Got sand in your eyes, read this.
On 29 Jan 2007, at 7:51 PM, Raphael Couzet wrote:
"Ne me quitte pas" by Jacques Brel, only English translation by Raphael Couzet
Don’t leave me
We must forget
Everything can be forgotten
That already flees.
Forget the time
Of misunderstandings
And the time lost
To find out how to
Forget those hours
That sometimes killed
With blows of “Why?”
The heart of happiness.
Don’t leave me
I, I will offer you
Pearls of rain
From countries
Where it does not rain.
I will dig the earth
Even after my death
To cover your body
With gold and light.
I will make a realm
Where love will be king
Where love will be law
Where you will be queen
Don’t leave me
Don’t leave me
I will invent for you
Words without sense
That you will understand.
I will talk to you
About those lovers
Who saw twice
Their hearts leap into flames.
I will tell you
The story of this king
Who died from
Never being able to meet you.
Don’t leave me
We have often seen
The fires spew anew
Of the ancient volcano
That we thought too old.
There are, they say
Scorched lands
Yielding more wheat
Then the best of Aprils.
And when the evening comes,
So that the sky may be set ablaze,
The red and the black,
Marry they not?
Don’t leave me
Don’t leave me.
I will no longer cry.
I will no longer speak.
I will hide there
Watching you
Dance and smile
And hearing you
Sing and then laugh.
Let me become
The shadow of your shadow
The shadow of your hand
The shadow of your dog.
But, Don’t leave me.
Listen to the French version.
Raph, I've put it back on my iPod.
After chatting about Brel; and me being me, I HAD to google the
English translation of "Ne Me Quitte Pas".
It is by far the most emotionally intense song I have ever heard; akin
to a punch in the throat swiftly followed by an eye rinse with mace.
Well anyway, I was surprised to see that there are no English
translations out there that do the song justice.
I realised that the English speaking world is bereft of this painfully
passionate masterpiece.
So here is my effort! I hope you will appreciate this song more after
this and will never even think of deleting it again!
TIP: copy the lyrics into the mp3 tag using iTunes and impress you
friends with your wordly knowledge of the Belgian music scene of the
60's!
:D
Raphael.
"Ne me quitte pas" by Jacques Brel, only English translation by Raphael Couzet
Don’t leave me
We must forget
Everything can be forgotten
That already flees.
Forget the time
Of misunderstandings
And the time lost
To find out how to
Forget those hours
That sometimes killed
With blows of “Why?”
The heart of happiness.
Don’t leave me
I, I will offer you
Pearls of rain
From countries
Where it does not rain.
I will dig the earth
Even after my death
To cover your body
With gold and light.
I will make a realm
Where love will be king
Where love will be law
Where you will be queen
Don’t leave me
Don’t leave me
I will invent for you
Words without sense
That you will understand.
I will talk to you
About those lovers
Who saw twice
Their hearts leap into flames.
I will tell you
The story of this king
Who died from
Never being able to meet you.
Don’t leave me
We have often seen
The fires spew anew
Of the ancient volcano
That we thought too old.
There are, they say
Scorched lands
Yielding more wheat
Then the best of Aprils.
And when the evening comes,
So that the sky may be set ablaze,
The red and the black,
Marry they not?
Don’t leave me
Don’t leave me.
I will no longer cry.
I will no longer speak.
I will hide there
Watching you
Dance and smile
And hearing you
Sing and then laugh.
Let me become
The shadow of your shadow
The shadow of your hand
The shadow of your dog.
But, Don’t leave me.
Listen to the French version.
Raph, I've put it back on my iPod.
posted by Magdalena Wszelaki @ 12:18 AM
1 Comments:
At 7:40 AM,
Anonymous said…
Dear Magda,
Yes, there are many closed worlds to all of us. This is highlighted by Raphael's translation of that very popular song. Now, I will enjoy it more on my IPOD.
I share his lament about our inability to enjoy many of the world's cultural offering because of language barrier. This is the precise reason why I wanted to learn the Russian language. There are many things we can despise about these people, but their Poetry and Literature is nonpareil. Google PUSHKIN, and look
for simultaneous translation of one of my favorite, 1829. Perhaps, you can forget what these bastards have done to your country.
I feel Ralph's lament when I listen to my favorite Italian songs, say Cocciante's or Murolo's. The Latin songs(Spanish & Portuguese) are even more absorbing and heart breaking. The Portuguese FADO have great poetry, and the text of Brazilian sambas are just exquisite. Even their sertanejo will touch you deep. I wanted to share all these, but it just impossible. You just have to learn them in the original.
Translation is an excellent tool, but its just impossible to capture the magic of the original. You cannot render the passion or the transcendental glow of a poetry and this is also the reason why I am learning French!
I enjoy the translations of the poetic ouvres of WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA and CZESLAW MILOSZ. I have read all their available translated poetic output and have indulged myself with their prose. I am imagining reading them in original POLISH, which is not farfetched due my knowledge in Russian. Maybe in few years! You can share us how you feel reading their great works in your native tounge.
Keep sharing!
I am here in New York. Arrived this morning at 04:30 hours and was greeted with - 11 degrees Celsius, and all I had is a flimsy sweater. Brrr! Anyway, I will have the opportunity to catch up with all the good movies I missed.
I send you my embrace.
Czelszo
Post a Comment
<< Home