Song Translations

GREGORY H. BONTRAGER

INTELLECTUAL --- ROMANTICIST --- MORALIST

SONG TRANSLATIONS

TRADUCCIONES DE CANCIONES

TRADUCTIONS DE CHANSONS

TRADUZIONI DI CANZONI

SONG TRANSLATIONS

Welcome to my collection of my best song translations. Translating songs is interesting because it's not as simple as it sounds. Anyone with sufficient knowledge of a foreign language can translate song lyrics, but the real challenge is translating a song in such a way that it can actually be sung in the language.

This is challenging because of something I like to call musical-lyrical accordance. This occurs when the number of syllables in each line of lyrics is in step with the musical tune and beat of the song. Very often, because a foreign equivalent for any given English word often has a different number of syllables, this quality is often lost in a literal translation of lyrics.

In addition, there is often a rhyme scheme to preserve as well, and words that rhyme in one language more often than not do not rhyme in another.

Finally, there are stress patterns. A stressed syllable is the one with the most prominent enunciation. For example, the first syllable of "elephant" is the stressed syllable, but the second syllable is stressed in "giraffe." In some languages, such as English, stress can be ambiguous, especially in order to adapt to the beat of a song. But in other languages, Spanish and Italian being among them, stress can make a difference. For example, Spanish "trabajo" with the stress on the second syllable means "I work," but "trabajó" with the stress on the last syllable (as indicated by the accent mark) can mean "he works," "she works," or "it works." In languages in which stress is important, the lyrics must be adapted so that the stressed syllables fall in step with the beat.

Taking all of these into consideration, a good song translator determines the basic meaning or essence of a song and then attempts to convey that meaning in foreign words that fit the music, rhyme scheme, and stress patterns of the original song. He or she must often find a roundabout way of saying a line of lyrics, or he may even have to switch the position of certain lines to make it work. The goal is to remain true to the figurative meaning/essence and as close as possible to the literal meaning while taking all of these factors into account.

05/22/2006 01:04:07 PM

NAVIGATION

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