Starchild Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 I did a search and could not find it... the google searches seem inaccurate... What is the best English translation? Thanks -Star Quote
Cyclone Trooper Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) There's a singer who translated it into English and actually performed it on YouTube. Do a search on YouTube for Christine Vee. I've heard it...and honestly, while she's not a horrible singer, it just sounds kind of goofy in anything other than Japanese. Apparently Vee took the lyrics from the screenshot in DYRL where Minmay is holding a sheet of SDF-1 stationary with the English lyrics on it at the end of the movie. For what its worth, it DOES give us an idea of what her song would have sounded like, had she been singing in anything besides Japanese...for better or worse. Edited March 30, 2009 by Cyclone Trooper Quote
Cyclone Trooper Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) Mods, move this to the proper thread accordingly, but for the time being, here's the link to the song in english... Edited March 30, 2009 by Cyclone Trooper Quote
VFTF1 Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 Roughly it's: Jingle Bells Sheryl Smells Grace Laid an Egg Ranka rocks and Sheryl sucks But not necessarily Alto's peg Hey! Do you remember love? When we looked into eachother's eyes And oh what a surprise? When did you realize? That I was your prize? Oh yeah Uh huh Come on Baby! Come to me! Sexy Moma! Let's make a family tree! Oh yeah! ... Sounds better in Japanese IMO. Pete Quote
bishopcruz Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 Here's what I could figure out from the screen cap. I hear you calling me tenderly And I see you coming to me when I am down with loneliness You walk over, and I wait with my eyes closed. Though my heart was clouded with tears until yesterday. I felt my heart beating with joy now. Do you remember the moment our eyes met for the first time? Do you remember the moment that our hands came in touch? Oh it was the first glimmer of love between you and me. I beleive(?) I love you so. Not horrible english, I mean not great by any stretch but for 1984, not bad at all. Also, the Christine Vee song wasn't bad either. Not amazing, but she has potential, much better than the Nyan Nyan duet I saw on YouTube. Ouch. Quote
Renato Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 ... but for 1984, not bad at all. What does that mean?? Quote
bishopcruz Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Use of English in anime is notably poor. It was far worse in the eighties than it is now. That's about it. Quote
Gubaba Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Use of English in anime is notably poor. It was far worse in the eighties than it is now. That's about it. C'mon, man..."QUATTRO IS A CHAR" is one of the greatest lines ever! And yeah...the DYRL screencap translation is definitely accurate, if not the most poetic version. I did my own translation of "An Angel's Paints" a number of years ago (I'm not sure if I still have it anywhere...), but I've never done a full translation of DYRL. Some of it is very difficult to render into English without it sounding unbearably lame. Quote
Gubaba Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 It's a little off-topic, but I found "Angel's Paints," if anyone's interested. Unfortunately, I never noticed that a guy in the thread asked me to translate "My Boyfriend Is a Pilot Part II" as well...Oops. Oh well, I finally got around to it last year, since it was on "Miss DJ." Here's my own personal translation of Tenshi no Engoku...unfortunately, I don't have the romaji handy. Sorry. Twilight glistens, floating down to my window, I breathe in the twinkling wind When I look at the sky. Even my heart, dyed blue by sadness, I will color again with an angel’s paints, Anyway I like. When we met, I only longed for the heavens, And the love that always protected me, I didn’t notice it. For just a short time, if I say farewell to you, I love you, Would I end up in tears? If I look away, everything will end up shattered. Someday, the light of eternity will lure me away. Even my heart, dyed blue by sadness, I will color again with an angel’s paints, Anyway I like. Quote
bishopcruz Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 C'mon, man..."QUATTRO IS A CHAR" is one of the greatest lines ever! Maybe, but it's nowhere near as good as: "A man and a woman? A man and a woman? It must be PROTOCULTURE!" And yeah...the DYRL screencap translation is definitely accurate, if not the most poetic version. I did my own translation of "An Angel's Paints" a number of years ago (I'm not sure if I still have it anywhere...), but I've never done a full translation of DYRL. Some of it is very difficult to render into English without it sounding unbearably lame. I've been toying with the idea of making sing-along lyrics for some of the Frontier songs, but that'll have to wait until my 60 pages or so of papers I have due this term are done. Quote
aerocombatpilot Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Roughly it's: Jingle Bells Sheryl Smells Grace Laid an Egg Ranka rocks and Sheryl sucks But not necessarily Alto's peg tee hee hee hee! Quote
SkullLeaderVF-X Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Roughly it's: Jingle Bells Sheryl Smells Grace Laid an Egg Ranka rocks and Sheryl sucks But not necessarily Alto's peg Hey! Pete Wow. I just had a flash back of elementry school. Quote
