Something odd and cool

[lydy]

So, my girlfriend from a really long time ago, Ann Norman, is doing something very, very cool. She follows a Thai band called Carabao. She has started doing English translations of the songs, translations that rhyme and scan. (This is incredibly difficult. Ann seems to think it's a bit tough, but no big deal.) Here's a link to a YouTube video of one of her first attempts. Ann is the woman in the middle, that introduces the piece in what I assume is Thai. She's looking for some exposure for both this translation and the band in general, so if you're inclined to pass this on to other people who might find it cool, you should do so. Her eventual goal is to do translations of 100 of the best songs. She's done 60 so far.

Comments

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Of amusement to me, Ann looks just exactly like herself. I haven't seen her in 35 years, but, yup, that's my friend Ann.

[ann norman (from livejournal.com)]

Ha ha! Thanks. Well to clarify, I have about 60 translations, only 4 of which are rhyming and scanning. But here is one of my next video projects. I want to cover this song called Reng Koi," or "The Vulture Waits"

This version here is a Carabao Official cover by Nga Carawan, done for a tribute album on the band's 25th anniversary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zF570px17w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zF570px17w)

And here are the rhyming lyrics, or as close as I can come. But again, the poetry survives my translations:

Right now, a vulture quietly and waits
To see who falls and who may die
Who walks along this forest path
Must cross his land, Dong Paya Fai.
A stream flows wide and out of sight
A ridge of cliffs defies the sky
The town beneath a sheet of blue
Near rapids my heart waits for you

Near rapids my heart waits for yours
Right where the vulture often waits
Near rapids my heart waits for yours
Right where the vulture waits, I wait.

Right now rain strikes the side of the cliffs
While far away birds sing and drift
The soothing sounds of forest strife
Who understands, then, music’s life?
Sing out like streams roll out of sight!
Like cliffs defy sky and sunlight
The town beneath a sheet of blue
Near rapids my heart waits for you.

Near rapids my heart waits for yours
Right where the vulture often waits
Near rapids my heart waits for yours
Right where the vulture waits, I wait.
I wait and wait and wait and wait.
Right where the vulture waits . . . I still wait .. .

The band's name is Carabao and to find songs on YouTube, you must google using their name in Thai: คาราบาว

Hope you like it!

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Funny, I've spent most of the day reading a manuscript which included an essay on the difficulty of doing a GOOD English translation of ASL poetry. I'm betting Thai to English isn't a piece of Khanom tan either.