Famous Translated Songs

I post the French lyrics for you, Letty, since you can't see on YouTube. Hope you like them.

La tendresse - Lyrics by Daniel Guichard

La tendresse
C'est quelquefois ne plus s'aimer mais être heureux
De se trouver à nouveau deux
C'est refaire pour quelques instants un monde en bleu
Avec le cœur au bord des yeux
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse
C'est quand on peut se pardonner sans réfléchir
Sans un regret sans rien se dire
C'est quand on peut se séparer sans se maudire
Sans rien casser, sans rien détruire
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse
C'est un geste, un mot, un sourire quand on oublie
Que tous les deux on a grandi
C'est quand je peux te dire je t'aime et que j'oublie
Qu'un jour ou l'autre l'amour finit
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse, c'est ca, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

Allez viens.

The only song I've ever heard in two languages.

Nena - 99 Red Balloons Lyrics


You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons
With the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message
"Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here
From somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Where 99 red balloons go by

99 Decision Street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

[Instrumental Interlude]

99 Knights of the airway
Ride super-high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a Silverhero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
As 99 red balloons go by

As 99 red balloons go by

99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go



Nena - 99 Luftballons Lyrics


Hast Du etwas Zeit fuer mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so waer
Dabei war'n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

99 Duesenflieger
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Mann, wer haette das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr
Und auch keine Duesenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen

Who sang those two versions, Wilso? And which version is the original one, do you know?

Since you know German, maybe you could tell me the German title of his song? I think it is a popular one in Germany. Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPPl4UgVYtw

Thank you, cello. I tried the babel fish translation of your French song, but it's not very accurate, I'm afraid; however, I did figure out that the main idea was "tenderness and love"

This would be a transgression to Francis, but it is a lovely song.

Dans un mouvement d'aujourd'hui nous sommes tous inclinés pour manquer les petites choses qui signifient tellement un mot un sourire un baiser quand une femme aime un homme qu'il est un héros dans elle des yeux et le héros il peut toujours être s'il réalisera juste. Elle peut être les femmes lasses deviennent lasse portant la même robe minable et quand elle est essai las par peu de tendresse vous savez qu'elle attend juste prévoyant des choses qu'elle ne peut jamais des bandes tandis qu'elle est sans elles essai une peu de tendresse. Elle n'est pas sentimentale simplement elle a sa peine et son soin et le mot qui est doux et les marques douces il plus facile de soutenir l'aucun vous ne le regretteront pas que les femmes n'oublient pas que c'amour est leur bonheur entier c'est l'OH, ainsi essai facile une peu de tendresse.


And the English lyrics.

In a bustle of today we're all inclined to miss
Little things that mean so much a word a smile a kiss
When a woman loves a man he's a hero in her eyes
And the hero he can always be if he'll just realize.

She may be weary women do get weary
Wearing the same shabby dress
And when she's weary try a little tenderness
You know she's waiting just anticipating
Things she may never posses
While she's without them try a little tenderness.

It's not just sentimental she has her grief and her care
And the word that's soft and gentle makes it easier to bear
No you won't regret it women don't forget it
Love is their whole happiness
It's oh, so easy try a little tenderness.

Pssst. Wilso is Australian

Nena was the artists name.

English title: 99 Red Balloons.

German title: 99 Luftballons

Thanks Wilso, I did not realize the name of the singer was Nena. The song I asked you the title in German was actually the song in the video. I fogot to put the title for the video, it should have been

Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart

However, Letty told me you are Australian. Sorry.

I think I also forgot the titles for the other two videos (for you Letty, to make the post a bit more understandable, since you can't see them):

Julio Iglesias - El Amor
Daniel Guichard - La tendresse

I tried this rough translation of the lyrics for you, not poetic but hopefully better than Babel:

La tendresse/Tenderness - Lyrics by Daniel Guichard

La tendresse/Tenderness
C'est quelquefois ne plus s'aimer mais être heureux/It sometimes is not to love each other any more but to be happy
De se trouver à nouveau deux/To be two again
C'est refaire pour quelques instants un monde en bleu/It is to make again for a few moments a world in blue
Avec le cœur au bord des yeux/With the heart at the edge of the eyes
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse
C'est quand on peut se pardonner sans réfléchir/It is when we can forgive each other without thinking
Sans un regret sans rien se dire/Without regret without saying anything to each other
C'est quand on peut se séparer sans se maudire/It is when we can go our separate ways without cursing each other
Sans rien casser, sans rien détruire/Without breaking anything, without destroying anything
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse
C'est un geste, un mot, un sourire quand on oublie/It is a gesture, a word, a smile when we forget
Que tous les deux on a grandi/That both of us we have grown up
C'est quand je veux te dire je t'aime et que j'oublie/It is when I want to tell you I love you and I forget
Qu'un jour ou l'autre l'amour finit/That one day or another love is finished
La tendresse, la tendresse, la tendresse,
La tendresse.

