md
|
|
Platz fur die Jets!
| 
Mar 31 14:02 UTC 1994 |
In the booklet from the "all star" recording of West Side Story that
Leonard Bernstein made for DGG in the mid 1980s, the lyrics appear in the
original English and in German and French translations. The philosphies
of the two translators are wildly different from each other. Here's a
brief sample:
ALL ALLE TOUS
Here come the Jets Platz fur die Jets! Voici venir les Jets
Like a bat out of hell Reagierst du nicht gross, Comme une chauve-souris
sortie de l'enfer.
Someone gets in our way, Kreigst du eine Lektion Quelqu'un qui se met en
travers de notre
chemin,
Someone don't feel so well. Und die Holle geht los! C'est quelqu'un qui
risque de ne pas
sentir si bien.
Here come the Jets: Platz fur die Jets! Voici venir les Jets:
Little world, step aside! Kleine Welt, mach Allez, petit monde,
Spalier - degage!
Better go underground, Oder such ein Versteck! Vaut mieux que tu
rentres sous terre,
Better run, better hide. Ver regiert, das sind Vaut mieux que tu
wir! courres, vaut mieux
que tu te caches.
We're drawin' the line, Ihr Hunde, begreift: Nous tracons une
ligne-frontiere,
So keep your noses hidden! Haut ab von unsern Alors planquez bien
Strassen! le bout de notre
nez!
We're hangin' a sign, Und wenn ihr nicht Nous accrochons un
kneift, panneau,
Says "Visitors Forbidden" Dann werdet ihr erfassen, Qui dit: "Visiteurs
interdits"
And we ain't kiddin'! Dass wir nicht spassen! Et nous ne
plaisantons pas!
Here come the Jets, Platz fur die Jets! Voici venir les Jets,
Yeah! An' we're gonna beat Yeah! Die Strasse ist Ouais! Et nous allons
eng! battre
Ev'ry last buggin' gang Wenig Raum hat sein Jusqu'a la derniere
Reich, de ces foutues
bandes
On the whole buggin' Doch ein Jet in der Gang De toute cette foutue
street! rue!
On the whole ever-mother- Ist in dem Wenig einem De cette foutue de
lovin' street! Konig gleich! salete de rue!
|
md
|
|
response 1 of 6:
|
Mar 31 14:32 UTC 1994 |
The German translation replicates the meter and the rhyme-scheme of
the original, but has to abandon the meaning in order to do so.
You could actually perform the German version, although it would be
a different set of lyrics entirely. It's hard to say how good the
German translator's English is, but he or she sure writes a snappy
line.
The French translation takes just the opposite approach. It tries
to get at the sense as literally as possible, but has to abandon
the meter and rhymes. The French translator seems to know English
well enough to know what the word "line" means in "We're drawin' a
line," and what "buggin'" is a euphemism for; and he or she makes a
brave attempt to get at the literal meaning of "Someone gets in our
way, someone don't feel so well." But the *feel* of Sondheim's
lines is completely lost.
|
md
|
|
response 3 of 6:
|
Mar 31 16:28 UTC 1994 |
[chuckle] Yep, you got me thinkin'. The more I looked at the
translations in the booklet, the stranger it seemed that the
producers hadn't tried to find translators who were at least
a *little* in synch with each other. The only thing stranger
about the recording was hearing the role of Tony sung with a
Spanish accent.
|
jdg
|
|
response 6 of 6:
|
Apr 2 03:06 UTC 1994 |
I remember a film documentary on the making of this recording. The
funniest thing was watching Carreras trying, over and over, to
enunciate and emphasize the English lyric, while L.B., who was conducting,
got madder and madder at Carreras as they went over the same phrases,
over and over and over.
|