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    Мама-Америка → English translation→ English

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Мама-Америка

Кофе на столе...
Ножницы в руках...
Я сама в себе
И это - единственный выход...
 
Спит мой кукловод...
Спит, и видит в снах...
Розовых слонов...
Ему минута до титров...
 
Мне на выбор -
Вечность или миг...
 
Припев.
Я по тоненькой ниточке,
Не держась за веревочки,
Мимо радуги вниз, забирая с собой
Неприкаянную любовь...
Я так мечтала, что сбудется,
Я так просила и верила,
Ну зачем же ты так! Так жестоко со мной,
Мама Америка!
 
Плюшевый медведь
В розовых очках,
Вспоминай меня
И я запомню, конечно...
 
Сердце будет греть
Тонкая стрела-а-а...
Села не достать,
Ведь ты сломал наконечник...
 
Мне на выбор -
Вечность или миг...
 
Припев.
 
В пыли придорожной
Потертые джинсы...
Любви географии
Стерты границы...
Прости меня, мама,
Я выбрала вечность,
Но сердце моём этот миг будет жить, будет жить бесконечно!
 
Мама Америка...
 
Я так мечтала, что сбудется,
Я так просила и верила,
Ну зачем же ты так! Так жестоко со мной,
Мной...
Мама Америка...
 
Translation

Mother America

Coffee on the table
Scissors in hand
I am all by myself
And that's...the only way out
 
My puppeteer
sleeps and sees in his dreams
Pink elephants
He only has one minute before the movie credits
 
It's my choice
an instant or eternity
 
Chorus:
I am walking on a thin line
I am not holding the ropes
Down the rainbow, taking with them
My disturbing love
I wished that this will come true
I asked and believed
Oh why are you so cruel, so cruel to me
Mother America
 
Teddy bear
In the pink glasses
Remember me, and I
certainly will remember
 
My heart will warm
The small arrow
Deep inside, don't pull it out
After all, you broke the tip
 
It's my choice
an instant or eternity
 
Chorus
 
In roadside dust
Torn jeans
Love's geography
Erased the borders
I am sorry mother, I chose eternity
But his moment will live in my heart, it will live forever.
 
Mother America
 
I wished that this will come true
I asked and believed
Oh why are you so cruel, so cruel to me
To me
Mother America
 
Please help to translate "Мама-Америка"
Idioms from "Мама-Америка"
Comments
sapiensapien    Sat, 13/08/2011 - 09:41

Hey,
I'm not a native speaker of Russian, but I noticed something small in your translation. The imperative form of "спать" is "спи" - so these lines would seem to be flexible word order:

Спит мой кукловод... My kuklovod (don't know what this is) sleeps
Спит, и видит в снах... Sleeps, and sees in his/its dream
Розовых слонов... Pink elephants
Ему минута до титров.. He/it only has a minute/moment before the credits

newEgyptnewEgypt
   Sat, 13/08/2011 - 09:56

kuklovod: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/куколка

It says that it's probably the same word in the related forms part. So, I guessed it was a little child. It could be little doll (she's referring to a Teddy a bit later), or it could be a sweetheart she's abandoning.

Okay, I am correcting that part now. :)

venturaventura    Sat, 13/08/2011 - 11:05

кукловод - is a person,who manipulates (controls) a puppet. I guess is it puppeteer.

newEgyptnewEgypt
   Sat, 13/08/2011 - 11:37

Thanks! I corrected that, is there anything else that doesn't sound right about this translation?

venturaventura    Sat, 13/08/2011 - 14:01

"Homeland" in Russian is "Родина".
Родина - motherland, birthplace, homeland, home.
I guess "Мама " in the direct translation is "Mother" or "Mum".

