Jacques Brel Au Suivant Next French & English subtitles

[Fredigundis22]

Performing at this level of intensity must have shortened Brel's life by at least twenty years. As somebody above commented, the English translation is mediocre; you could never say that about Brel himself!

[clairedelune49]

@Fredigundis22 Try to be more specific about what you object to in the translation so we may praise you as constructive.

[Fredigundis22]

@clairedelune49 I'm here to express an opinion, not to offer advice.

[philipchek]

@Fredigundis22 - Si tu ne veux pas donner de conseils, au moins tu pourrais expliquer où sont, selon toi, les erreurs. La traduction ne prétends pas avoir le même niveau artistique que l'original, il s'agit de permettre aux anglophones de comprendre les vraies paroles, que des reprises fadasses ont souvent trahis. Si tu aimes Brel, tu devrais au contraire avoir à coeur d'aider aussi ceux qui l'aiment, plutôt que critiquer sans donner aucune explication constructive.

[Fredigundis22]

@philipchek What's your stake in all of this? Were you the translator yourself? The translator's best friend or spouse? I merely quoted somebody else's opinion, bowing to their judgement . Have you taken the matter up with them? I'd fully agree with you that a literal crib, however lacking in literary merit, is better than the (very) free English adaptations (aka travesties) that have usually been the first things that non-French speaking Anglophones have come across.

[clairedelune49]

@Fredigundis22 This translation was done by a two-headed monster, one head in New York, one in Paris. We strive for clarity and simplicity as subtitles go by quickly and should not upstage the performance. We believe the meaning of this song to be adequately conveyed by these subtitles and most would agree. Thank you for recognizing that this kind of presentation is better than "free English adaptations" of which Brel said in interview "C'est n'est pas moi." (It's not me.)

[Fredigundis22]

@clairedelune49 I only introduced the notion of mediocrity, presented originally by "elmaelle" (with whom the uploader of the clip, "VNRose3" has already taken issue) in order to affirm M. Brel's lack of it! Personally, I think even the most literal, faithful translation from French to English is bound to be "mediocre" given the quite different resonances and (probably most importantly in the context of what must be regarded as a kind of poetry) sounds of the two languages.

[theodossian]

@clairedelune49 @clairedelune49 The translation in the version recorded by The Alex Harvey Band does it for me: Not word for word but what good translation could be. Languages are not constructed like Lego models or Meccao sets. The English is powerful and the ideas are expressed accurately.

[VNRose3]

@Fredigundis22 Well, for those who don't like the English translation, I have provided the original French. Why don't you just focus on that? If you don't understand French, how can you judge the the translation?

[Fredigundis22]

@VNRose3 Please see my comment in response to "philipchek".

[Mazurka1001]

Astonishing, I love so much this recording.

[DanBlabbers]

Fkin' Brilliant!!!

[TaneiGiaccvaoc]

Such an intense performance that it's even hard to concentrate on the subtitles...

[elmaelle]

je suis désolée de la médiocrité de la traduction..........

brel merveilleux à jamais

[VNRose3]

@elmaelle Je suis désolée que vous soyez désolée. Si vous saviez l'anglais mieux, vous ne seriez pas désolée.

[philipchek]

@elmaelle

Voilà un jugement bien sévère. Quelles sont les erreurs que vous avez relevé ?

[elessarfanou]

@elmaelle La traduction est remarquable, justement.

[keltyk]

Thanks for the refined translation- For me- it was important for intensifying the emotion of the performance

[scobiedog1]

This is great!! Alex Harvey does a superb version also!

[nikicover]

grazie Eu per la condivisione...che carisma!!

[eutuve]

VNRose...this was a wonderful discovery..

grazie mille !!

[zitoplayafrancesco]

@eutuve grazie eu,i like it!

FR@NCo

[MrAznavour65]

@eutuve eccezionale, bellissimo!!!!