Trying to translate "Insensible a Ti"
I've been trying to translate the lyrics to the Duelo de Pasiones theme song, "Insensible a Ti" by Alicia Villareal. I don't want to post the Spanish lyrics here on the blog because it would be a copyright violation, but you'll find them here and here.
You'll see that there are differences between the lyrics given on these two sites. I think there are mistakes in the Esmas version (for instance, the line "porque contigo estoy en celo," which means "because with you I am in heat," doesn't fit the rest of the song at all! The correct version seems to be "porque contigo estoy en cero," or "because with you I am at zero.")
I also think the lyrics were changed for the show, because most versions of the lyrics I found online say "I have deceived you... I have lied to you" but I could swear on the show she's singing "You have deceived me... you have lied to me," which is what the Esmas version says. I've decided to go with the original version although the second one does better fit the show.
My Spanish is nowhere near good enough for this task, so I know I've made mistakes in this translation and would appreciate any and all corrections!
"Indifferent to You" - English lyrics
I'm no longer going to hide myself from you
In order to hide my feelings.
I don't want to cry anymore, hiding the love
that I feel for him.
Now it's time for you to find out
the things that go on when you're away.
I'm no longer going to pretend the love that really I no longer feel.
So many times I've cried from feeling so weak, so alone,
lived in torment.
You can't light your bonfire anymore
Now I'm cold to your caresses
I'm indifferent to you
I have deceived you so many times
I have looked for his burning kisses in private
I have lied to you so many times
That I can no longer go on hiding the truth.
I live a forbidden love that steals my heartbeats
but I can't hide it anymore because with you I'm at zero
and he turns me on to a thousand.
I'm indifferent to you
Indifferent to you, he turns me on to a thousand
I'm indifferent to you
In the TV version, instead of "I have deceived you so many times/I have looked for his burning kisses in private," she sings something like "You have deceived me so many times/So many times that I can't imagine it." And instead of "I live a forbidden love that steals my heartbeats" she sings "A duel of passions is what I have lived."
I imagine the TV version is supposed to represent the feelings of Soledad and/or Alina, whereas the original version reflects what Alvaro thinks Soledad is thinking!
Some online sources I used in this attempt to translate:
Yahoo! Spanish-English Dictionary
Babel Fish Translation
WordReference Forums - To get hot
posted by NONE @ 10:06 PM
10 Comments:
I'm very impressed! Good for you. I think it's fairly common to change the lyrics of a pre-existing song to fit a telenovela format. I remember about 7 yrs. ago Andrea Bocelli sang a telenovela theme song; the lyrics were changed from Vivo Per Lei to Vivo Por Elena or Ella or something like that. I didn't watch telenovelas then, but I remember hearing the song on the radio.
I always fall in love with these telenovela songs. I've bought two Latin pop CDs so far, just to get the theme songs from Apuesta por un Amor and Heridas de Amor. It's funny because usually I don't like ballads or pop music (I prefer rock). I guess it's something about learning a new language that makes the songs more enjoyable to me. Or maybe they're just better than US pop music.
I think you might like them so much because you like the shows. Even other songs that aren't theme songs probably sound like they should be. Or maybe one of the reasons you said. I know that for me, when my wife plays some Mexican crooner CD, I dont' care for a lot of it, but I'm singing along with the show's theme song every day.
Yes, you're probably right. And maybe part of it is the repetition. If you're going to hear a song five nights a week for six months, it helps to like it!
Hi Carmel,
I love how you catch everyones names and you put a lot of work into all the stuff you have here and on Caray. Trying to translate a song, which often has slang, or double meanings is hard work. Thank you for all that you have done. You definately need to give yourself a big pat on the back.
Now for the hard stuff of what of what I am writing.... "Insensible" means "insensitive". In reality spanish words often have other meanings. As youve probably seen, Ive gotten caught many times not checking my big dicitionary and just putting what my memory said to me or what I thought something meant. Those sneaky words like this one have caught me many times! And those small online dictionarys sometimes can foul a person up too. What really has helped me is a big unabridged dictionary. And as usual with these types of things, the dictionary is only good if I open it. (Im speaking from big literary mess up's in my not so distant past (last week)!) Hope you take my information kindly and keep on keeping on doing the good stuff you do! Thanks :)
Lynn, thank you so much for the kind words! And I appreciate any and all criticism, too. It's the only way I'm going to learn.
About "insensible" -- I know it doesn't translate exactly to "indifferent," but I thought "indifferent" made the most sense in this song in English. I actually thought about it for a few days before coming up with that. "Insensitive to you" didn't sound right to me, because to me, in spoken English, it implies "I don't care about your feelings" instead of "I feel nothing for you," which is what I decided the songwriter was saying.
So I was going for what sounded right to me in English rather than exact translation. But I might very well be wrong about the meaning of this song, and I'd appreciate any further feedback!
I do need a better dictionary. My current one really stinks. What is the name of your dictionary? Maybe I can get my own copy of it.
Very good points you made Carmel. Ive been wanting to ask some native spanish speakers but have gotten side tracked. So sorry I didnt get back to you quickly.
In the meantime I have given what you said a lot of thought. When you listen to someone who knows Spanish well as a second language, not first, they oftn interchange words and meanings since you really cant do a word for word translation all the time. So you are right to say we wouldnt say Im insensitive to you. Well not in the context of that song. But I could be wrong. Let me get with the spanish speakers and see what I can drum up.
Oh and I have the huge Gran Diccionario Oxford. These dictionarys can be really expensive. I bought mine in a place call Half Price Books where they sell new books from odd lots bought from publishers and they sell gently used books. Maybe you have a place like that where you live to help save a little lana. :)
Thank you, Lynn! I definitely would like to hear how native Spanish speakers would try to translate this one. ("Insensible" is actually a word in English but not one I've ever heard used. So this is tricky.)
Carmel - When I talked with native speakers they all said insensible is used for feelings. Like in the case of this song Alicia is singing that the guy holds no power over her anymore. He has no effect on her anymore. So Margarets definition was good. This is one of those words that is hard to pin down with just one word.
Thanks for the challenge. You got my mind working overtime!
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