite straight forward. Even Yeh Nam Aankhein (These Drenched Eyes) can seem easy when compared to Itna Lamba Kash Lo Yaaron and Nikla Neem Ke Talese Nikla.
So what do those last titles mean?
I’ve sort of translated Itna Lamba Kash Lo Yaaron– since Itna refers to a Quantity (this much or so much), Lamba refers to the Length (height or otherwise), Kash means to Take a Puff or a Smoke (considering the scene), and Yaaron refers to Friends. I sorta translated it to It’s Such a Long Smoke, My Friend. And in the lyrics~
Itna lamba kash lo yaaron, dam nikal jaaye Zindagi sulagaao yaaron, gam nikal jaaye Yaaron, yaaron
Dam = (staying) Power
Nikal = Get out/get lost
Sulagaao/Sulagana = Ignite/set on fire
Gam = Regret
It’s such a long smoke, my friend.
Power, be gone.
Life is set on fire, my friend.
Regret, be gone.
How did I do with that?
Though, Nikla Neem Ke Talese Nikla escapes my comprehension. It doesn’t even look Hindi to me- oh, wait. Never mind. *goes crazy* Why is Talese together when it should be Tale Se? As in Nikla Neem Ke Tale Se Nikla (निकला नीम के तले से निकला) *growls*
Anyone ANYONE who is able to help me out with that title and make my life easier?- I’ll love you forever! LOL From the deep Google that I did, Nikla seemed to refer to “being out,” or “something that sticks out” and I know Neem can refer to the bitterness of the Neem tree [1] or the tree itself, and Tale is “the bottom or base of something” — Does that mean… The Bottom of the Neem Tree Turned Upside Down? LOL, I need to watch this movie again. xD
