fuel (as a verb)
I am translating song lyrics to Spanish for the purpose of subtitles in a music video
the song is titled Tears Painted Red
I just now discovered this apparantly wonderful site
since i am always translating back and forth between Spanish and English
i look forward to a great resource and of course i am also willing to help out
OK here is my first draft on the first verse of this song
- Tears Painted Red
2002
If you asked for crucificition
Si tu pediste crucifixion
For the sake of your tradition
por cuenta de tu religion
Would you spit on them
escupirás en ellos
Before the night was thru?
antes que la noche terminarán
Would you hold what you believed in
Considerías lo que tu creías
Telling them that theyre the reason
diciendoles que ellos son la razon?
All the pain you feel is what they put you thru?
todo el dolor que sientes es lo que ellos te hicieron?
The soul is one precious jewel go ahead
El alma es una sola joya preciosa
Just dont fuel
Solo no >fomentar>
Tears Painted Red.
Lagrimas Pintados Rojo
OK I am not claiming to be a great master of Spanish mostly i have hung out with campesinos
and the content of my art and daily life continues to be of humble people so these verses are
challenging although i think i have gotten through the first part of this song ok, however, how
in the hey do you think i should say "...just don´t fuel Tears Painted Red. The best i can think
of is "fomentar" but fuel is not fomentar, fomentar is not volatile enough for this purpose. Does anybody know a good work I can use for this music video subtitle'
14 Answers
really appreciate your responses james, i do not want to take away from this appreciation with this comment
i believe that good poetry and good song lyrics do have to make sense - songs are classical art forms
with beginning, middle, end and lawful development of theme and countterpointed contradictions
otherwise they would not be good art, they would be trivial.
i dont think i have ever translated english-language verses into the spanish language before
what i have done a lot in the past couple of years has been a lot of translating the verses
of modern rural mexico popular music (performed at village fiestas and bullriding jaripeos)
even in these songs, which i doubt it would occur to anyone to refer to as "classical" in structure
or in anything else, i find myself holding my breath so that the meaning of a key verse or phrase
does not turn out to be untranslateable, meaningless, or indistinguishable - so far this has not
happened. Thank God. So far I have always found a way to discover the meaning of the lyrics
and, so far, not in a single instance, has one of my translations found an.indiscriminate rhyme
without sense or meaning, and i did not expect to encounter that case in Tears Painted Red.
you are right enough friend, the case you make is certainly good, i am not discrediting that
i have emailed the composer and musician and we will see what she says. Again, what i
think goes back to the top of this thread. "Fuel" (v.) in Spanish, to me is "echar combustible"
in the sense of "powering up" or "firing up". There it is again: an image of fire coming into,
not the material liquid tear , rather fueling and firing up the emotions that generate the tear.
thanks a lot for your help in clarifying my understanding of this verse and of this verb "to fuel"
One last thing. Just so you understand why I am saying that it makes no sense, here is the definition of the transitive verb to fuel:
- To provide with fuel.
- To support or stimulate the activity or existence of: rhetoric that fueled the dissenters.
Neither of those definitions fits in the lyrics here. Again, I'm not criticizing the author, because lyrics don't have to make sense, they have to sound good, and if they make sense, so much the better. But they do not make sense.
i see this as your attempt at the practical approach and cleaving to the literal
Provocar is hardly a literal translation of "to fuel." My translation is the exact opposite of literal; that is, I am desperately trying to make sense of something that doesn't make sense to me in the original.
still, doesnt "provocar lagrimas" exclusively means to provoke tears in another'
Yes, it does. And that is what I am guessing the author meant, absent anything else to tell me her intent.
whereas the meaning of the line, as i understand it, is a clear admonition
that the person being addressed not fuel tears painted read,
Well, here we are back to square one. If that makes sense to you, then you don't need my help.
what do you think - i am in contact with the composer, i can always have her decide
Asking her what she meant seems like a prudent course of action.
