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Old 10-26-2006, 09:52 AM
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Default Alternate translations: JEAM, ACC, and JPVA

In going through all the translations I've run across of various songs, I've discovered that I have various disagreements with many of them. They'll prove useful on one front, but seem completely wrong on another. It may be pretentious of me to think I can correct translations that have been accepted for years, especially given my own partial knowledge of the language, but I know at least a couple of my changes are accurate. As for the rest... well... if I turn out to be wrong, I'm sure someone will let me know, and I'll learn some new lessons that will help with translating our lovely lady's third album whenever we do see it.

I have three translations I'm posting at the moment, each in its own post below. I've tried to keep the meanings as close as possible to the original, while taking the necessary minor steps to make the words flow in English. This means I may have dropped or added articles, reversed the order of nouns and their adjectives, or occasionally switched in a word that I believe captures the meaning of an idiomatic expression or phrase for which there is no possible translation that reads well.

For each song I've put in a few line notes at the end of the translation, explaining my change to what is traditionally used, or else commenting on a problem I ran in to. Hopefully they're useful in understanding my process, and even more hopefully, these translations will prove useful to my fellow Alizée fans in appreciating the music we love so well!

Regards,
Cooney

PS (I welcome feedback with open arms. If you disagree, have a question about a line, or know better than I do... by all means say something! It's how I learn, and will help us all).

Last edited by Cooney; 10-26-2006 at 10:00 AM..
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Old 10-26-2006, 09:53 AM
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Default J'en ai marre!

J'en ai marre!

I have soft skin
In my bubble bath
I splash myself
And I laugh
My fish moves around (1)
In my bubble bath
I wrap it up, I
Say to him

I have no problems, I lay about...
No discontent, I lay about
In water I bathe, it's important
I'm well at ease, in these times

I have soft skin
In my bubble bath
I laze in the shadow (2)
Of bombs.
Everything is delightful
Manageable problems:
I make a list
Of things... which
bother me

I'm fed up with those who cry,
Who only go 2km per hour, (3)
Who lament and who fixate
On the subject of an obsession (4)
I'm fed up with those who gripe,
Those two-bit extremists, (5)
Who always see life as black
Who I send away feeling low (6)
I'm fed up with my big sister,
Who always whines and who cries,
Fed up with rain, and the zucchinis
That make me vomit under the covers
I'm fed up with those cynics,
And in the meadows, those autumn crocuses,
I'm fed with with being fed up! Also

I have soft skin
In my bubble bath
No seismic
Shocks... (7)
I stretch out
And relax myself,
It's my aquatic state,
There's just one little problem

I'm fed up with those who cry,
Who only go 2km per hour,
Who lament and who fixate
On the subject of an obsession
I'm fed up with those who gripe,
Those two-bit extremists,
Who always see life as black
Who I send away feeling low
I'm fed up with my big sister,
Who always whines and who cries,
Fed up with rain, and the zucchinis
That make me vomit under the covers
I'm fed up with those cynics,
And in the meadows, those autumn crocuses,
I'm fed with with being fed up! Also

I'm fed up with those who cry,
Who only go 2km per hour,
Who lament and who fixate
On the subject of an obsession
I'm fed up with those who gripe,
Those two-bit extremists,
Who always see life as black
Who I send away feeling low
I'm fed up with my big sister,
Who always whines and who cries,
Fed up with rain, and the zucchinis
That make me vomit under the covers
I'm fed up with those cynics,
And in the meadows, those autumn crocuses,
I'm fed with with being fed up!


1: Usually translated as "My Goldfish" ("Mon poisson rouge"), the line as printed in the album cover, and what she's saying if you watch her lips in the music video, is "Mon poisson bouge," which means "My fish moves around." With all the Poisson-Rouge imagery she uses, I think this line simply got misheard and accepted as something different.

2: The other word that gets mixed up in this song is the verb of this line. Usually translated as if it were "Brule," meaning "burn," the word is actually "bulle," meaning to hang out (or as my dictionary puts it, "bum around"). This is significant in particular because bulle as a noun is the word for "bubble," and we all know she has a history with those :-)

3: This line gave me fits, in chief because I'm still not used to hearing "only" as a negative ("ne... que"). Strictly speaking, I believe this line could come out as "Who only go out on time as a couple," but obviously the alternative, referring to people who always move slowly, is far superior.

