~ A WORD ABOUT TRANSLATIONS ~

What I want to do when I translate a song is this - tell you what they are saying, what they are meaning & what they are feeling. That can only be done by using a certain technique of translation. In other words, if this song had been written in English, how would we have worded it to start with. Thereby, doing away with strange sounding English sentences, although translated word for word, they would sound awkward. You may even find that though all the words are English, the sentence has no meaning, leaving you thinking, "huh?" I believe that it is possible to have different interpretations to anything.

Let me explain. If 10 English speaking people heard a song or saw a conversation, in English, on a TV program - surprisingly, you would hear different stories from each of them about what had taken place, all in English! Because of the difference in perspective! I might think something beautiful, while my mom would say, "Idiot! can't you see he is playing a game, & making her the fool!" So when I see or hear something, it is "is he saying this or maybe going the OTHER way with it, really meaning THIS! The meaning must be what matches!

Some time ago I was listening to my husband's English TV program in the backround, and it came to me like a thunderbolt. We are not listening to the words in that program! REALLY!!! The words go into our heads the same way a picture goes into our heads - all at once! We don't look at a picture & say - " there is a squirrel in a tall tree & there is a cloud over the lake, & there is the sun between the leaves of the tree. No, we look at it & say "WOW!" I love it, it is a really beautiful landscape! The same with the words. We don't take them in one at a time and analyze them, they go in like drinking a raw egg, in one swallow, and somehow our brain does the rest!

That is when I became really enthused about translating the songs. I saw the pictures in my head when he sang. Then, I just wrote out the pictures that the Spanish words had given me, in English! Then, I went back to the Spanish - to make sure I didn't miss something! Don't misunderstand this, don't think that I mean to ditch all the Spanish words, remember they are what created the picture in my head to start with, they are very important! The goal, would be "How would we have said this in English, from the start." You see, too many people are trying to speak Spanish, with English words! What I mean is this, they are taking the words in Spanish, & just exchanging them for dictionary words in English - with no consideration that the impact of those words can carry far more or less meaning in a different language! Also, the use of phrases & idioms will totally undo someone depending on a word for word translation from the dictionary.

We can't overlook the fact that a certain word may have been originally chosen only because it had the perfect amount of syllables for the melody or only because it rhymed with a word in the next stanza! To struggle to include a word for word translation, may therefore create some strange sounding English, that may leave you shaking your head saying, "must have lost something in the translation." But, to actually recreate that same feeling and meaning with English, the way we would have expressed it in our culture & tongue, is what translation is truly about. Just picking words that match out of a dictionary, is to take that word out of context, as USAGE should determine the correct word to place there. Again, how would we have expressed that to start with in our language & culture? If we fail to bring that thought around to the way our culture would have expressed that same thought, so we get the same meaning that was intended in the original language, then the translation will be flat & lifeless, because it does not take the connotations from our own language.

This one song says "I miss you on my pillow". Sounds a whole lot like she usually is sitting on it, although I am sure he means he is laying on his pillow missing her - that sounds stupid! With my head on my pillow is correct, but to make my point, consider this: "Lying here, I miss you/as I am lying here, I miss you/ I lay here, missing you." But think, when you see that picture in your head, I bet you see his head on a pillow! Don't you??? The brain is making the picture, the words are just impulses the brain is using like the computer uses 000000111101010001010010010!!! Alright, just to let you know, I am not against using the word "pillow" in a song, just that the meaning is the thing I am struggling to bring out, not a nonsensical version that leaves people wondering why the song could have been so popular.

Another example of cultural ways of expressing oneself: In Spanish it is very common to say "por Dios" meaning you are being very true and saying it in front of God, so that makes sure you are telling the truth. However, to translate that in a love song, "By God, I love you(!)...uh, oh... you see, in English, the phrase "by God" is used as curse words and would be reserved for this kind of situation:

Two drunk men, in a bar, fighting over a woman. As one breaks a chair over the other ones back, he exclaims, "I'll kill you, by God!" So, you see, it is VERY important to consider the way a CULTURE expresses itself!

In our culture, we would say "Oh, God, how I love you" or "My God, how I love you" and we would all understand that it was God we were swearing in front of, that we love this person. Not to be confused with swearing to God that we love Him, the situation would make it very clear whether you were swearing your love to God or a lover!

There are many ways to translate anything, one way is not right and another wrong. Of course, there is always the opportunity to completely misunderstand something, therefore, it truly would be wrong! Above all, when you read my translations, I don't want you to think, "this is the real English translation." Instead, I hope that you will think, "this is Sandy's interpretation of this song." - Sandra/Sandy

back to main menu/regresa a indice mayor