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We know that translation has been applied to literary works, but we also know that it’s been applied to musical works.

As of the middle of the past century, translation entered the musical realm: this was the result of decision made by record producers and at other times it’s part of the artistic expression of composers and singers. It’s true that, through translation, some songs were created that achieved greater popularity than the originals.

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We can assume that translation is a tool for communicating ideas, and translators are those who build bridges between two languages, cultures and, in some cases, people. . When we go beyond these traditional definitions of translation, it becomes clear that translation involves much more than just providing content in the target language.

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It might seem like an easy task, just to translate a relatively small portion of the rhymed text. Basically, all you have to do is to be fairly familiar with the song's original language, and a target language. Yet, things to know and to consider don’t stop right there. Actually, knowing two languages perfectly is only icing on the cake and you have to do much more work. Perhaps, the most closely related operation to translating the song’s lyrics is localizing the content. That is, adapting original text’s meaning to target language specifics and native speakers’ cultural background. So, in case if a song, for example, cites a proverb, uses an idiom, or references a certain place, event, or local social movement, none of that can be merely interpreted.

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For you to properly translate lyrics of a popular soundtrack, the person working on it must consider the meaning behind all cultural references that might occur in original text, not only meaning itself. Professional song translator often understands that it’s sometimes better to completely rewrite lyrics than to stay faithful to the original language. That is so because, aside from the meaning, there are many other aspects to keep in mind. Remember, lyrics are only a part of the whole musical complex that song is.

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The way to do that depends on how much you need to know what’s the song about. If you want to understand general meaning then you can opt for simpler, less time consuming, but less thorough methods. Those would include using GoogleTranslate or similar automated translators, although, they might get very wrong at times and, instead of understanding your song better, you might get lost even deeper. Aside from GoogleTranslate, one may use different apps, or search for platforms on the internet where other people interpret their favorite songs’ lyrics. However, such platforms might not always provide translation of a specific song or sit will not be singable, with only literal interpretation being available. If a song means something special to you and you would even like to make your own version, you should go the hard way and translate song in the good old way.

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Most Reasonable Strategies to Song Interpretation

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Most Reasonable Strategies to Song Interpretation

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Manual translation of a song is when you choose to work on it by yourself. To translate the song’s lyrics like this may seem quite hard, nevertheless, that’ll be the only method to have satisfactory final results. Luckily, there are a few strategies you should consider before you start working.

Do not translate lyrics literally. Try to provide listeners with meaning of the words rather than translation. It’ll do a much better job than even the most precise translation possible.

Work in stages. Try not to concentrate on music first and localize the lyrics. Then, make rhymes rounder and lyrics singable. Adjust them to the original melody.

Rewrite the lyrics. If composition touches upon an extremely delicate subject that turns translation into an extremely challenging process if not impossible, leave it. Write new lyrics that’ll either approach the subject from a different perspective or will discuss another similar one.

Adapt melody to translated song lyrics. While this is kind of a shortcut, it’s quite challenging as, in addition to fluency in two languages, you will also need to be familiar with some music theory to rewrite a voice's melody, even if only slightly.

Adapt translated lyrics to melody. This option is quite challenging but it is more reasonable than the previous one. You don’t have to rewrite a melody or use music theory, but only to consider your word choice. Replace longer words with shorter ones and vice versa or pick more poetic vocabulary that would emphasize on sentiments of original.

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Essentially, singability is a kind of matching lyrics quality. When lyrics are singable, they can be sung along with music without breaking rhythm, thus, not causing any difficulties for a lead singer. This is a particularly important factor to consider when working on interpretation. In most cases, the languages do not sound similar, so it’s nearly impossible to deliver the same meaning using two different languages. That is why most translators of songs use synonyms, similar but not the same meanings, paraphrase lyrics, or even rewrite some phrases. Major theme or subject should still be kept in order for a song to stay faithful to its author and to make sure that his or her idea is delivered to the target audience appropriately.

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How Close Should Translator Be to Initial Theme?

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How Close Should Translator Be to Initial Theme?

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That mostly depends on the target audience, song performer, author of the initial song, and its subject. Some upbeat cheerful tracks that use abstract imagery or address abstract subjects may be converted to another language rather freely in most cases. That is, overall mood will likely remain the same, but words that describe and deliver that mood will be different. For instance, if the original author wrote about love and happiness overall describing them through metaphors of weather translator of the song use other metaphors but should still stick to love as well as happiness. For heavier and more complex themes usually discussed using specific vocabulary, language experts should stay more faithful. That should be done in order to make sure that the author's intention is heard by the target audience as precisely as possible. Additionally, sometimes authors and original singers may sing translated songs as well. In case, if they do not deem translated lyrics appropriately, they may even refuse to provide copyright to language specialists. So, while lyrics interpreters have relative freedom in their work, they should still consider authors’ intention in order for songs in different languages to be heard from the original standpoint.

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Three things to consider when translating a song

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Three things to consider when translating a song

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When translating lyrics , the following elements should be taken into account:

Beat

You can't just translate a song. Despite the fact that many languages use more words to convey the same idea as in English, the lyrics nevertheless have to match the rhythm of the song. Therefore, it would be difficult to find some words in the rhythm if the song was intended for singing and was translated verbatim. A literal translation, like a traditional text translation, can also contain rather strange musical texts.

Used literature

Many songs consist of events, but the audience to whom they are translated does not necessarily know about these references. You should strive to interpret these references so that they are understandable. However, due to the rhythm, there is always a limit on the number of words.

Style

Some lyrics have a special style, such as puns or alliteration. Due to the large number of words caused by the tempo, this style is difficult to translate. However, if you do not follow this approach, you will

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It seems easy because of the relatively small amount of work to be done, the process might take longer than you think. You have to consider the original intent, the subject of the song, and how it will be sung in another language. Will the lyrics fit the music rhythmically? Will they sound appropriate? Should you adapt to music or to lyrics? All in all, the aspects discussed above must be considered when translating music professionally, aiming for high quality. Still, if you’re only wondering what the song is about, why not translate it well, nevertheless?