La tendresse, c'est ca, la tendresse, la tendresse, /Tenderness, that's what it is, tenderness
La tendresse.

Allez viens. Come on.

Another song I have heard in 2 languages is the Beatles classic "She loves you" which they themselves sang in German as "Sie lieb sich" (I think).

They did spend some time in Hamburg in their early days so I imagine they recorded more than that one song in German.

Thank you, cello. The song is more meaningful now, and says a lot about love and life, right?

Tufdevil, This Beatle song is an easy one because I know the English words.

Michelle, ma belle
These are words that go together well
My Michelle

Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble

I love you, I love you, I love you
that's all I want to say
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know you'll understand

Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble

I need to, I need to, I need to
I need to make you see
Oh, what you mean to me
Until I do I'm hoping you will know what I mean
I love you

I want you, I want you, I want you
I think you know by now
I'll get to you some how
Until I do I'm telling you so you'll understand

Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble
And I will say the only words I know that you'll understand
My Michelle

Forgot that one, Letty. It was only a Beatles album track in the UK but was a big hit for a group called the Overlanders. Don't think they did anything else though.

Of course, this, like Wooden Heart, is an example of a recording where different verses are sung in different languages, rather than the same song being recorded separately in different languages. I suppose the ultimate nust be Bill Wyman's "Je suis un Rock Star" where he changes from French to English mid-sentence!

The chorus of this track is:

Je suis un Rock Star
J'avais un residence
J'habiter la
A la South of France
Voulez vous
Partir with me
And come and rester la
With me in France?

I suppose that's what they call pidgin French.

tufdevil, I got the part about I am a rock star and I live in the south of France.

Here's one by Nat Cole, and redone by Natalie, that is easy to translate because I know the lyrics in English.

Darling, je vous aime beaucoup
Je ne sais pas what to do
You know you've completely
Stolen my heart

Morning, noon and night-time too
Toujours, wondering what to do
That's the way I've felt
Right from the start

Ah, Cherie!
My love for you is tres, tres fort
Wish my French were good enough
I'd tell you so much more

But I hope that you compree
All the things you mean to me
Darling, je vous aime beaucoup
I love you, yes I do

Ah oui. Je le rappèle bien. As Maurice Chevalier would have said.

Surely the most famous song to be recorded in more than one language is the wartime favourite (on both sides of the conflict) Lily Marlene/Lili Marleen.

Originally recorded in German by Lale Anderson and later, famously, by Marlene Dietrich, the German words were:

1. Vor der Kaserne
Vor dem großen Tor
Stand eine Laterne
Und steht sie noch davor
So woll'n wir uns da wieder seh'n
Bei der Laterne wollen wir steh'n
Wie einst Lili Marleen.

2. Unsere beide Schatten
Sah'n wie einer aus
Daß wir so lieb uns hatten
Das sah man gleich daraus
Und alle Leute soll'n es seh'n
Wenn wir bei der Laterne steh'n
Wie einst Lili Marleen.

3. Schon rief der Posten,
Sie blasen Zapfenstreich
Das kann drei Tage kosten
Kam'rad, ich komm sogleich
Da sagten wir auf Wiedersehen
Wie gerne wollt ich mit dir geh'n
Mit dir Lili Marleen.

4. Deine Schritte kennt sie,
Deinen zieren Gang
Alle Abend brennt sie,
Doch mich vergaß sie lang
Und sollte mir ein Leids gescheh'n
Wer wird bei der Laterne stehen
Mit dir Lili Marleen?

5. Aus dem stillen Raume,
Aus der Erde Grund
Hebt mich wie im Traume
Dein verliebter Mund
Wenn sich die späten Nebel drehn
Werd' ich bei der Laterne steh'n
Wie einst Lili Marleen.

Later in the war it was translated into English and was recorded by Anne Shelton and Vera Lynn. The words were:

Underneath the lantern,
By the barrack gate
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait
T'was there that you whispered tenderly,
That you loved me,
You'd always be,
My Lilli of the Lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene

Time would come for roll call,
Time for us to part,
Darling I'd caress you
And press you to my heart,
And there 'neath that far-off lantern light,
I'd hold you tight ,
We'd kiss good night,
My Lilli of the Lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene

Orders came for sailing,
Somewhere over there
All confined to barracks
was more than I could bear
I knew you were waiting in the street
I heard your feet,
But could not meet,
My Lilly of the Lamplight,
my own Lilly Marlene

Resting in our billets,
Just behind the lines
Even tho' we're parted,
Your lips are close to mine
You wait where that lantern softly gleams,
Your sweet face seems
To haunt my dreams
My Lilly of the Lamplight,
My own Lilly Marlene

It is claimed that it has been translated into at least 48 languages. I even found a Latin version! Here it is:

Extra hiberna
In decumana,
Trita'rat laterna;
Manebit vetusta,
Conveniemus hoc rursus;
Infra laternam stabimus,
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen.

