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Author Topic: Music in your language?  (Read 47177 times)

fluffernutters

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Music in your language?
« on: June 09, 2015, 08:03:19 AM »
I encountered a song which made me think about how languages can be portrayed in music. The song itself is called "Ack Värmeland, du sköna" (I'll leave it up to you to translate ;) ), and originates from Sweden. Although this is a cover by an Icelandic reggae band called Hjálmar, apparently singing this song in old Norse. How's THAT for a mashup of different cultures!?


So I'm curious, what songs do you think portray your language the best? Are there songs that just can't be translated or sung in any other languages? Maybe you have an old folk song (such as the one above) you'd like to share? Or perhaps another mashup?

And a side question: Does anyone understand the lyrics in the song above? I can only recognize a word here and there.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 08:05:18 AM by fluffernutters »
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Laufey

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2015, 08:18:08 AM »
That's actually Icelandic (though a bit old-fashioned), not Old Norse. He's singing "I want to have a darling, most urgently", lists all the good qualities he wishes for in a girl and ends with a promise of having a three-day wedding and no lack of food or wine for the guests. I can try to get you the lyrics and some translations if you like? :)
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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2015, 08:41:44 AM »
I must admit I don't listen to a lot of music in Norwegian, but then again there isn't a lot of music in Norwegian to go around either. But for what it's worth, I think Gåte gives a pretty good Norwegianey feel + bonus for being in nynorsk/dialect
Spoiler: show


and this one time one of my very northern uncles gave me a cd with a punk rock girl band that sings in norwegian, first I was like "what" and then I was like "yoooo"
Spoiler: show
my favourite song from them can't be found on youtube but whatever



as for Czech, I listen to a lot of Czech covers of celtic folk songs, and my fav band is Asonance:
Spoiler: show


otherwise there's a bluegrass song thing we sometimes listen to in the car and is probably what I'd answer with for the "Are there songs that just can't be translated or sung in any other languages" question, I mean it can be translated but it wouldn't have the same feel at all
Spoiler: show
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Laufey

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2015, 09:01:15 AM »
Talking about cultural mashups, here's my favourite - Sjösala vals in Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic.

Spoiler: show

A Swedish waltz by Evert Taube, about a Mr Rönnerdahl who's enjoying the beauty of late spring/early summer in Sjösala.


Finns, then, have Mr. Anttila who likewise wakes up early morning in the spring and, in a moment of spring-craziness runs outdoors in his undershirt to frolic among the flowers. Very accurate to original, even the note on him having hairy legs is there. :D


What would Icelanders do? Well - take the song and make it all about Reykjavík of course.  ;D The lyrics are changed entirely, to a point that where both Swedes and Finns list flowers in the chorus Icelanders go "Ekkert er fegurra en vorkvöld í Reykjavík" = Nothing's more beautiful than a spring evening in Reykjavík.
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Pessi

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2015, 09:12:18 AM »
Laufey, I've heard a filk version of that too, "Attilan keväthuumaus". It starts when "Attila nyt ampaisee ylös ratsulleen" and tells about the Hunns slaughtering people all through Europe. "...Katso kuinka monta kalloa vaalenee jo aroniityllä: germaani, burgundi, gootti ja moni muu" =D
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Eriaror

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2015, 10:25:36 AM »
A song portraying the Hungarian language? Hm... first one that came into my mind is this one:
Spoiler: show

It's an adaptation of a poem (English translation included) by one of our famous poets, Miklós Radnóti. One word: soothing. :)

But on second thought, have an actual folk song: you might have come across Tavaszi szél. Here a rather nice version of it that I could find (and one that is not sung by an annoying voiced 4-year-old):

Bonus: same song sung by Freddie Mercury here, or a Norwegian choir here. :)

Bonus bonus:
Spoiler: Shameless promotion of songs that I like, sung in English, made by Hungarian artists • show
Anima Sound System - Crossroads
Anima Sound System - Sweet Salvation
Neo - Change
Polar Dear - Even If I'm Late
The Biebers - Sorry (absolutely not like Justin Bieber)
The Biebers - Stay
A lot of songs by Middlemist Red, have this one. Or this one. Or just the whole album. Yeah.
Some songs from Irie Mafia. Hm... have this one for now.
Some songs by Brains, maybe. Mainly this one and this one. (weird pronunciation is intentional here xD)
Some songs by The Carbonfools. Aaand this marginally weird one.
Edit: Oooh almost forgot Compact Disco! Some examples: Feel the Rain, Sound of our Hearts, The Storm
(I can also post popular songs in Hungary sung in Hungarian if you're interested! :) )

Also, question for non-native English speakers: Do song lyrics in your native language sound okay or even better to you when you translate them into English, or do okay English songs suddenly sound lame to you when you translate and read aloud (or hear them sung) in your mother tongue? I'm asking this because it's really hard to take an English song, translate it to Hungarian, and have it sound okay no matter that you get it rhyming, and all other stuff. And this is the case even if you start with an above-average song... ???

