Another one of my favorites--Andries's Like the sand all women are. My linguistic treasons--oh, boy. Let's see:
- "Si viata e un hotel"="And life is a hotel"--translated through "and life is so surreal." I needed a rhyme for "steel"--which I couldn't really give up.
- I went a little overboard with the next to last stanza: "Au camere mari, cu multe oglinzi,/ Ca-ntr-o plasa în ele te prinzi... / Cînd sub patura moale te-ntinzi /Nici nu stii cît de adînc te prinzi." Literally, this is "They have big rooms with lots of mirrors/ You get caught in them like in a net/ When you lie down under the soft blanket/ You have no idea how deep you're getting in." This a monorhyme, so I needed to use the same rhyme for all the four lines, which was tough. And so the "catch you in their net" became "weave you inside their silvery room"; "under the blanket" became "blanket's womb", and so on and so forth.
I love this little song, a little playful, a little sad, a little bittersweet, Andries at his best, in my opinion. Enjoy.
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CA NISIPUL FEMEILE SUNT
de Alexandru Andries Barbatii-s facuti din carne, Femeile - din otel, Ar fi trebuit sa fie invers, Dar Dumnezeu mai greseste si el... Femeile zic ca-s din carne, Barbatii ca-s din otel, Si de-aia e noaptea-ntuneric Si viata e un hotel... Ca nisipul femeile sînt, Le ia pe sus orice boare de vînt Si-napoi nu mai vin nicicînd... Ca nisipul femeile sînt ! Au camere mari, cu multe oglinzi, Ca-ntr-o plasa în ele te prinzi... Cînd sub patura moale te-ntinzi Nici nu stii cît de adînc te prinzi ! Au ochi sa te-opreasca, Si-aceiasi ochi sa te goneasca Curînd... Ca nisipul femeile sînt... |
LIKE THE SAND ALL WOMEN ARE
by Alexandru Andries All men are made of flesh, All women are made of steel, It should have really been the other way, But even God can err, and He will. Women claim they’re made of flesh, And men, that they’re made of steel, And that’s why the nights are so dark And life is so surreal. Like the sand all women are Winds take them away up to a star And they never return from afar Just like the sand all women are. They have lots of mirrors up in their room Which weave you inside their silvery loom And when you lie in the blanket’s womb You will get lost in their perfume. Their eyes will seduce you And the same eyes will chase you Away… Just like the sand all women are. |
