I want to know more about songs.

Question

I am trying to figure out what this song is saying and going word by word is not doing it. How do I figure this out?

Edited caps and punctuation. - Seitheach, Oct 2, 2009

Answer 1

When it comes to music, translating word for word often yields confusing results. Music is more creative and more like poetry than most other forms of the written word. Therefore, you might be frustrating yourself by trying to get an exact translation. What you should aim for is the general idea or theme of a song.

I was recently asked to translate some Praise and Worship music sung at our church into Spanish. I thought this would be a simple task. What I found out was that each song had a minimum of three to four translations out there. Each translation reflected the ideas and views of a different person.

I hope you find the answers you are looking for, but I would suggest that you don't worry about a perfect, literal translation, unless you hear it from the composer directly.

Answer 2

Listen to it over and over. Eventually you will start catching on to what they are saying. If you have to take it in small chuncks.

One of my issues is that sometimes the words get mumbled and I can't tell what they are saying. - mctague, Oct 2, 2009

Answer 3

One method is to get the lyrics from a website and put it through a translation program.

Answer 4

there are many pages on the internet that have the lyrics of songs. I am not sure if I can publish links here, so I'll just say write "lyrics" to any search engine and then decide some page with lyrics of songs and search for the song/band you are listening to. I often do this with a band called SKA-P

On of the problems is that the music bz is going after lyric sites for copyright violations - mctague, Oct 2, 2009

Answer 5

What song? Your request is not clear. Please edit your question.