4: "Idée Fixe" means obsession - that seems to get missed a lot. I believe that "L'idée d'une idée fixe" would then come out as "the subject of an obsession." It certainly works with the rest of the line.

5: While "a deux balles" may literally mean "has two bullets," it means "worthless" in conversation. "Two-bit" seems to be a good American fit for that, maintaining the idiomatic usage, and even the quantity, while giving an accurate meaning.

6: There's at least one translation that has this line as "that drive themselves to depression." That may be accurate, and I think sums up the the meaning well, but the reflexive in the sentence is "me," referring to the singer, rather than "se," referring to the extremists. My French isn't good enough to know if "drive themselves" is a proper non-standard usage.

7: Yeah, yeah, the line is properly organized as "no shocks / seismic" rather than "no seismic / shocks," but hopefully you'll forgive me that one in exchange for greater understandability.

Last edited by Cooney; 10-26-2006 at 09:06 PM..
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Old 10-26-2006, 09:55 AM
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Default A contre-courant

A contre-courant

Our universe
In counter-current.
Everything inverted,
But not for long.
When you are grounded
You bring me current (1)
So I can imagine
Our fusion.
We desire each other
Under high tension,
But without plugs (2)
For my nerves, I re-
concile your laughs,
And my electrons
Are a dance of life,
A dance of spheres. (3)

Nothing ordinary,
Nothing but good times,
Everything upside-down
But not for too long.
When you are grounded
Bring me current
So I can divine
Your intentions.
It electrifies us:
Maximum tension
In the body circuits
Of two lovers.
It illuminates
The instinctual light
Of the school of e-
lectromagnetic love (4)

Rediscover the meaning
Of the life, which I think
Goes by in boredom
When you, you are gone.
Rediscover meaning
In insolent moments,
From the lines of little things
In my desire for you.
When the current passes, along with the threat
Of times that split us up, times that seperate us,
And the current passes, I have in me the strength
Of a magnetic field, and it is wonderful!

Our universe
In counter-current.
Return to ground
And for all time,
When you hope for me,
Bring me current.
So I can consider
A rebellion,
We are static
When I tell him 'no'
But no more the six
times, (5)
It makes me afraid
Of electrocution.
My isulation
Is passion.

Rediscover the meaning
Of the life, which I think
Goes by in boredom
When you, you are gone.
Rediscover meaning
In insolent moments,
From the lines of little things
In my desire for you.
When the current passes, along with the threat
Of times that split us up, times that seperate us,
And the current passes, I have in me the strength
Of a magnetic field, and it is wonderful!


Rediscover the meaning
Of the life, which I think
Goes by in boredom
When you, you are gone.
Rediscover meaning
In insolent moments,
From the lines of little things
In my desire for you.
When the current passes, along with the threat
Of times that split us up, times that seperate us,
And the current passes, I have in me the strength
Of a magnetic field, and it is wonderful!


1: Some have translated this as "Keep me informed," and indeed it has that meaning. However, in order to maintain the double entendre of the song, I feel it is necessary to use the phrase "bring me current," which has not only the informational meaning, but also the electrical metaphor.

2: Another issue with the electrical metaphor. This line could be translated "But without a grip on my nerves, I reconcile your laughs..." Prises means both "grips" and various words such as "plugs," "sockets," and "adaptors." I like the sound of "Grips" more, but then we lose the meaning, as above.

3: "Ballon" means a lot more than balloon. It also means ball, and is the word for some kinds of drink glasses. It references many things with a spherical shape, and is here, I believe, a reference to the spherical shape traditionally assigned to sub-atomic particles such as electrons, which would be dancing mightily when charged up as she is in this song.

4: "Electroaimant" means Electromagnet. The lyrics are written "Electro-aimant" however, with a hyphen seperating the word "aimant" from the rest. Aimant by itself can mean magnet, or it can also mean loving. I choose to read the double meaning of electromagnetic love.

5: This one gave me problems. "Allocutions" literally means speeches (or allocutions - it's a word in English as well). Without an electrical metaphor here, I substituted "times" to try and capture what I think she is saying, ie, she won't tell him no more than six times.

Last edited by Cooney; 10-27-2006 at 09:01 AM..
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Old 10-26-2006, 09:59 AM
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Default J'ai pas vingt ans!

J'ai pas vingt ans!