Duae umbrae nobis
Una facta sunt.
Amavimus inter nos
Et omnes viderunt.
Omnes videbunt hac rursus;
Infra laternam stabimus,
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen.

Tum vigil dixit
Ut strepuisse vi.
Igitur ad castra
Reveniendum mi.
Ergo te iussi valere.
Malui tecum comitare,
Tecum Lili Marleen.
Tecum Lili Marleen.

Cognoverat vestrum
Incessum passumque.
Vesper' exspectabat
Diu oblita mei.
Occiso me, quis stabit tum,
Infra laternam sic tecum,
Tecum Lili Marleen?
Tecum Lili Marleen?

In hebeti die,
Vita quieta,
Memoria teneo
Quam dulci' oscula.
Nebula noctis venio.
Infra laternam solus sto.
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen

The song Elvis is singing is "Wooden Heart," written by German songmeister Bert Kaempfert. It is based on the traditional German song "Muß i' denn zum Städtele hinaus." The first stanza of "Muß i' denn zum Städtele hinaus":

Muß i' denn, muß i' denn
Zum Städtele hinaus,
Städtele hinaus
Und du mein Schatz bleibst hier
Wenn i' komm', wenn i' komm',
Wenn i' wiederum, wiederum komm',
Kehr i' ei' mei' Schatz bei dir
Kann i' glei' net allweil bei dir sei'
Han' i' doch mei' Freud' an dir
Wenn i' komm', wenn i' komm',
Wenn i' wiederum, wiederum komm',
Kehr' i' ei' mei' Schatz bei dir.

The "Wooden Heart" lyrics are much different:

Can't you see
I love you
Please don't break my heart in two
That's not hard to do
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart
And if you say goodbye
Then I know that I would cry
Maybe I would die
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart
There's no strings upon this love of mine
It was always you from the start
Treat me nice
Treat me good
Treat me like you really should
'Cause I'm not made of wood
And I don't have a wooden heart.

"Wooden Heart" isn't even an approximate translation of "Muß i' denn zum Städtele hinaus;" it only uses the same melody.

Possibly the most unlikely hit translated song is "Mack the Knife," which Bobby Darin took to the top of the charts in 1959. The original version, "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer," was written by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertold Brecht, for Die Dreigroschenoper. The first verse of the original:

"Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht."

Literally translated: "And the shark has teeth/and he carries them in his face/ And MacHeath has a knife,/ but one doesn't see the knife."

In the Darin version (lyrics by Marc Blitzstein), that verse goes like this:

"Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it … ah … out of sight."

They recorded only two songs in German: "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." As was common in the early '60s, the band was asked to record a "continental" version of their songs. Afterwards, the Beatles said "nie wieder" to recording duplicate versions of their songs in foreign languages.

Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah
Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah.
Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Du glaubst sie liebt nur mich,
gestern hab' ich sie gesehen.
Sie denkt ja nur an dich
und du solltest zu ihr gehen.
O ja sie liebt dich,
schöner kann es gar nicht sein.
Ja sie liebt dich
und dann solltest du dich freu'n.

Sie hat dir weh getan,
sie wusste nicht warum.
Du warst nicht schuld daran
und drehtest dich nicht um.
O ja sie liebt dich,
schöner kann es gar nicht sein.
Ja sie liebt dich
und dann solltest du dich freu'n.

Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah.
Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah.
Denn mit dir allein
kann sie nur glücklich sein.,

Du musst jetzt zu ihr gehen,
entschuldig dich bei ihr.
Ja dass wird sie verstehen,
und dann verzeiht sie dir.
O ja sie liebt dich,
schöner kann es gar nicht sein.
Ja sie liebt dich
und dann solltest du dich freu'n.

Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah.
Sie liebt dich yeah yeah yeah.
Denn mit dir allein
kann sie nur glücklich sein,
denn mit dir allein
kann sie nur glücklich sein,
denn mit dir allein
kann sie nur glücklich sein.
Yeah yeah yeah,
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Click here for more than you ever wanted to know about "Sie liebt dich."

In addition, we shouldn't forget the hit singles "Rock Me Amadeus" and "Der Kommisar" by Falco, originally written in German (or, really, in a sort of macaronic German-English).

Thanks for that Joe.

Another artist who recorded in two languages (apart from Celine Dion, of course - did she ever record the same song in English and French? - but I digress) was Irish singer songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan who was very popular in Japan at one time/

On his Sounds of the Loop album he has a song called "Can't thimk straight" sung in English and then, at the end, the Japanese version. I would give you the lyrics of both versions but I don't seem to be able to find the Japanese characters on my keyboard! Yeah, right!