What a great question. You know, if you want some
brilliant translations, try Gilberto Gil's live album
"Accoustic" from a few years back. There's a song
called "Aquele Abraco" ("aBRAsoo") which means, kind
of literally, "projected way over there, a hug" and
it's about projecting way over there hugs, to all
these icons of brazilian life: a girl from the favela,
a band from Ipanema, a soccer team and its fans, a TV
personality...and the translation is "Send my love."
I get choked up every time I listen to it. It has
this part where it talks about how he can pretty much
wander the world, since Bahia has instilled in his
soul a compass...!!!!! GUT-WRENCHING!!! somehow i
can't imagine writing a song that speaks lovingly of
the guidance and life lessons that I absorbed from
growing up in Mortonville, Pennsylvania!
so anyway, check that out, and also check out Tom Ze's
stuff on Luaka Bop. those translations are pretty
good, and Tom Ze is a verbal master, loves word play,
and has worked with poets, so these translations are
pretty interesting to read.
ooh ooh ooh joyce! her vocal style is crystal clear
and you can get a lot out of it. Her song "Todos Os
Santos" from hard Bossa reminds me: try to get a list
of saints and gods like santa barabara, santa lucia,
yemanja, ogun, chango/xango etc, and you'll hear those
names over and over, not just in brazilian tunes, but
anything with an african-religious influence, like
afro-cuban stuff. Maybe read "War of the Saints" by
jorge amado for a crash course and a really fun read.
Also Caetano Veloso is great to read, but the thing
with him is that he really fucks with the language,
twists it all up and uses all kinds of
quadruple-entendre metaphors and shit which i can't
understand to save my life, but it's fun to listen to.
And of course the translations are worth reading. I
have Sem Lenco Sem Documento that has a bunch of old
songs...rrr, shoot, the liner notes are in portuguese.
I know b/c his song "Sampa" (about sao paulo)has this
line that I can never get right..."E que narcissmo
acha feio o que nao e espelho..." and it's kind of
like, "Thing is, narcissism finds ugly anything it
doesn't find in the mirror." but that's not quite
right....
oh man, that song is pure genius. I was singing it
today wandering around new york...
something happens
in my heart,
and it only happens at the corner of Ipiranga and Sao
Joao Ave.
It was completely lost on me when I got here...
The rough concrete poetry of your streets,
The discreet inelegance of your women.
A full translation hasn't made it to my phrasebook
yet,
But something happens
in my heart
and it only happens at the corner of Ipiranga and Sao
Joao Ave.
so anyway...if you have any free time and any exposure
to another romantic language, I can't encourage you
enough to maybe grab a dictionary or take a class. I
knew just enough spanish to be confused and fascinated
by Milton Nasciemiento when i got a cd of his in the
mail some years ago (how many times have i told this
story?), and i was so curious about it I took like 16
credits of portuguese, including a class i designed
myself, and even tho my parents almost killed me, it
was one of the best things I ever did. I'm lightyears
from fluent, but my accent ain't bad for a gringa
since i learned it listening to music. Best of all, i
know enough to get the gist of a lot of music. It's
really a huge joy.
If you find out about career opportunities for
translators, let me know! ;-)
> ANYWAY if there's anyone who knows of a source of
> information about these
> kind of things, translations as well as the
> relationship between language
> and lyrical content etc etc please let me know. or
> if anyone just wants to
> talk about these things that's be cool too!
>
> thanx!
>
> p-dogg
>
>
>
>
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