Translating "Protège Moi" (......... - Tsumibito n

KaneDragon · Post by **KaneDragon** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:19 pm

Meh.

"Party is over, we tumble // thoughts that freeze our mind. "

What does matching syllables have to do with sentence flow and meaning? It should at least be "The party is over..." or better yet, "The party over, we tumble..." I... guess one could tumble thoughts, although the thoughts aren't really descending... Or something...

Literal translations lack smoothiness. Be a little more flexible.

DJ Jaime · Post by **DJ Jaime** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:43 pm

O.o

The party is over with desception,
Thoughts that freeze the reason

At least that's what I get

yprbest · Post by **yprbest** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:13 am

Not a bad translation by any accounts, but I've a few corrections to make:

"Paupières baissées" isn't actually "lowered eyes", it's "lowered eye-lids " - so you should probably use either that or "closed eyes", which is effectively what it means.

"Sommes nous les jouets du destin" could be translated as "maybe we're the victims of fate", but "are we/maybe we're the playthings of fate" would be closer to the mark.

"Souviens toi des moments divins" is really "remember those divine moments"

I'm not too sure about "We'd laugh and party until dawn" - it's a sentence that's too complicated for me to translate comfortably.

"Perdus les rêves de s'aimer" is closer to "lost, the dreams of love [loving each other, really], [from] the time when we were innocent" than "dreams of happiness lost, dreams of innocence gone"

As for the whole "the party is over" business, that's all semantics, but yes the meaning should be something close to "The party is over [and] we descend, the thoughts that freeze the mind/sense"

In summary then, I'd suggest something along the lines of:

It's the disease of the age,
An epidemic that spreads,
The party is over and we descend,
Of thoughts that freeze the mind.

Closed eyes and gray faces,
The ghosts of our past awaken;
We open the latch on the gate
Of the slum that we call home.

Maybe we're the playthings of fate--
remember those divine moments:
**We'd laugh and party until dawn** - this line really needs closure. Anyone?
And now we are all alone.

Lost, the dreams of love,
The time when we were innocent,
We're left with a lifetime to cry,
And now we are all alone.

Hope that's helpful!

yprbest · Post by **yprbest** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:16 am

Oops, where's an edit button when you need one?

Where I wrote:

It's the disease of the age,
An epidemic that spreads,
The party is over and we descend,
Of thoughts that freeze the mind.

I actually meant to write:

"It's the disease of the age,
An epidemic that spreads,
The party is over and we descend,
The thoughts that freeze the mind.

Tyler_yj · Post by **Tyler_yj** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:00 am

Thanks for your help guys

You seem better in french than me in english

yprbest · Post by **yprbest** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:51 am

Well, I've got an unfair advantage; I'm from a French family, but was brought up in Wales, so I grew up speaking both languages ^_^

(Actually just noticed from looking at your profile that you share your first name with me - are you Breton by any chance?)

Tyler_yj · Post by **Tyler_yj** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:02 am

No, it's just because my mother love this name

But I like very much Bretagne region....

Roccket · Post by **Roccket** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:48 am

and we've got enough of Bretons editors XD

Condidering "planants, éclatés au matin" (that have been translated by "We'd laugh and party until dawn"), what I get is something like : "High and stoned in the morning", but I'm not sure to get the meaning of it in the song, so I don't really know how to translate it...

yprbest · Post by **yprbest** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:12 pm

Roccket wrote:and we've got enough of Bretons editors XD

Condidering "planants, éclatés au matin" (that have been translated by "We'd laugh and party until dawn"), what I get is something like : "High and stoned in the morning", but I'm not sure to get the meaning of it in the song, so I don't really know how to translate it...

Ah, that does sound like it'd fit actually, at least I have an excuse now for not knowing it also (I'm not too up on French drug-related slang, funnily enough ^_^)

Of course, it's hard to say how accurate to Placebo's intentions with regards to the lyrics we are, simply because we can't be certain that they were 100% accurate in writing them in the first place, what with them not being French themselves...

KaneDragon · Post by **KaneDragon** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:52 pm

yprbest wrote:"Paupières baissées" isn't actually "lowered eyes", it's "lowered eye-lids " - so you should probably use either that or "closed eyes", which is effectively what it means.

Yeah, I came up with that, too (lowered eyelids), but it sounded funny, so I replaced it with "lowered eyes"; it has good rhythm. "Closed eyes" didn't cross my mind.

yprbest wrote:"Sommes nous les jouets du destin" could be translated as "maybe we're the victims of fate", but "are we/maybe we're the playthings of fate" would be closer to the mark.

Yeah, I just used the line from the old English version lyrics there.

yprbest wrote:"Souviens toi des moments divins" is really "remember those divine moments"

I'm not too sure about "We'd laugh and party until dawn" - it's a sentence that's too complicated for me to translate comfortably.

I came up with something along "Laughing, burst into the morning", so I just came up with that line on my own. "Remember those divine moments" just doesn't sound right to me.

Question: "The party is over and we descend // the thoughts that freeze the mind". Something just isn't right about this sentence. We descend the thoughts? Or should the sentence be: "The party is over and we descend. Thoughts freeze our minds?"