To native English speakers: If you don't like a mainstream pop song sung in English is it (in whole or partially) because the lyrics sound lame to you? :D
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 11:39:03 AM by Eriaror »
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viola

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2015, 10:55:34 AM »
Yusssss international music! I have some contributions. These two songs are both examples of traditional Icelandic music performed by modern Icelandic bands.

The first one is Heyr himna smiður performed by the band Árstíðir in a train station. I absolutely love the harmonies in this one. They make me so happy.

Spoiler: show


The second one is Hrafnagaldur Óðins performed by Sigur Rós, and Steindór Andersen. This is a really cool performance because it takes the old rímur tradition and combines it with modern musical things like electric guitars (also they are playing a marimba hand-made out of rocks which is super cool).

Spoiler: show
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Mélusine

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #7 on: June 09, 2015, 11:05:51 AM »
Quote from: Feartheviolas on June 09, 2015, 10:55:34 AM
(also they are playing a marimba hand-made out of rocks which is super cool).
*Had felt in love with the marimba the first time she had heard it*
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Pessi

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #8 on: June 09, 2015, 12:02:17 PM »
Quote from: Eriaror on June 09, 2015, 10:25:36 AM
Also, question for non-native English speakers: Do song lyrics in your native language sound okay or even better to you when you translate them into English, or do okay English songs suddenly sound lame to you when you translate and read aloud (or hear them sung) in your mother tongue?

It's difficult to translate English songs to Finnish since our words tend to be rather longer that their English equivalents. And of course most puns can't be translated at all. However the translators do their very best when they have to and the dubbings of most children's movie's songs are quite ok though sometimes rather clumsy and therefore funny. One example is mrs Pott's song in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. In the original almost every verse ends "Beauty and the Beast", but you can't cram "Kaunotar ja Hirviö" into the same space. Whoever translated the song decided that the best alternative is "tyttö sekä hän", "The girl and him(/her)" =D
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Eriaror

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #9 on: June 09, 2015, 12:16:06 PM »
Oh, Disney song dubs and non-Indo-European languages... in other words, how Let It Go became Legyen hó (=let there be snow) in Hungarian... because syllables and lipsyncing and because "Engedd el" (= let it go, literally) sounded a bit off to them when sung to that melody for some reason... :D (When dubbing things, sometimes they want it to be really fit our language so much that they differ from the original very much and get it ruined because that... at least they did a job between okay and good with the rest of Frozen's songs.)

Ps.: (German Let It Go is super weird, funny and awesome at the same time XD)
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 12:44:28 PM by Eriaror »
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RandomTexanReader

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #10 on: June 09, 2015, 01:22:16 PM »
Puirt a beul http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puirt_%C3%A0_beul was developed with the sound of the Gaelic words (which can often be meaningless) the primary consideration.
[youtube width=200]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-bPRzqVrSk[/youtube]
I love this particular version because it's got very distinctive Blues elements to it as well.
Here's one with English lyrics.
[youtube width=200]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHv3kmyD-lc[/youtube]
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 01:28:02 PM by RandomTexanReader »
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viola

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2015, 01:35:18 PM »
Quote
To native English speakers: If you don't like a mainstream pop song sung in English is it (in whole or partially) because the lyrics sound lame to you?

Oh I missed this! For me I have a lot of songs in a variety of languages. Personally I like listening to songs that aren't in English because I love hearing different sounds of different languages. I also like finding music that no one else has heard of and since English music is everywhere here sometimes I just want to listen to something different. English songs don't sound lame to me, I just like to have a mix of things. Also music without lyrics or music with vocals but not singing specific words is great too. The reason I don't really like pop isn't a language specific thing, I just don't really like pop in general.
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Daéa Reina

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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2015, 01:38:47 PM »
Ohh, I love discovering music in different languages! This thread is amazing!!  ;D

As for brazilian portuguese music, I chose a few songs that I really like:

"Aquarela" - Toquinho
This song is just beautiful. The title literally translates as "Watercolor", and the lyrics compare life and its beauty with a watercolor painting. There are many versions of this song on YouTube, but I think this one has a more wistful feeling. And the animation in this video is really pretty!
Spoiler: show


"Tragédia no Fundo do Mar" - Os Originais do Samba
This one is just plain funny. It is called "Tragedy Under the Sea", and it tells the story of how someone murdered the Shrimp and a crab decided to investigate. Chaos ensues.
Spoiler: show


"Partir" - Marcela Taís
A personal favorite. It's not a classic or anything, but I love this song. The title translates as "Leaving" or "To Leave". It was written by a christian singer, and it talks about how we have to let some things go so God can gives us something better.
Spoiler: show
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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2015, 02:06:00 PM »
Daéa Reina, I can't see some of your songs because of where I live.  :'(
Murica! This was a song that was written with the express purpose of being nearly incomprehensible to anyone without some knowledge of CB radio slang.
[youtube width=200]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPTWZQv0liY[/youtube]
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 02:11:13 PM by RandomTexanReader »
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Re: Music in your language?
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2015, 02:31:43 PM »
Quote from: RandomTexanReader on June 09, 2015, 02:06:00 PM
Daéa Reina, I can't see some of your songs because of where I live.  :'(

D:

Is there anything I can do to help with this? What is the protocol for this kind of situation??
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