Zinjo Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 C'mon, man..."QUATTRO IS A CHAR" is one of the greatest lines ever! And yeah...the DYRL screencap translation is definitely accurate, if not the most poetic version. I did my own translation of "An Angel's Paints" a number of years ago (I'm not sure if I still have it anywhere...), but I've never done a full translation of DYRL. Some of it is very difficult to render into English without it sounding unbearably lame. The thing is that with a "correct" translation any lyricist or wordsmith could take them and rewrite them poetically, while maintaining the original meaning of the song. My brother in law likes to do that. Every year he re-writes Christmas carol lyrics in shall we say an amusing way. However, being a writer, he has a very strong vocabulary and that helps... Quote
Gubaba Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 The thing is that with a "correct" translation any lyricist or wordsmith could take them and rewrite them poetically, while maintaining the original meaning of the song. My brother in law likes to do that. Every year he re-writes Christmas carol lyrics in shall we say an amusing way. However, being a writer, he has a very strong vocabulary and that helps... Being a former English major, I'm quite the sesquipedalian myself. For DYRL (or any song, really...I've done a bunch of song translations over the years), there are a few things to consider. Do you want it to be a literal translation or do you want it to be more free? Does it have to fit the music, or not? Do you want it to rhyme? I tend to go more for the literal meaning usually, but I don't doubt it could "work" any number of ways, done by any number of people. The specific problem with DYRL is that, like a lot of Japanese songs, things like the subject of sentences get left out, and must be supplied by the translator. Also, the parts I like most in the Japanese lyrics are the "eye and eye" and "hand and hand" lines, but I can't figure out any way to keep them like that in English without it coming out lame ("Do you remember, when eye and eye first met? Do you remember, when hand and hand first touched" just doesn't sound great, does it? In fact, it sounds kind of creepy). Anyway, you've given me an idea to write an essay about translating the song on my Galaxy Network blog...kind of a step-by-step thing. Quote
Zinjo Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 (edited) The specific problem with DYRL is that, like a lot of Japanese songs, things like the subject of sentences get left out, and must be supplied by the translator. Also, the parts I like most in the Japanese lyrics are the "eye and eye" and "hand and hand" lines, but I can't figure out any way to keep them like that in English without it coming out lame ("Do you remember, when eye and eye first met? Do you remember, when hand and hand first touched" just doesn't sound great, does it? In fact, it sounds kind of creepy). Anyway, you've given me an idea to write an essay about translating the song on my Galaxy Network blog...kind of a step-by-step thing. It sounds very much like it is there for greater emphasis (along the similar lines of "Me-myself") but also impersonal. We in the West would simply write in English as "Do you remember when our eyes first met? Do you remember, when our hands first touched?" Where as the Japanese lyric is impersonal which strikes me as a culturally polite way to express something that we in the West would term in a personal way. However, I do understand that marrying the cadence of the lyric with the rythm of the music would be a challenge. Edited March 31, 2009 by Zinjo Quote
HannouHeiki Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 I like the more literal approach as well, modified only to make sense to common english speakers. As far as it rhyming, etc., if you want to sing it, go with the romaji Quote
EXO Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Here's what I could figure out from the screen cap. .... I beleive(?) I love you so.[/i] Not horrible english, I mean not great by any stretch but for 1984, not bad at all. Also, the Christine Vee song wasn't bad either. Not amazing, but she has potential, much better than the Nyan Nyan duet I saw on YouTube. Ouch. the rest is accurate, but the last line is "Indeed, I love you so" there's a more legible copy in the DYRL book in the Misa section. I agree though, it doesn't fit with the rhythm of the song that well. Quote
EXO Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Try here: Lyrics That was kinda bad too... Here's my take... I stretched it to the beat of the song while trying to keep a faithful translation... DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE I hear your sweet voice whisper, asking me to come near A call so tender, I can’t hold back a single tear your sillhouette approaches closer, making your way towards me I close my eyes tight, as I wait here patiently Though it was clouded, by the tears I cried yesterday My heart beats joyfully Do you remember that single moment, when our eyes met for the first time Do you remember that single moment, when your hand first brushed against mine A moment that sparked our heartbeats and gave it full of life I love you so And though there's lightyears between us, I can still see your eyes My body longing, I can still feel your loving warmth And though your absence leaves me with emptiness in my heart There’s no danger that can ever keep us apart Though it was clouded, by the tears I cried yesterday My heart beats joyfully Do you remember that single moment, when our eyes met for the first time Do you remember that single moment, when your hand first brushed against mine A moment that sparked our heartbeats and gave it full of life I love you so Loneliness, fades away I am safe, now you're with me Do you remember that single moment, when our eyes met for the first time Do you remember that single moment, when your hand first brushed against mine A moment that sparked our heartbeats and gave it full of life I love you so Loneliness, fades away I am safe, now you're with me Loneliness, fades away I am safe, now you're with me I had to try cuz it was kinda painful to hear that Vee girl try to fit those lyrics to the music... Quote
