<$BlogRSDUrl$>

Saturday, April 24, 2004

LOST IN TRANSLATION 



[open comment to nick, but useful for folks who come here also, so that's why i'm posting]
---------------
nick,

one final tid-bit about the yahoo! japan review of your song...
today i was poking around on midori's weblog

http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/midori_web/

and i saw her making the following comment (in japanese):

"[yahoo! says that] average listeners might be left scratching their heads. i guess that makes me an average listener, because i didn't get it either!"

but the reason that midori doesn't get it is because the yahoo! japan folks didn't really get it (i.e. your using the Frankenstein monster as the classic metaphor for AMALGAMATION) themselves...a quick look at your original explanation is in order (from your previous blog entry):

"This song runs together Ken Shimura's Bakatono and Henna Ojiisan roles and mixes the resulting Frankenstein's monster with the poet W.B. Yeats, who believed potency and creativity were closely linked and, in old age, had a Steinach operation to revitalize his failing virility."

but [according to my translation, in which i let the mistake of the writer slide, translating it just as he penned it] the yahoo! folks say the following on their review of the song:

"But that's just where Momus throws us a curveball; by also offering the explanation that the song, "mixes Shimura Ken, Frankenstein, and W.B. Yeats" average listeners are bound to be left scratching their heads."

so this is a classic case of LOST IN TRANSLATION, and that's too bad, since you'd figure that the person at yahoo! japan should be more on the ball.

but anyway, i'm just bothering with these apologetics because i don't wan't midori to loose any sleep! she's a bright kid!

good night,

robert

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?