For those of you who speak French, have you heard Frandol's album Oulipop? I think he has another album out now, but I don't have it, so I'm just going to tell you how great Oulipop is. Here are some lyrics from the song "L'un contre l'autre":
tu m'as, je t'ai, tu m'as plu, te t'ai plu,
tu m'as, je t'ai, c'est bon des bras
tu m'as, je t'ai on savait dès le début
qu'on s'enlacerait toi et moi....
tu m'as jeté, tu n'm'as plus, je n't'ai plus,
tu m'as jeté, bon débarras,
tu m'as jeté, on savait dès le début
qu'on s'en lasserait toi et moi
Clever, non? Don't you wish you could write like that? I certainly do.
20 comments:
The only word I recognized was "bras". Nice.
Um...that means "arms." Nice guess, though. :)
I'm sure that it...uh..."sounds" pretty?!
I actually have some French music. I have no idea what they are saying, but it sounds kind of pretty. I should make you translate...
you are mine, I am yours, your are mine "plu?" I am yours "plu?"
you are mine I am yours its good in your arms?
I get lost after that???
thats my attempt
Very roughly translated:
You have me, I have you, you pleased me, I pleased you,
you have me, I have you, it is good these arms [which I translate to mean, it's good being in each other's arms, or something like that, but keep in mind that I'm not fluent and could be way off base],
I have you,
we knew from the beginning that we would entwine [or interlace] ourselves together, you and me
You tossed me aside [literally "you threw me"], you don't have me anymore, I don't have you anymore--good riddance
You tossed me aside,
we knew from the beginning that
we would grow tired of each other, you and me
What's so clever about the lyrics is how the writer plays with word sounds.
"Tu m'as, je t'ai" [I have you, you have me] sounds very much like "tu m'as jeté" [you tossed me aside], just as "s'enlacerait" [interlaced] sound very much like "s'en lasserait" [grew tired of each other]. So he's using two verses that sound very similar to show two very different sides of a relationship. He uses this technique throughout the song.
So, I went to one of those free online translators. I cut and pasted the Frandol lyrics and had the site translate the verses from French into English.
This is what they came up with:
"you have me, I have you, I liked you, you liked myself, you have me, I have you, it is good arms
you have me, I have one knew you from the very start that one would intertwine you and me....
you threw me, you do not have me any more, I do not have you any more,
you threw me, good boxroom,
you threw me, one knew from the very start that one would weary you and me"
Since that didn’t make a whole lot of sense, I tried another site, and this is what they came up with:
“I have you, you I have me liked you, you liked yourself, you have me, I have, it is good to you arms you have me, I have you one knew from the very start that one would intertwine you and me.... you threw me, you do not have me more, I do not have you more, you threw me, good boxroom, you threw me, one knew from the very start that one would weary you and me”
Okay...that was interesting.
So, uh, what’s a "boxroom", and - furthermore - what makes a boxroom "good" (versus “bad”). I feel like I almost need an English-to-English dictionary, here!
HA HA HA HA!! HA HA HA HA!!! That was REALLY funny. And yeah, "boxroom"? Whatever THAT is.
Exactly!
So, uh, RR - 2 out of 3 French-to-English translations of Frandol's lyrics involve a "good boxroom". Therefore, it stands to reason that there are - indeed - good boxrooms in France. Since your translation is the only one of the three that doesn't mention these inherently "good" boxrooms, I must assume that the translation error is yours (and not the oh-so-reliable-and-NEVER-wrong-internet translator).
For the sake of curiosity (and mild boredom), I GOOGLED the word "boxroom". This is what I came up with:
"Boxrooms within the Hall are operated under the terms of the Boxroom Policy.
The keys of the Boxrooms shall be handled only by the Warden or Sub-Wardens of the respective residences. One of the above-mentioned persons should be in attendance whenever the Boxrooms are open.
All items left in the Boxroom will be recorded in a Boxroom Register maintained by the Warden and Sub-Wardens."
So, yeah, that answers...well...nothing, really. But at least we can all rest assured in knowing that boxrooms really do exist.
I know I feel comforted…
if boxroom=riddance, a boxroom must be where all the boxes get left after people get rid of them.
four times. that's how many tries it took to post a comment. and for each, i had to type a different word verification thing. just in case you wanted to know.
Lia, wow, that's ridiculous (that it took that many tries, not that you kept trying, which I most certainly do appreciate). Sorry you had to go through all that. Wow.
oops. I just realized that I posted my comment on your sister's site! Well, I had to get up at 4:30 this morning, so at least I have an excuse! But I heard the bad news this morning on the radio. So sorry to hear! :(
Thanks for the sympathy, AM! I appreciate it.
that just looks like a bunch of gibberish to me. i do have a french album that i bought in China, though. it is rap music.
i like it.
a lot.f
that "f" shouldn't be after "a lot."
just in case you were questioning its placement.
Bee, RR, I know your real name...., We, the ever so patient public, your readers, fellow bloggers,
ARE DESPERATE FOR A NEW POST.
please?
Thank you,
The Blog Management.
I concur...
(mainly because I like to say "I concur")
So, how's work? Miss me yet?!
Deals: Yes. And how. :)
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