Oh i see, the suggested alternative you have offered is:
Sólo te pido que no provoques lágrimas pintadas de rojo
i see this as your attempt at the practical approach and cleaving to the literal
still, doesnt "provocar lagrimas" exclusively means to provoke tears in another?
whereas the meaning of the line, as i understand it, is a clear admonition
that the person being addressed not fuel tears painted read, ie to not ignite
or provoke a reaction within that person himself; this meaning would be lost
indeed would be reversed in the suggested translation: "no provoques lagrimas... etc"
what do you think - i am in contact with the composer, i can always have her decide
thanks a lot whatever i end up putting up in the subtitle, i appreciate your collaboration
James Santiago said:
still, what is the alternative
I gave you one in my post above.
>
still, what is the alternative
I gave you one in my post above.
James Santiago said:
i am going with: "No enciendas lagramas pintadas de rojo"
How exactly does one ignite or burn tears, which are liquid water? As far as I know, liquid water has no ignition point, and will merely vaporize. I think you are completely off track with the word encender.
*what the composer is saying here IMO is - you go ahead and make your ritual exertions and they are all valid enough
only do not fuel tears painted read ie dont ignite an expression of self-pity mixed with your blood - something like this*
So, "only do not fuel tears painted red" makes sense to you? Not to me. As I said, lyrics don't have to be logical, and "fuel" was almost certainly chosen because it rhymes with jewel, but if I had to guess what the intended meaning of "fuel" here is, I would say that it is to provoke.
Sólo te pido que no provoques lágrimas pintadas de rojo
Santiago out...
"encender" - in the sense of ignite or to initiate a reaction is admittedly a conceptual step away from "to fuel"
in the sense of "his obstinence fueled her anger"; still, what is the alternative: surely not the obscure "avivar"'
i am going with: "No enciendas lagramas pintadas de rojo"
How exactly does one ignite or burn tears, which are liquid water? As far as I know, liquid water has no ignition point, and will merely vaporize. I think you are completely off track with the word encender.
what the composer is saying here IMO is - you go ahead and make your ritual exertions and they are all valid enough
only do not fuel tears painted read ie dont ignite an expression of self-pity mixed with your blood - something like this
So, "only do not fuel tears painted red" makes sense to you? Not to me. As I said, lyrics don't have to be logical, and "fuel" was almost certainly chosen because it rhymes with jewel, but if I had to guess what the intended meaning of "fuel" here is, I would say that it is to provoke.
Sólo te pido que no provoques lágrimas pintadas de rojo
Santiago out...
James Santiago said:
¿Si tu pediste crucifixión por cuenta de tu religion tu tradición
escupirás en ellos les escupirías
antes de que la noche terminarán terminara?
etc.
Many thanks James for your help with the orthography and corrections.
i am now thinking "a causa de tu tradición" in line 2 what do you think?
As for "fuel," it makes no sense in English here, and therefore can't be translated. My guess is that the author chose the word only because it rhymes with jewel. Lyrics don't have to be logical.
i am going with: "No enciendas lagramas pintadas de rojo" I know avivar is a word however it is not very common
and does not have the sense of ignition or firing implied by the english word "fuel" ("exchar combustible" would be
a good choice if it were not so trechnicaly automobilistic and the metepahors of cars and of tears just do not match)
what the composer is saying here IMO is - you go ahead and make your ritual exertions and they are all valid enough
only do not fuel tears painted read ie dont ignite an expression of self-pity mixed with your blood - something like this
ok? it will be a little while before the video track is on my workboard however when i make this video i will let you know it
LadyDi said:
This site defines "fuel" as "avivar." How about "No solamente avives Lágrimas Pintadas de Rojo"? Also, are you sure about "por cuenta de tu religión"? Do "tradition" in English and "religión" mean the same? "For the sake of" is a set phrase in English but I'm not familiar with "por cuenta de." What do you think of "por seguir la tradición"?
hola thank you thank you i am delighted by your kind helpful response and am glad to respond in kind
first, yes certainly i would translate tradition with tradicion, the transposition to religion was accidental
however religion might even fit (i am in creative collaboration with the singer/compose Vanessa Kay Kip)
this is becasue an element of the video media illustrating this song is the self-flagealtion of Semana Santa
im inclined to employ the verb "encender" to mean: "fuel", it strikes me as evocative and descriptive enough
¿Si tu pediste crucifixión
por cuenta de tu religion tu tradición
escupirás en ellos les escupirías
antes de que la noche terminarán terminara?
etc.