I do not know much English and I cannot correctly translate into English.
I try correct some parts in this translation as I can with my knowledge, here is the result:

Coffee is on the table
Scissors in the hands
I am all in myself
And that's...the only way out

My puppeteer is sleeping
he sleeps and sees in his dreams
Pink elephants
He has only one minute before the movie credits (to the end)

To my choose
eternity or an instant

Chorus:
I'm on the a thin thread
I am not holding by the ropes
Down the rainbow, taking with them
My forlorn (dispensable) love
I wished that this will come true
I asked and believed
Oh why are you so cruel, so cruel to me
Mother, America

Teddy bear
In the pink glasses
Remember me,
And I certainly, will remember

My heart will warm
The thin arrow
Settled inside, do not pull out
After all, you broke the tip

To my choose
eternity or an instant

Chorus

In the roadside dust
Worn jeans ...
Love's geography
erased the boundaries…
I am sorry mother,
I chose eternity
But his moment will live in my heart, it will live forever!

Mother America

I wished that this will come true
I asked and believed
Oh why are you so cruel, so cruel to me, to me
Mother, America.

newEgyptnewEgypt
   Sun, 14/08/2011 - 05:26

Thanks ventura, I think I corrected most of the rest. :)

newEgyptnewEgypt
   Mon, 15/08/2011 - 16:15

I could be a song about suicide, just listen to it when you're feeling down.

AN60SHAN60SH    Sun, 04/09/2011 - 23:12

Привет. Да, пожалуй, песня об обманутых любви, надеждах,... и, как следствие, дурных мыслях о суициде. Перевод точный. Где-то прослеживается рифма, в целом слегка и в размер стиха уложились, отлично.

newEgyptnewEgypt
   Sun, 11/09/2011 - 18:36

спасибо AN60SH

DialuceDialuce    Sat, 26/11/2011 - 16:03

I think that for people, neither of whom is a native speaker of Russian (nor English if I may guess) you all have done a great job. The last thing I want is to be critical of such an amount of effort, but there are minor things in the English translation that either do not reflect the actual meaning or just don't make sense in English.

For example, "down the rainbow, taking with them my love". "с собой" means "with me", not with them (there's no them in the song anyway). Also, down the rainbow is not the actual meaning. "Мимо" means to miss (as in when aiming), so "Мимо радуги вниз" should be translated as "I'm falling down (= вниз, which is only "down" but in Russian certain things (like verbs) can be omitted, the meaning will still be clear) and "I've missed the rainbow" (= Мимо радуги. Whether it's because the artist didn't manage to hold on to the rainbow while falling down to stop/ slow down the fall or whether it's a reference to the pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow is unclear). Down the rainbow would be "По радуге вниз" and would have a general favourable connotation of happiness and good luck, while missing the rainbow is bad luck in pretty much any culture and language.

In the same stanza "I wished that it will come true" is translated well, but should be "I dreamt/ wished it would some true" in correct English. "Я так просила и верила" is not "I asked and believed" (this does not make sense in English), but "I hoped (it would come true)". If anyone is interested, I could explain, otherwise I'll just say that it's a minor difference in meaning and usage of English verbs "to ask" and "to believe" as compared to Russian ones.

About the arrow now. In Russian the relationship between the subject and the object is expressed through cases while in English - through word order. So the sentence "Сердце будет греть Тонкая стрела" should be translated the other way round: The thin arrow will warm up my heart (in the current translation it's the heart that warms the arrow). Further we have " Села - не достать, Ведь ты сломал наконечник". "Села - не достать" does not imply instructions to not pull the arrow out. For all you can gather from the song, the artist might want to get rid of it, but can't. "не достать" is the infinitive, not the imperative. The actual meaning is "(the arrow) is settled and can't be pulled out (because you broke off the tip)"

Now "Спит мой кукловод, Спит и видит в снах Розовых слонов." While in Russian you "see in your dreams", in English you "dream about". There meaning is the same, but in correct English this should be translated as "My puppeteers is sleeping And dreaming about Pink elephants".

Again, I'm sorry if I seem overly critical, I just wanted to correct the obvious mistakes which should make the translation easier to understand for people who do not speak Russian at all and so can't rely on the original lyrics for help/ explanation. There are some minor things there as well, but as I said, newEgypt and Co have done a great job and I don't want to find faults.