I said a little while back that I was going to start putting translations of songs on to the blog. Today, i’m finally getting round to starting this. Although this blog is first and foremost for my poetry, I believe the work of others to be much more important than my own. Which is why I have chosen to translate German songs into English and share them with you. I will only be doing literal translations and will not attempt to turn them into neat English poetry; I’m very rarely impressed by poetry translations that choose to keep the form and rhyme as meaning is lost and the power of each word is weakened. It’s certainly true that the rhythm and flow…which I just happened to talk in about in my last post… can be easily lost in a literal translation, but whatever one does, a translation of poetry will never be as good as the original. So, Below is the original and a translation of the first song I have chosen to look at. Zeitgeist by Faun. All thanks goes to Faun!
Das Rad dreht sich weiter
Doch alles bleibt stehn
Wir versuchen im Dunkeln
Das Licht zu verstehen
Hab keine Angst und
Fürchte nur was dich
Nicht versteht
Das Rad dreht sich weiter
Doch alles bleibt stehen
Wir schließen die Augen,
Als wenn wir nicht sehen
Die alte Welt versinkt
In einem Meer
Aus Ideen
Wohin wollten wir gehen
Wo sind wir nun
Zu tief geschlafen
Um weiter zu ruhn
Noch eines wollen wir
Wenn alles anders wird
Noch eines wollen wir
Uns wieder finden
The Cycle turns further
Yet all stays the same
We try in the dark
to understand the light
Have no worry
and don’t fear what you
Don’t understand
.
The cycle turns further
Yet all stays the same
We close our eyes
as if we don’t see
The old world sinks
Into a sea
without ideas
.
Where did we want to go?
Where are we now?
too deeply asleep
to rest further
.
Still we want one thing
when everything changes
Still we want one thing;
find us again.
Below are two links to the same song-one the studio version and the other a live version. It’s worth listening to both as they have a very different feel live, and are one of the best live acts I’ve come across. If you aren’t familiar with the modern style of ‘mittelalter’ music be aware before listening that it is rather different to most styles about at the moment.
Faun-Zeitgeist (studio)
Faun-Zeitgeist (live)
And one last thing. Have a go at naming all the instruments used by this band. Luckily, it’s easier to get all the instruments on this song than some of their others!
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