As for "fuel," it makes no sense in English here, and therefore can't be translated. My guess is that the author chose the word only because it rhymes with jewel. Lyrics don't have to be logical.
This site defines "fuel" as "avivar." How about "No solamente avives Lágrimas Pintadas de Rojo"? Also, are you sure about "por cuenta de tu religión"? Do "tradition" in English and "religión" mean the same? "For the sake of" is a set phrase in English but I'm not familiar with "por cuenta de." What do you think of "por seguir la tradición"'
Here is the context of the phrase Tears Painted Red
- Tears Painted Red
2002
If you asked for crucificition
Si tu pediste crucifixion
For the sake of your tradition
por cuenta de tu religion
Would you spit on them
escupirias en ellos
Before the night was thru?
antes que la noche terminarán
Would you hold what you believed in
Considerías lo que tu creías
Telling them that theyre the reason
diciendoles que ellos son la razon
All the pain you feel is what they put you thru?
todo el dolor que sientes es lo que ellos te hicieron?
The soul is one precious jewel go ahead
El alma es una sola joya preciosa
Just dont fuel
Solo no
Tears Painted Red.
Lagrimas Pintados Rojo
If you asked for absolution
Si tu pediste una absolucion
for the sake of involution
por cuenta de la involucion
Would the price you pay
el precio que pagariás
be one you didnt mind?
seria uno que a ti no importaba?
If you fought for revolution
Si tu luchaste para revolucion
In the dawn of evolution
en la alba de la evolucion
Would you face the battle
enfrentarías la batalla
Square or run and hide?
de frente o correr y esconder?
The soul is one precious
El alma es una preciosa
Jewel go ahead Just dont fuel..
joya vaya nada mas no incender
Tears Painted Red.
Lagrimas Pintados Rojo
Dont waste your time
No pierdes tu tiempo
put down all your swords
bajen toas sus espadas
cause you know its true
porque sabes que es la verdad
Theyre waiting for us
ellos nos esperan
to lift ourselves up into skies of blue
para levantarnos en los cielos de azul
..theyre waiting..
..ellos esperan..
If your soul is desolation
Si tu alma es desolacion
And in that the prime creation
y en ello la creacion principal
Of the only force that allows you to survive
o de la unica fuerza que te permite sobrevivir
Would you look for a solution
buscarías para una solucion
In the terms of non exclusion
en los terminso de no exclusion
Would you face yourself
Te enfreneterás a ti misma
and find youre still alive?
y descubrir que aun estas vivo?
The soul is one
El alma es uno
precious jewel
joya preciosa
go ahead,
vaya
Just dont fuel
Nada mas no incienda
Tears Painted Red.
lagrimas Pintados Rojo
Dont waste your time
No pierdes tu tiempo
put down all your swords
bajen toas sus espadas
cause you know its true
porque sabes que es la verdad
Theyre waiting for us
ellos nos esperan
to lift ourselves up into skies of blue
para levantarnos en los cielos de azul
..theyre waiting..
..ellos esperan..
Dont fuel Tears Painted Red...
No inceindes Lagrimas Pintadas Rojo
No inciendes Lagrimas Pintadas Rojo
Dont fuel Tears Painted Red...no no no no!!!
No incendies Lagrimas Pintadas Rojo ... no,no.no!!!
Dont fuel Tears Painted Red...
No enciendes Lagrimas Pintadas Rojo
actually now having translated the rest of the song, i am satisfied with "encender" as the equivalent of "to fuel"
i think it works fine however am open to any suggested improvement
i want to confess at this point that i dont know how to speak spanish correctly although i am talking all the time!
how the hey does one say Tears Painted Red correctly in castellano?
Lagrimas Pintadas Rojo ''¿¿ Thanks you.
encender'
