Blowpipe Dart (rhymed translation)

• 1. "Since forever" isn't a grammatically correct English expression, but as slang it works here. It meets the need for a rhyme, and it makes sense while sounding slightly quirky, as if the narrator is reaching for the right words.
• 2. Lit., "in velvet." Changed for the rhyme.
• 3. Lit., "And then look at you, short/petite woman". However, bout de femme is an idiom that most often refers to a little girl; specifically, to a strong, determined, and spirited little girl. In the official music video for the song, available at https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22g0z, we see that the lyrics are not referring to a romantic interest, but definitely to a little girl – to Cabrel's young daughter. This interpretation is clear to the ears of a French listener.
• 4. Lit., "As though blown from a blowpipe." Cabrel's lyrics never refer to a dart at all, but in English it seems to make more sense to add "dart" here, and especially in the title. This is because the French word sarbacane refers to a plant, but the English word "blowpipe" doesn't. Standing alone as a title, the possible nuances are even vaguely obscene, unless we clarify it by adding "dart" or "gun."
• 5. Lit., "The sky even has another brightness"
• 6. Lit., "Since you." I added "all" to maintain the rhythm.
• 7. Lit., "Men pursue, in this day and age, and always have." The slang expression "you do the math" is an unfaithful translation made for the purpose of the rhyme. This deliberately follows up the slightly awkward phrase "Since forever" by conveying a meaning of "Since... I give up! You figure it out. Since an incalculably long time ago."
• 8. Lit., "Behold! You arrive, and all becomes clear [or bright] on my path."
• 9. Lit., "Hung from my neck like a [clinging or climbing] vine"
• 10. Lit., "Like the reed [or cane] of a blowpipe." I think my version reflects a visual image that Cabrel probably intended – if she is like a blowpipe reed hanging from a vine around his neck, and her face and mouth are tilted up to look at him, then her lips are the open end of the blowpipe where one would put one's lips to fire a dart (or to kiss the girl).
• 11. Lit., "The heavens opened in places"
• 12. Lit., "for sentences or for long speeches"
• 13. Lit., "That changes everything inside [me]; that changes everything around [me]."
• 14. Lit., "No more mornings [with] eyelids that don't work".
• 15. Heavy eyelids, too heavy to open; thus, the narrator used to strain to open his eyes in the morning. In the U.S., propane is the fuel sold in cylinders for use in outdoor gas grills, not butane as in Europe. (Previous translations refer to Calor, a U.K.-based brand name, unfamiliar to the rest of the world.)
• 16. a. b. Lit., "I've almost completely lost my head."
• 17. Lit., "No need for making too-long speeches"
• 18. Lit., "Provided you never distance yourself"
• 19. Lit., "Farther than the range of a blowpipe."

Merci ! ❤
remercié 3 fois

5

Note : Aucun(e) Moyenne : 5 (1 note)