The last translation was one of my favourites – it’s rare to find mainstream pop music with lyrics as interesting to translate as those found in Bénabar’s songs.
This next translation is just as interesting and is a result of my growing enjoyment of French hip hop.
Sinik is one of the heavy weights (poids lourds) of the French Hip-Hop scene. His forthcoming album, Ballon d’or to be released in December will be his last before he dedicates himself to a career as a producer.
Sorry that it’s been two days since my last post but I wanted to get this right and I hope I’ve done it justice.
The song Je réalise is from his 2007 album Le toit du monde (the roof of the world). It features British singer James Blunt – an unlikely pairing certainly seeings as James Blunt is not considered one of the most “street” of British pop acts. Sinik raps in French while James Blunt sings extracts from his song “I’ll take everything” in English.
It’s always rewarding to translate Hip Hop tracks – it’s not always so much fun to listen to James Blunt but he sounds fine here.
Ok, this isn’t exactly an introduction to a great new band, but this pop song has somehow managed to get wedged in my head. It fully deserves a translation here because the vocabulary in the lyrics is interesting and hopefully useful.
Looks like this writer (quoted below) feels pretty much the same way as me about Bénabar (French music awards Victoires de la Musique Male group or artist of the year 2007).
Je ne suis pas grand fan de cet artiste mais je sais reconnaître son talent pour les paroles. En ce qui concerne les mélodies : un coup j’aime, un coup je déteste. Mais d’ailleurs, je ne sais pas vraiment s’il écrit et compose l’intégralité de ses morceaux…
I’m no great fan of this artist but I recognise his talent for lyrics. As for the melodies, some I love, some I hate. Mind you, I don’t really know if he writes and composes all of his songs …
I don’t know either although I did briefly try to find out.
The first verse will give you an idea of what the song is about…
Si le battement d’aile d’un papillon quelque part au Cambodge
Déclenche sur un autre continent le plus violent des orages
Le choix de quelques uns dans un bureau occidental
Bouleverse des millions de destins surtout si le bureau est ovale
If the flapping wings of a butterfly somewhere in Cambodia
Triggers the most violent of storms on another continent
The choice of some people in a western office
Disrupts millions of destinies, especially if the office is oval
The second BB Brunes album is due to be released on November 16th. Dynamite is the first single from the album and is available to listen to free on their website in exchange for giving them your email address.
I really like this single although currently it’s not available in the British iTunes store or on Amazon.
I am currently translating this song (the result of which will be part of this post when I publish it) and something great is happening in the background. Another album new to my ears and sounding great. It’s by yet another band from Quebec called Kaïn. The album is called Les Saisons S’Tassent and you can be sure that this won’t be the last time I’ll mention them here. There are so many bands I want to introduce you to that it makes me wonder why I’m posting another BB Brunes translation.
The translation threw up some interesting verbs and unless your French is quite advanced you should pick up something new from the vocabulary I’ve highlighted.
I’ve just finished the translation and the Kaïn album is still playing – it really does sound very good indeed.
The little Amazon MP3 widget and the preview in the iTunes store contain the final 30 seconds of this 49 second song. It’s really quite pleasant and is the opening track to the punk album Compter Les Corps by the Canadian band Vulgaires Machins.
I realise that three of the last four posts have been about this album so I will say no more about it for a while.
Am I feeling lazy today?
Dans ma bulle de smog
Je ne vois plus le ciel
Il me reste un vœu
J’y crois encore un peu
In my bubble of smog
I no longer see the sky
It remains for me a wish
I still believe in it a little
Those that know me know that I recently turned thirty. Those that know me slightly better know that I even more recently turned thirty-six.
Although I’m well aware that I am fighting a losing battle, I do spend a lot of time in the gym and the only reason I am able to do so is that I have great music to listen to while I am pounding away on the treadmill.
My French Gym playlist currently contains around thirty tracks. From this selection here are the top ten songs that are so good that they can often cause me to ramp up the speed on that evil rubber mat that moves under my feet.
I compiled the list before checking which ones would be available for an Amazon widget. Turns out they all were except Pensées malsaines which is fair enough – La Ruda already have a song in the top ten.
