Parler tout bas
 

I am going to be uploading the Parler tout bas music video soon, and was thinking about putting english subtitles on it. I would like to get aFrenchie's and everyone elses opinion on the following translation by The Honorable

I think there is a lot we can improve on this one, read over the original thread to see some of the other discussions

The Honorable is probably fluent in English or at least way better than me (I don't know where he's from) so for some parts, he may also be better than me to translate even if his French is not as good as a native. It's easier to translate in your own language than doing the opposite.
I see some little mistakes here though. I'll give more details soon.

He's not helped that well apparently, at least by French people (he says he asked to some people), because the (2) point is obvious. Zan (in "le goût du zan") is a candy brand:
http://sucreries.free.fr/images/zan.gif
Also obvious (I mean he should have no doubt) is the pun with "le goût du sang" = "taste of blood"

More later.

this song is pretty deep

seems kinda sad too, like the stuffed toys that have claws
and defaced bed among cement bits, the taste of blood

if they made a video of this song, it might be a little frightening

there is a video, and it is kinda weird .. i will upload it soon

dude they did dvtq posted it awhile back I won't tell you whats in it cause it's a little creepy at least to me but yeah ask dvtq I think it's on his website

edit: didn't feel like spamming this thread so yeah i forgot dvtq is running out space but it's all good since brads gonna put it up soon

that would be great brad

and ye spartan dvtq has it on his site, but could not access because dvtq's running out of bandwidth

I have seen the video and it isn't scary but kind of sad maybe, I was more focused on Alizee as she looks quite cute in that video.

Globally, Honorable translation is good. But once again, it's often done word for word. A real adaptation would be better if they wanted to create an English version for Alizée to sing. Meaning something from scratch with different images, puns, etc.

1st verse:
Quand on a que seize ans
is not
[The Honorable] when one's not even sixteen
but
when one's only sixteen

1st verse:
Le lit qu'on défait
[TH] the bed one defaces
defaces?? Sound strange...
Hard for me to explain since I have no clue about this expression in English! I need some help here:
According to my dictionary, the opposite "Le lit qu'on fait" (note: no "dé-") seems to be the same in English: "the bed that one makes". Let's see if it's ok, do you say for example: "each morning, i make my bed"?
Now it's the opposite: "Le lit qu'on défait". Literally, "défaire" in French means "undo" or "unmake". Now how do you say it when you "reopen" and "undo" your bed each evening so you can go under the sheets and sleep?
And to add to your pain, note that it may also mean that you remove all sheets and covers of the bed to replace them!

Probably none of words above fit? Maybe something like "unpack" would be ok?
Anyway let's say you use "unpack", the whole phrase would be then: "The bed one unpacks" (or maybe "The bed you unpack"?)
Phew... now your turn to suffer with this, Brad :D. At least, I thought TH's "defaces" was just wrong. NOW don't tell me that it's how you say it! :D

2nd verse:
Qui sont trop courts,
[TH] that are much too short
Don't know why he added "much". Just remove it.

2nd verse:
Moi, j' rêve en grand
Comme l'éléphant
[TH] I dream big,
[TH] as big as an elephant;

Meaning (French line): I dream big, as big as an elephant does
I'm not sure it's the same sense without "does" (I ask you actually). For me, that would sound in English that I dream of something that is as big as an elephant :D
Am I right or are you giggling right now?

Chorus:
Parler tout bas
[TH] Speak softly to him
Why "to him"?? Or is it better in English, according to what follows in next lines...
Also I would use "Speaking softly"

5th verse:
Pas pour de rire
[TH] but not for you to laugh, (that)

"Pas pour de rire" (literally something like "not to laugh about") is a way -a little childish- to say that it's serious, it's for real. You might change TH's phrase...

Notes:
(1) I agree with him. It doesn't make much sense in French too.
(2) already explained in another post above. Just leave the candy name, "Zan". You may add: "(French candy)" on your line
(3) he's right about "les grands". Probably right for the interpretation too.

Now good luck Brad :)

:eek: what a big essay aFrenchie!

But neverthless thanks for the info.

awesome frenchie ... this is perfect :)

thanks!

oh .. and to answer your questions. in english we do say 'make my bed in the morning'

if you wanted to say the opposite .. most people would say .. 'turn down the bed in the evening' ... now that I look at that, it doesnt make sense, but that is what people say.

about the elephant stuff .. if you say 'dream as big as an elephant' .. to me that would mean you have really big dreams. where if you would say 'dream as big as an elephant does' .. that somehow assumes elephants have really big dreams themselves .. lol

prolly not a big issue, either one would work.

