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Old 11-10-2014, 02:43 PM
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Default K O interpretation

I really enjoy the song K O. I don't know how many hundreds of times I've listened to it since it's release.
I really want to get a good understanding of the lyrics of what they should be. I wonder about who wrote this song and if they were very knowledgable about boxing and it's terminology. I've been able to translate or what's more accurate a term, re-write some of the lyrics , into a boxing stand point, whether or not it agreed with what the writer said. But there are some lines I need a lot of help with in trying to put this together into a cohesive story and so I'm asking others for help. I've seen RMJ's interpretation and it's far off from what it needs to be.

I'll number it line by line and put in what I think it should say, English wise. I put in asterisks the main lines where I needed help. Also lines 35-39 were the toughest to interpret.
1; Un duo sur un ring,
A duo in the ring
2: En baskets et jogging,
In sneakers and trunks (I'm sure this is about being in boxing trunks and sneakers)
3; J’t’attends,
I await you,
4 Tu me scrutes,
You size me up
5 Prêt pour les uppercuts,
Waiting for my uppercuts
6 Que le combat commence
The fight startss,
7 Deux ou trois coups d’avance,
Two or three steps ahead
8 Une droite,
A left
9 Une esquive,
A dodge (maybe duck would be better?)
10 Chacun sur le qui-vive,
Each of us on our toes (on alert?)
11 J’encaisse encore et encore,
I charge you again and again
12 Tous les corps à corps,
A melee
13 Avec toi d’accord,
Mix with you **********************************************
14 Et si demain,
And if for a moment,
15 Toi tu vas trop loin,
You drop your guard'
16 Tu peux appeler ta mère,
You can call your mother
17 Et faire ta prière,
and say your prayers
Chorus
1c Mohammed Ali,
Muhammad Ali
2c J’ai pas peur de lui,
I'm not afraid of you,
3c Moi je boxe dans la même catégorie,
I box on the same level as you
4c Mais j’le mets K.O,
I knock people out
5c S’il en regarde une autre,
If you look the wrong way
6c l aura pas le temps de compter jusqu’à dix,
You'll be out at the count of ten!
K.O,
K.O,
K.O oh oh oh oh oh,
K.O,
K.O,
K.O oh oh oh oh oh,
18 Un garçon dans les cordes,
A young man on the ropes
19 Tu peux toujours te tordre,
Tough line to interpret***********************************
20 Tes pleurs,
Your tears
21 Tes excuses,
Your apologies
22 Rien à faire, Rien ne m’use,
Have no affect on me
23 Maintenant tu assumes,
You assumed
24 Tu m’a pris pour un poids plume,
You took me for a light weight,
25 Fallait pas commencer,
*************************************** clueless on this one
26 J’avais rien demander,
I ask for nothing,
27 J’attaque,
I attack
28 Quand les autres plongent,
When others would take a dive
29 Je jette pas l’éponge,
I refuse to throw in the towel
30 C’est toi que j’allonge,
It's you that I pursue
31 J’suis faîte comme ça,
I'm like the mountain
32 Mais qu’est ce que tu crois,
So what do you think?
33 A trop faire le beau,
A mountain of beauty
34 Tu compteras tes os,
You will count your bones **************************************
CHORUS
35 Est-ce qu’un jour,

36 On posera les gants,
37 Est-ce qu’un seul jour,
38 On se donnera le temps,
39 En amour,
In love
40 Ni perdant, ni gagnant,
No loser or winner
41 Je suis pour,
I am for
42 Mais en attendant,
But in the meantime,

Last edited by Scruffydog777; 11-10-2014 at 02:52 PM..
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Old 11-10-2014, 09:40 PM
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I can't help with the French, but this might help with some insight.

http://alizee-reflections.net/k_o.html
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Old 11-11-2014, 07:48 AM
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Thanks for posting that Ray. It gave me some help.
With lines 13 and 14, I think I'll use "We trade hard body punches - We're both doing okay
With lines 18 and 19, I think I'll go with "I have this young man on the ropes - He twists in trying to get away.".
With line 25, I'll go with "And now I begin..".
Line 34 I was thinking of using "You will count your broken bones" but may look for something else.

Lines 35 -42 are the real challenge. I guess these lines are written in poetic terms and for me, that will be a problem.

Here's what I have up to that point and I think if flows well;

A duo in the ring
In sneakers and trunks
I await you,
You size me up
Waiting for my uppercuts
The fight starts,
Two or three steps ahead
A left
A dodge
Each of us on our toes
I charge you again and again
A melee
We trade body punches
And if for a moment,
You drop your guard
You can call your mother
and say your prayers

Chorus

Muhammad Ali
I'm not afraid of you,
I box on the same level as you
I knock people out
If you look the wrong way
You'll be out at the count of ten!
K.O,


I have you on the ropes,
You twist, trying to get away
Your tears
Your apologies
Have no affect on me
You assumed
You took me for a light weight,
Now I turn it on
I ask for nothing,
I attack
When others would take a dive
I refuse to throw in the towel
It's you that I pursue
I'm like the mountain
So what do you think
of a mountain of strength
You will count your broken bones

CHORUS
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Old 11-12-2014, 02:43 AM
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Hi Scruffy,
Your interpretation may be a little too literal.
If I get the essence correctly, the song is about the "fight" (or dance of love) between males and females.

Again, and perhaps the native French speakers can comment on this,
If you engage Alizée, do not expect it to be easy. It will be a battle. She is not a lightweight - she will engage fully and for keeps.
And don't cross her, or she will KO you (shred you - send you crying for your mother).
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Old 11-12-2014, 11:04 AM
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Well for my purposes (nudge,nudge, say no more), a literal translation will work best. Still I need help with that last set of lines to put them into a poetic sense for which I think they were intended. Of course in this case the English poetic version may have to differ greatly from the French version, but hopefully will carry the same general meaning.

EDIT: Upon further review, I feel the lyrics are meant in a very literal way up until line 35. Then the last part gets poetic or if not poetic, certainly not literal. if you look at the complimentary interpretation in the link Ray posted, I have no idea how they derived that from the original lyrics.

Last edited by Scruffydog777; 11-12-2014 at 07:01 PM..
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Old 11-13-2014, 10:59 PM
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Good stuff Scruffy!

I think between all the translations we might get something Epic here, maybe Lapinchous or Big Dan could help out some???

Well Alizée has always had a penchant ( I think that's a french word ) for boxing/kick boxing and sport in general but who dosen't?

Anyway here's a tribute to one of the greatest middleweights that ever came out of Great Britain!

If you never heard of him you should be shot.

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Old 11-14-2014, 10:18 AM
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I think I have a fairly close translation for lines 36-42

It is a day ( on this day of Ali fighting Alizee)
one asks the gloves
If there's a day
thier love
neither the winner
nor the loser
is for
( and the answer is }Yes, but in the meantime

I think what that last line implies is that when they say "yes" that means there are days when the gloves are for neither the winner nor loser, but when they say "but in the meantime" means today, they are for Alizee!



36 On posera les gants,
37 Est-ce qu’un seul jour,
38 On se donnera le temps,
39 En amour,
40 Ni perdant, ni gagnant,
41 Je suis pour,
42 Mais en attendant,

Last edited by Scruffydog777; 11-14-2014 at 10:45 AM..
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