"Alizée en Concert" - Translation Project 2020
 

We are working on the best possible translation "Alizée en Concert" and we started with song Gourmandise.
Any suggestion, help, opinion ... is welcome.


When you think of me,
You, the wolf of the Steppes,
Down deep inside of you
Do you feel ecstasy?
"I'm yearning so much for you"
You say it without cease,
"And take care of me"
Tell me if that hurts.
Oh wolf, are you there for me?
You made the promise,
And if I offer myself to you,
It's as thousands of tender kisses.

There are the kisses
The first
Taste like sea spray
Taste like melancholy,
There are the kisses stolen
In the trains of Tsarinas.
The kisses of a summer
Where the hand is led forward
But the kisses of Alizée
Are the true delicacies

When I think of you,
You, the wolf of the Steppes
I am not afraid of you,
Does that worry you?
"Take that path there,"
You say it without cease
"Oh! Bed down near to me
And devour me with your eyes, my princess!"

For the kisses
The first
Taste like sea spray
Taste like melancholy
For the kisses stolen
In the trains of Tsarinas.
The kisses of a summer
Where the hand is led forward
But the kisses of Alizée
Are the true delicacies.

Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...
Oh wolf, are you there...

There are the kisses
The first
Taste like sea spray
Taste like melancholy,
There are the kisses stolen
In the trains of Tsarinas.
The kisses of a summer
Where the hand is led forward
But the kisses of Alizée
Are the true delicacies

There are the kisses
The first
Taste like sea spray
Taste like melancholy,
There are the kisses stolen
In the trains of Tsarinas.
The kisses of a summer
Where the hand is led forward
But the kisses of Alizée
Are the true delicacies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MshULZzbpc0

I met with my translator today, and he had some pretty interesting things to say about the lyrics.
Below, I will type out the translation that he wrote. He explained that the word "spleen" in this translates to "sorrow" or "melancholy." He said it is similar to the way in English we will say something like "I feel it in my gut" but we aren't literally referring to our "guts."
He said the term was created by a poet named Charles Baudelaire, and he said he can tell there is influence by that poet throughout the lyrics. There is also a Russian theme. Not only the part with the tsarinas (the meaning of which he said is a bit obscure, even in the French) but also the part about the wolf of the Steppes. That, he said, refers to Russian vegetation.

He isn't sure about the whole "train" thing--he is going to actually listen to the song itself (I just gave him the typed out lyrics) and let me know if he thinks it means something else. But so far he thinks it means a literal train, as opposed to part of a dress. He said he can't see any idioms that it would refer to (like with "spleen"). He said he wasn't sure if "Tsarinas" was supposed to be plural or possessive (as in "Tsarina's").

The part about the "sea spray" translates more into "essence." There is not a term for this in English, but it is talking about how the person's essence is like a spray that comes outward from them. It has nothing to do with the actual sea. That is just the literal translation for something we don't have a word for in English

"Taste" is more just the meaning of "experience" rather than tasting as a flavor on your tongue.

He said he does not find that there is an overtly graphic sexual message--it is more one of want and love and need. The "wolf" represents a strong person who needs Alizée and who she needs and wants to protect her and take care of her.

All in all, it seems like I’m some places these lyrics are like what happens with a lot of poetry and song lyrics in English, too— parts are kind of hard to decipher. But I think he did a decent job with his translation.


Greediness

When you think about me
You the wolf of the Steppes
Deep inside of you
Do you feel intoxicated?
I am starving for you
You say it without end
And take care of me
Tell me if that hurts
Oh wolf, are you there for me?
You make the promise
And, if I offer myself to you
It is in thousands of tender kisses.

There are the kisses
The first taste of your essence
Taste of sorrow
There are stolen kisses
In the train of the Tsarinas
A summer of kisses
Where the hand travels
But Alizee's kisses
Are really delighful

It is reference to the novel "Steppenwolf" ("The wolf of the Steppes") by Herman Hesse.

You can read more about this song here:
http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1563

:thumb:

We should create an "index" of all the older analysis of Gour and MCE.

Oh, that is very cool! Thank you.

Great help from your friend Bamagirl, lots of material to think about.

Quite a few years back, I hooked up with a young lady to do some translations for me such as the ones for Dals and Saga and a few interviews. She grew up in Paris and was a couple of years younger than Alizee, then moved to this country and got married.

I also had her do translations for the songs Alcaline and K.O. which I added to the two videos I made. There were two lines that I couldn't quite figure out a good translation for and I asked her a few times about it and she told me sometimes the singers make a compromise of writing lyrics that may not make a lot of sense, for something that sounds good.

That's a good point. From making up their own idioms, to abstract gibberish.

Speaking of abstract gibberish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PZadLP9QM

When you think about me
You the wolf of the Steppes
Deep inside of you

or


When you think of me
You the wolf of the Steppes
Deep inside of you

What is better option for start?

Interesting song.....go cart Mozart!

I should have said when I mentioned that some artists will put in lines for rhyme than for reason, that I didn't think this was the case with Gourmandises.

Edit:

I first want to mention when you bring something up like this in the forum, you may have 10 different people offer opinions and all of them might be different, which makes it tough. In the end, it's your project and you have to figure out what best fits what you are trying to do.

For me, when adding subs, I try my best with the subs I add to match the syllable count of the song as long as I don't compromise meaning.

So for that first line it's

Quand tu penses a moi, which looks to be six syllables but to me in the song, only sounds like five so because of that, I'd go with "When you think of me"