Thursday, December 17, 2020

If I Could

Surprises come when you don't read the liner notes. I never did like the lyrics much. I get it about sparrows and snails (the sparrow eats the snail), and hammer and nail, and forest and street, but the fear of being tied down didn't seem quite fitting. And, of course, the English lyrics had nothing whatever to do with the originals.

I was curious and watched a couple of videos about ragas and swaras (it looks like Indian music has complicated sharps and flats), and Youtube decided I wanted some Eurovision--hence the above. (In addition to lots of meditative raga music...)

One of the other offerings was "Des Ronds Dans L'Eau", which translates more or literally as "Circles in the water". It turns out Sonny Miller adapted it: Now You Want to Be Loved which amplifies one theme from the original to fill the whole song.

Translation can be fascinating. To me, anyway.

5 comments:

  1. I recall a conversation where someone was telling me that Paul Simon has said (somewhere?) that he is going more for rhyme, rhythm, and invoking a feeling for each line rather than any coherent meaning or storyline to the whole song. I think this was more in relation to his songwriting style in general in later years rather than Simon & Garfunkle stuff, but it may be that we really shouldn't try to read too deeply into meanings there either.

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  2. I don't believe those were the original lyrics, even in translation.
    Lyrics in the above, in Italian:
    L'amore come un condor scenderà
    Il mio cuor colpirà
    Poi se ne andrà.
    La luna nel deserto fiorirà
    Tu verrai solo un bacio e poi
    Mi lascerai.
    Chissà domani dove andrai
    Che farai?
    Mi penserai?


    From what little I know of Italian, the above appears to be the translation of lyrics associated with Claudia de (from) Colombia, a.k.a. Blanca Gladys Caldas Méndez, who recorded this in 1970.

    El amor como un cóndor bajará
    Mi corazón golpeara, después se irá.
    La luna en el desierto brillará
    Tú vendrás solamente un beso me dejarás.

    Quién sabe mañana a donde irás
    Qué harás, me pensarás.
    Yo sé que nunca volverás
    Mas pienso que no viviré, cómo podré.

    La angustia y el dolor me dejará,
    Mi corazón sufrirá y morirá.
    El amor como un cóndor volará, partirá
    Y así nunca más regresará.

    Yo sé que nunca volverás
    Mas pienso que no viviré, cómo podré.


    Putting these lyrics into search engines, the first hits are "Claudia de Colombia."
    I believe the original lyrics are:

    El cóndor de los Andes despertó
    con la luz de un feliz amanecer.
    Sus alas lentamente desplegó
    y bajó al río azul para beber.


    Tras él, la Tierra se cubrió
    de verdor, de amor y paz.
    Tras él, la rama floreció y el sol brotó
    en el trigal, en el trigal.


    El cóndor de los Andes descendió
    al llegar un feliz amanecer.
    El cielo, al ver su marcha sollozó
    y volcó su llanto gris cuando se fue.


    Tras él, la Tierra se cubrió
    de verdor, de amor y paz.
    Tras él, la rama floreció
    y el sol brotó en el trigal, en el trigal
    https://lyricstranslate.com

    English translation:

    The Andean Condor woke up
    With the light of a happy dawn.
    He slowly unfolded his wings
    And went down to the blue river to drink.


    Behind him the Earth was covered
    Of greenery, of love and peace.
    Behind him the branch sprouted and the sun rose
    In the wheat field, in the wheat field.


    The Andean Condor descended
    When a happy sunrise arrived.
    The sky, seeing his march sobbed
    And overturned his gray crying when he left.


    Behind him the Earth was covered
    Of greenery, of love and peace.
    After him the branch sprouted
    And the sun rose in the wheat field, in the wheat field




    Here interpreted by ANCORA Tenores - El Cóndor Pasa (Videoclip). (I tried to get a Peruvian group.)

    But you can locate videos with other lyrics for El Cóndor Pasa. In addition to Paul Simon's, I have found at least 4 Spanish versions, including the above.

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  3. I never had a clue it wasn't Simon's alone. I didn't have that album, so never read the liner notes. As for translation, one has to have some mastery to even appreciate the changes. I have a dozen phrases in a dozen languages - in Romanian maybe four times that - and nothing more, so I am unable to appreciate any nuance.

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  4. I know enough French to get myself in trouble, and little else. I rely heavily on other people's translations--especially for poetry.

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