Me, demonstrating the audio equipment I used in videoblogging, and how to set it up. Filmed by Yolande Poirier.
Learn Italian in Song: First Me, Second Me
| This song is an interesting challenge. It was pointed out to me by Rocco Tanica, songwriter and keyboardist with Elio e le Storie Tese, as “a song we wrote to make a joke about Italians pretending to speak English (just like me) with a literal translation of the Italian words (example, quanti anni hai? = “how many years you have” instead of “how old are you”).” | |||
| FIRST ME. | |||
| I would like to writing and singing a song in english, | |||
| tongue that I’ve studied at the medium school. | In Italian lingua is used for “tongue” both in the sense of the one in your mouth and one that you speak. Which is also true in English, but “tongue” for “language” is somewhat archaic these days. Medium = media, which is also used for middle school (scuola media). | ||
| I’d surely find the way to recreate the original sound | |||
| of the wonderful Beatles english. | |||
| I would pick up a girl and | |||
| – thank you to the original sound of the wonderful Beatles english – | |||
| I would conquer her, | In Italian conquistare is used (also) in the context of a romantic conquest. | ||
| I would marry her and together we will farrow so many much childs. | They were thinking of the Italian word sgravare (roughly: “de-pregnantize”), which is used for the act of giving birth but (at least in polite company) only when referring to animals. Farrow is the English word used for sows giving birth to piglets. And of course a classic mistake on the irregular plural of “child”. | ||
| So we would live until the late age (her), | i.e., she will live to a tarda eta’ (“advanced age”), while the speaker, being immortal… | ||
| while I would never die just like Highlander; | |||
| but not like Sean Connery, better like Christopher Lambert: | |||
| young through the centuries but without cut the head. | |||
| So every night I dream my unrealizable, unreasonable, | |||
| unrecognizable, unjamestaylorable, unstatesmanlike dream come true. | |||
| This video only contains the second half of the song – sung by James Taylor! – but it very helpfully includes both the English and Italian lyrics. | |||
| SECOND ME (THE PEAK OF THE MOUNTAIN). | Secondo me could literally be translated as “second me,†but it actually means “according to meâ€. | ||
| How you call you? How many years you have? | |||
| From where come? How stay? | Come stai = “How are you?” | ||
| Not to be sad: | |||
| the life is a thing wonderful and I am here for make it wonderfuler. | |||
| Not see the my love for yourself? | “The my love†because in Italian all nouns usually take an article (the, a, an). In Milan (at least), names are treated the same way, so you will hear people refer to la Paola or il Daniele. | ||
| For force, not is visible. | For force = per forza, which would be better translated “perforce†| ||
| Not hear the sound of the my guitar? | |||
| Is play from me; is play for you, is play for we. | A classic abuse of a preposition in suonato da me. Da would often be translated as “from†in English, but in this case it should be “byâ€. To be fair, prepositions are hard to get right; the usages are so different in every language. | ||
| Oui, je t’aime, je t’aime – yes -, must to be the my girl; | |||
| come on the my car that I bring you at make one tour. | Another preposition confusion in vieni sulla mia macchina. In Italy you don’t ride in a car, you ride on it. Ti porto a fare un giro would be better translated as “I’ll take you for a rideâ€. | ||
| What think of the my car? | |||
| Is much beautiful, second me | Molto can be translated as very, much, or many. | ||
Learn Italian in Song: Guarda Come Dondolo
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Look How I SwingAnother evergeen hit from the early 60’s for Edoardo Vianello. Hasn’t got much in the way of lyrics and the video is lame (he’s dancing and we can’t see his feet!), but it’s catchy.
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| Guarda come dondolo, | Look how I swing | ||
| guarda come dondolo con il twist, | Look how I swing with the twist | ||
| con le gambe ad angolo, | with my legs at an angle | ||
| con le gambe ad angolo ballo il twist. | with my legs at an angle I dance the twist | ||
| Sarà perché io dondolo, | It must be because I swing | ||
| saranno gli occhi tuoi che brillano, | It must be your eyes that shine | ||
| ma vedo mille mille mille lucciole | but I see a thousand thousand thousand fireflies | ||
| venirmi incontro insieme, insieme a te! | coming towards me together, together with you! | ||
| … | |||
| Le ginocchia scendono, | The knees go down | ||
| le mie gambe tremano, | my legs tremble | ||
| forse sono brividi, brividi d’amor! | Perhaps these are shivers, shivers of love! | ||
Learn Italian in Signs: E’ Stato Bello
^ above: This restaurant in Lecco was named Malpensata: “badly thought of” or “badly thought out.” Apparently either or both was the case – it’s for sale.
^ “BHW mortage, the German mortgage that protects your house. BHW: The German bank specialized in home mortgages at fixed interest rates.”
Pastore tedesco = German shepherd
Interesting that Germanness is assumed to equate with reliability.
“McDead”
The newsstand has definitively closed.
We thank everyone.
It’s been beautiful.
Learn Italian in Song: I Giardini di Marzo
The Gardens of Marchmusic and lyrics by Lucio Battisti |
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| Il carretto passava e quell’uomo gridava ” gelati “ | The cart passed and that man shouted “ice creams” | ||
| al ventuno del mese i nostri soldi erano già finiti | By the 21st of the month our money was already finished | ||
| io pensavo a mia madre e rivedevo i suoi vestiti | I thought of my mother and saw [again] her dresses | ||
| il più bello era nero coi fiori non ancora appassiti | The most beautiful was black with flowers that had not yet wilted | ||
| all’uscita di scuola i ragazzi vendevano i libri | At the exit of the school the kids sold their books | ||
| io restavo a guardarli cercando il coraggio per imitarli, | I stayed watching them, seeking the courage to imitate them | ||
| poi sconfitto tornavo a giocar con la mente e i suoi tarli | Then, defeated, I returned to play with my mind and its woodworms | ||
| e la sera al telefono tu mi chiedevi perché non parli. | And in the evening on the phone you asked me “why don’t you speak?” | ||
| ritornello: | refrain: | ||
| che anno è, che giorno è | What year is it, what day is it? | ||
| questo è il tempo di vivere con te, | This is the time to live with you | ||
| le mie mani come vedi, non tremano più | my hands, as you can see, no longer tremble | ||
| e ho nell’anima in fondo all’anima | and I have in my soul, in the depths of my soul | ||
| cieli immensi e immenso amore | immense skies and immense love | ||
| e poi ancora, ancora amore amor per te, | And then again, again love, love for you | ||
| fiumi azzurri e colline e praterie | Blue rivers and hills and fields | ||
| dove corrono dolcissime le mie malinconie | where my melancholies run sweetly | ||
| l’universo trova spazio dentro me, | the universe finds room inside of me | ||
| ma il coraggio di vivere, quello, ancora non c’e’. | but the courage to live, that is still lacking. | ||
| i giardini di marzo si vestono di nuovi colori | The gardens of March dress themselves in new colors | ||
| e le giovani donne in quel mese, vivono nuovi amori | and the young women in that month live new loves | ||
| ” tu muori se mi aiuti, son certa | “You die if you help me, I’m sure | ||
| che io ne verrò fuori “ | that I will come out of it” | ||
| ma non una parola chiarì i miei pensieri | but not a word cleared my thoughts | ||
| continuai a camminare lasciandoti attrice di ieri. | I kept walking, leaving you actress of yesterday | ||
| che anno è, che giorno è. | what year is it, what day is it? | ||