yellowlightman Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Will you sing this for me next time I visit? Quote
EXO Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Will you sing this for me next time I visit? why wait? listen to your voicemail! Quote
yellowlightman Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 why wait? listen to your voicemail! Don't tease me. You don't even have my number! Quote
Chronocidal Posted April 2, 2009 Posted April 2, 2009 (edited) Hmm.. I don't know where it was now, but I do remember someone taking a more freeform approach to translating the song. The meanings were all translated well, but they added a lot more of an english style to it.. didn't sound bad at all though, I think it was on youtube somewhere. The link may still be in the fan works forum, if my memory serves me correctly. What they did was basically reword each sentence to have a similar meaning, but to fit the rhythm nearly perfectly. The only part I remember is a bit of the chorus.. think it was a bit like this, but can't swear to it. "Tell me, do you still remember that moment when your eyes first met mine? Tell me, do you still remember, the moment when our fingers intertwined? My journey was just beginning, feeling love for the very first time... Ai shiteru (yep, they swapped the english here for japanese. although I think the english might work a bit better here personally, it was rather creative ) Basically that's how it went, although I think I've altered it on the fly while remembering. It sounded very well thought out, but it did change a lot of the phrasing, and some of the meanings, just to fit into english better. Some parts added a lot of throw away words that don't fit in the original Japanese version, but can be implied in one way or another in English (ie, "Tell me do you still remember?" isn't quite the same as "Do you remember?", but the meaning is similar enough that the added "tell me" and "still" don't hurt it too much, and the number of syllables fits the music once those words are added). Grrr.. now the musical bit of me wants to translate my own version Edited April 2, 2009 by Chronocidal Quote
Gubaba Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Hmm.. I don't know where it was now, but I do remember someone taking a more freeform approach to translating the song. The meanings were all translated well, but they added a lot more of an english style to it.. didn't sound bad at all though, I think it was on youtube somewhere. The link may still be in the fan works forum, if my memory serves me correctly. What they did was basically reword each sentence to have a similar meaning, but to fit the rhythm nearly perfectly. The only part I remember is a bit of the chorus.. think it was a bit like this, but can't swear to it. "Tell me, do you still remember that moment when your eyes first met mine? Tell me, do you still remember, the moment when our fingers intertwined? My journey was just beginning, feeling love for the very first time... Ai shiteru (yep, they swapped the english here for japanese. although I think the english might work a bit better here personally, it was rather creative ) Basically that's how it went, although I think I've altered it on the fly while remembering. It sounded very well thought out, but it did change a lot of the phrasing, and some of the meanings, just to fit into english better. Some parts added a lot of throw away words that don't fit in the original Japanese version, but can be implied in one way or another in English (ie, "Tell me do you still remember?" isn't quite the same as "Do you remember?", but the meaning is similar enough that the added "tell me" and "still" don't hurt it too much, and the number of syllables fits the music once those words are added). Grrr.. now the musical bit of me wants to translate my own version Yeah, "Tell me do you still remember" is quite good, but my problem with making the English lyrics fit the melody is that too often, the Japanese has more syllables than a direct English translation, and so a lot of small words get added plump it out...the result often sounds flabby and verbose. Quote
thegunny Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 my problem with making the English lyrics fit the melody is that too often, the Japanese has more syllables than a direct English translation, and so a lot of small words get added plump it out...the result often sounds flabby and verbose. Absolutely! Listen to it as written and enjoy it for what it is. English is over rated Quote
Chronocidal Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Lol.. or you could just use english words with way too many syllables. It is pretty common to stretch words over more than one note, but the way songs are phrased can make it hard to sound good doing it, especially if the song was originally written so the notes would be pronounced, rather than slurred. Quote
rusted180 Posted April 6, 2009 Posted April 6, 2009 Roughly it's: Jingle Bells Sheryl Smells Grace Laid an Egg Ranka rocks and Sheryl sucks But not necessarily Alto's peg Hey! Do you remember love? When we looked into eachother's eyes And oh what a surprise? When did you realize? That I was your prize? Oh yeah Uh huh Come on Baby! Come to me! Sexy Moma! Let's make a family tree! Oh yeah! ... Sounds better in Japanese IMO. Pete tahahhaah!!! ahahah! Quote
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