That's the original meaning though! :) Actually, it implies both... (her dreams are as big as theirs)

i can't tell you how awesome it is to get some real 'French' guidance on these translations .. :D

thanks man

yes, thanks aFrenchie.
your clarifications and translations are always apprecieated!!
thanks for clarification about the the candy and the blood.

the literal meaning of deface means to mutilate, make ugly, destroy, mar
it would seem wierd to deface a bed, so you are probably right aFrenchie, may it is
"unpack the bed" or as Brad says it "turn down the bed"

i didn't know that elephants dream big
maybe the elephants in the zoos dream big because they
are depressed- they long for the freedom that the plains offer them

do you guys feel sorry for the zoo animals?

we have parakeets, and we have a cage, but we don't cage them.
they are free to fly about the house. and each night, they return to their cage at their choosing

thank frenchie, how awesome are you :D , all that translate are good

the subtitles in the song translate 'je l'aime lui' into 'so'

doesn't 'je l'aime lui' mean 'i like him' or 'i love him'?

yes .. you are right. there are a lot of mistakes i made on this, i need to re-upload the video again. i had old subtitles and it seems part of them are from that one, and part are from the new one.

i am going to try and fix it tonight.

You're right.
"Je l'aime" (note the "l'") = "I love him" or "I love her", depends on the rest (you can't say "j'aime lui" ou "j'aime elle" by the way)
"Je l'aime, lui": "lui" added is a way to emphasise, like saying "him and noone else"

I know this emphasis doesn't exist in English (or does it?).
Another example: "Moi, je m'appelle Lolita", "moi" only accentuates that she's talking about her. Weird eh? :)

so... any idea why it was translated into "so.." in the video? i would guess it was a typo, but I could be wrong..

there is something close to that, but not exactly that in english

example:

"I love you"
vs.
"I love you, frenchie"

you would use the persons name, rather than saying 'him' or 'her.'

In English, you could say "Me, my name is..." but it's not a very popular way of speaking.

you can blame that on someone who doesn't speak any french, trying to translate a french song ... (and by someone, i mean me)

Nor is it grammatically correct. :p

well it sounds right with a pause between me snd my like if she is answering a question and doesn't know who the asker is talking to

Isn't it? I always thought that it was.

You know...now I'm not sure. I know it's frowned upon, but I can't find anything on the web about it (either way). I'll have to ask one of my English-major colleagues tonight.

frenchie:

Moi, j' rêve en grand

is she saying ...

I dream big (like she has large dreams, really good dreams)

or

I dream of being big (like she dreams of being an adult one day)

this might not even be 100% clear in french, but i will go with what you think :)

Actually she sings: "Je rêve en grand" which literally is "I dream in big" but I'm pretty sure that it means nothing in English. If it does, then use it! Unless it's not the same: another example in French, you can also say "voir les choses en grand", literally "see things in big". A good trick to get it in English I think: add a word like format, dimension. "I dream/see things in big format", in big dimension, etc...
It's exactly the idea even though this notion is not implied! :)

Now that I re-read it:
Moi, j' rêve en grand
Comme l'éléphant
Je rêve immense

"Comme l'éléphant" goes with the 3rd line above and not the 1st.
I already said that it means that "just like the elephant (does), she dreams immense"

Note that the notion of big format is a metaphor though -> things are immense in her dreams.

OK .. thanks, that answers it perfectly.

I have fixed a bunch of stuff and I am compressing this video again.

yeah .. i guess i have it framed in my head a certain way, like it seems to make a lot of sense to me for her to be saying 'i dream of growing up' or 'dream of being big' (a kid would say something like that) .. 'dream of being big' (like an adult)

but it seems to me this is not what it really is. she is saying she has wonderful / big dreams, right?

Exactly!

Technical note: I couldn't enter "Exactly" alone. vBulletin told me my message is too short! :eek:

thanks .. i look forward to doing more of these .. lol

lol brad you are about to hate me :(

she only says 'je l'aime, lui" at the end of the second verse, and you changed 'alors lui' at the end of the first verse to 'i love him.'

google tells me it means 'then him,' but I seriously doubt that is what it means.. it probally means something like 'so you'

frenchie, save us. I have not learned enough french to translate this yet!

nooooooooo, you are right .. i do hate you .... lol

it kills me cause i did the same thing at the beginning already, had to re-compress it again (before i uploaded it last time) cause i left it saying 'larger ones' instead of 'grown-ups' at the beginning

thank for you throubles

I know I'm a big "stay on topic" troll, but I don't care what anyone says, the music video for this song is just plain creepy.

ye, it may be but a little creepy
but as Alizée says
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a2/grizzly.jpg
Mon ours dit à quoi bon?

alas, Alizée is in it,
and she is oh-so-cute!!

Yeah, Alizee is in it, thats cool. But when a giant creepy doll starts running around in the woods with her, I could care less. Not to mention there were like eight of them. Screw that. I'd be running like hell, or trying to find a big stick.

are you kidding? I love this video, its by far my favourite..

she looks so damn cute in the bed with her pjs

suse i'm with you urb4n the dolls are creepy ecspecailly when they are in the trees or when that one is holding her hand and running through the woods. hey not sound like a panzy ceramic dolls are freaken scary