[Multilingual Monday] Understanding song lyrics

[aadroma]

I love music written in other languages -- obviously. There are styles, points of view, and more that I wouldn't hear otherwise if I just stuck to English music. Plus I'm a linguaphile, so really this is no shock. It's, in fact, what drew me initially to Eurovision -- before the free language rule, each country had to sing in one of its official

Comments

[muckefuck]

I think part of the genius of pop songs is that the meaning is often (deliberately) underspecified. That way everyone can come up with some way to apply the lyrics to their own situation, giving them an emotional investment in the song they wouldn't have if everything were spelled out in detail.

A common example of this is the use of "you" in order to avoid sex-specific pronouns. Several queer English-speaking singers (the strategy doesn't work so well if adjectives have to be inflected for the gender of the referent!) are on record saying that they deliberately chose this tack in order to broaden the appeal of their lyrics.

Using a strange expression like "quiero clavarte mi cruz" or "I want your ugly" could be just another instance of this. What does it mean? Well, depends what you're preoccupied with right now.

[aadroma]

I always thought "I want your ugly" referred to sex. :: laugh ::

I understand intentional vagueness, but there comes a problem where there may be a specific reference or idiom in use, or merely used for a rhyme or to be intentionally vague, and it's a challenge trying to differentiate the two.

[muckefuck]

You could certainly read it that way, but given that the next line is "I want your disease", I always read it more metaphorically, i.e. "I want even the things that are 'ugly' about you".

I think some phrases get used just to make a connexion between different songs or singers. Nonsense phrases particularly. For instance, Language Log has a fascinating entry on the phrase "ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa" as used in Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". Similarly "jockmo feena" originated in Mobile Jargon, but nowadays its "meaning" is just to identify a song as belonging to the Mardi Gras creole tradition.

[gorkabear]

Quiero clavarte en mi cruz was said by another singer called Chenoa. Here it's just a way to rhyme :)

Now you're entering the world of "things we say in Spanish" that make no sense when translated into English :)

[aadroma]

You know I adore Chenoa, right? Yeah, I'm pro'lly the only one.

So what other Spanish things can you think of that make no sense in English? Any clarity on "café con sal"?

[gorkabear]

Mmm... Café con sal is what you have to induce vomit, as you say...

However, the worse offenders were Mecano, although you will find a great selection here:
http://www.popmadrid.com/node/4299

[sctmpls]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vSEWySEaJ4

Watchi it with the english subtitles turned on. Strange translation. I'm thinking something got lost. (And the guy is HOT!)

[danthered]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vSEWySEaJ4

Y'welcome. ;-)

[bluebear2]

One of the interesting things about song lyrics and some poetry is that it can make the listener have to do some thinking about just what they mean.

That Thomas Holm is cute.