It's not the story of a day
That goes hand in hand with love,
Rather a long stay,
But not: a "for always"
I don't want a "for life" that leads to paradise,
Me, I have time!
It's just a compromise, a bit like raindrops
That hold off the ocean. (1)
It's not hell either
It's question of habit...
If it's not for life, too bad, (2)
So say yes...

I don't like habits!
I don't like it when it lasts!
I'm not twenty...
I don't cop attitude...(3)
Even if I have style!
I'm not twenty...
And stiletto heels, a talent of girls
Melody of the wind...
I change like I rhyme, tablet of Aspirin, (4)
You are old at twenty...
Me, I have time!

It's not the story of love
The flows like the Adour (5)
Rather a draught
That blows upon your ground
I want more than an "I'm attached," which bores me and angers me
Me, I have time!
Rather a daring move, to love me as I am
And to have it in for me (6)

I don't like habits!
I don't like it when it lasts!
I'm not twenty...
I don't cop attitude...
Even if I have style!
I'm not twenty...
And stiletto heels, a talent of girls
Melody of the wind...
I change like I rhyme, tablet of Aspirin,
You are old at twenty...
Me, I have time!

La la la la la, melody of the wind
....

I don't like habits!
I don't like it when it lasts!
I'm not twenty...
I don't cop attitude...
Even though I have style!
I'm not twenty...
And stiletto heels, a talent of girls
Melody of the wind...
I change like I rhyme, tablet of Aspirin,
You are old at twenty...
Me, I have time!

I don't like habits!
I don't like it when it lasts!
I'm not twenty...
I don't cop attitude...
Even though I have style!
I'm not twenty...
And stiletto heels, a talent of girls
Melody of the wind...
I change like I rhyme, tablet of Aspirin,
You are old at twenty...
Me, I have time!


1: She is referring to these short relationships and flings as the small rain drops that are diverting ("devient") a serious relationship, the ocean. She doesn't actually say rain-drops ("gouttes de pluie"), she says rain-water ("l'eau de pluie"), but its the right meaning.

2: "Tant-pis" comes out as "too bad," or "tough luck," generally speaking. It's not being used dismissively here though, it's meaning is essentially "so be it." Too bad can have that meaning in English too, depending on the inflection in the voice.

3: I don't think the lyric is actually as casual as the American usage of "cop" in this fashion, but it was closest I could come to what I think it means. Some folks would use "give" in place of "cop," but I don't like that usage myself.

4: The word "rime" does mean rhyme as a noun, but as a verb it is a bit more complex. It can be used for the English verb "Rhyme" as in to speak in rhyme, but it also refers to the process of putting something in to verse. "Change" could also be "Transform," but I think "I transform like I versify" would be way to clunky for our purposes.

5: The Adour is a river.

6: This is an idiomatic expression. The translations I've seen usually put it as either "wait for my return" or "await me at the turn." It does literally translate as "and waits for me at the turn," but the actual meaning of "Attendre [qqn] au tournant" is to "have it in for" somebody, or to be waiting to get them back for something.

Last edited by Cooney; 10-27-2006 at 08:42 AM..
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  #5  
Old 10-26-2006, 12:43 PM
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I wanted to give Cooney an electronic high five for posting these translations! Keep up the good work As of yet I haven't read it deeply enough to see if anything needs changing, but I might do that in the future.
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Old 10-26-2006, 12:56 PM
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yes, these translations are very good and full of information about correct words, really, very good job, the "J'en ai marre" translation was very necessary to me, thanks Cooney!
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Old 10-26-2006, 01:09 PM
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Thanks a lot Cooney, what a great job you did ! Your translations will be very useful for many fans
I think I can't improve your translations because I don't speak French good enough myself.
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Old 10-26-2006, 02:50 PM
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Good stuff there Cooney! I've not read everything though but will do later (no time right now). In the meantime, you can read that thread in which I gave clues about some of those songs (JEAM and ACC at least):
http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=179
Quickly: "2 balles" has nothing to do with bullets, but your "worthless" idea is good though (see in the link above about this expression)
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Old 10-26-2006, 02:58 PM
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good stuff cooney!! .. it is fun to argue over these lyrics! lol
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Old 10-26-2006, 03:00 PM
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nice...

and thanks afrenchie too


now..Luc are you stalking Amelie or something ^^

Amelie hug? lol
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