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September 13, 2007

Guess!

Lust-laden fire scorches my soul,
As taunting glimpses of your face dissolve in the endless skies;

Destroy, I must, the maya of sinful desire,
Or I pray that I should breathe my last;

Possessed by passion, my body yearns for sacred fulfillment,
Mistress of my desires, do alight to quench my thirst;

My heart ruled by you, my being forever tainted by the beauty of your youth,
Night falls pregnant with passion, dreams leading it into dawn;

My existence shaken by the whirlwind of desires,
Rescue me, Oh Goddess, rescue me!

Taken quite a few liberties with the interpretation. Apologies for the same. L~, this was more difficult that the previous ones, would have been lost without mom's help :p

Not sure if I should drop hints or it's going to be a snap for you guys. It's a Tamil song. That's my first clue :)

Clue2: Setting of the song:


Clue3: Theme of the movie

On love, ego, fidelity, obsession? and how music ties it all together...directed by K.Balachander.

PS - Answer in comments!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Acho, no clue. Hint pliss..

P B said...

dhom dhom dhom dhom!

RS said...

sk - kuduthuten adutha rendu clue :)

pb - hmm, innum details thevai!

Anonymous said...

:--) Ah RS, You made it too easy now :--)

Moham ennum theeyil from Sindhu Bhairavi.

I have never though about the meaning of the song, until I read this ;--)

Super.

Anonymous said...

pls. refer my comment on the previous translation guess post :((

RS said...

sk - super ma! Correct answer!

p~k - Sorrryyyyyy! Will do better than a PS in red next time, comment moderation turn on panren...sureaaaaaaaaaaaa!

P B said...

enna periya details..I have told the song. Adhu poga I dont want to break the suspense. Let ppl tey

RS said...

pb - adhu seri! Ninachen that you got the song right - just checking :)

Anonymous said...

Hi RS, I have a request... can you help me translate an English song into Tamil? This is something I've been trying lately... (well, actually, there's a few of these that I've wanted to try)... Just thought I might ask if you'd be able to help...

I've been wanting to do a Tamil version of the song "Don't Cry" by the band Guns N' Roses... I'm wondering if you could help to translate the lyrics into Tamil... It's a sad song, but it's not entirely negative in tone... Here are the lyrics:

--Start lyrics--

Talk to me softly,
There's something in your eyes...
Don't hang your head in sorrow,
And please don't cry...
I know how you feel inside, I've...
I've been there before...
Something is changing inside you,
And don't you know...

Don't you cry tonight...
I still love you baby...
Don't you cry tonight...

Don't you cry tonight...
There's a heaven above you baby...
And don't you cry tonight...

Give me a whisper,
And give me a sign...
Give me a kiss before you
Tell me goodbye...
Don't you take it so hard now,
And please don't take it so bad...
I'll still be thinking of you,
And the times we had, baby...
And don't you cry tonight...

Don't you cry tonight...
Don't you cry tonight...
There's a heaven above you baby...
And don't you cry tonight...

And please remember, that I never lied...
And please remember, how I felt inside now, honey...
You've gotta make it your own way, but you'll be alright now, sugar...
You'll feel better tomorrow, come the morning light now, baby...

And don't cry tonight...

Don't you cry tonight...
And don't you cry tonight...
There's a heaven above you baby...
And don't you cry...

Don't you ever cry...
Don't you cry tonight...
Baby, maybe, someday...

Don't you cry...
Don't you ever cry...
Don't you cry
Tonight...

--End lyrics--

(Song: "Don't Cry"
Album: "Use Your Illusion I"
Band: Guns N' Roses)

I was just wondering if you could try writing some lyrics in Tamil, not necessarily as an exact translation of the English lyrics, but something that generally captures the same theme and emotional essence of the original, and importantly, fits with the melody of the original.

Here's a couple of links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXZnG0mpwM - This is a video of a piano version of the song, without vocals, by a French amateur pianist. I like this version just as much as the original, and in fact, it was this video which made gave me the idea of doing my own version - in Tamil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ns59Bmqpms - This is the original music video of the song. Be warned, the music video contains a few violent images (the song was inspired by a short story called "Without You", which is about the end of a troubled relationship), but nothing too disturbing, just not entirely pleasant. Despite the video, the song on its own is musically and lyrically beautiful (okay, so the songwriters' poetic abilities hardly put them in the same league as Tennyson or Keats, but the song has a certain anodyne charm).

Would be very grateful if you could help! Thanks!

frissko said...

2nd time late...(had found 'mandram vandha', but someone had answered then too)...the 3rd clue was a giveaway (but i needed it to find this one :)...

RS said...

anonymous - Saw the videos, I like the song :) but I am not that proficient in Tamil :( Almost ezhuthu kooti padikara stage thaan, I can understand the meaning of words but doubt I can come up with the right Tamil words to string in sentences...that's why all my translations are Tam -> English...but good luck with your attempt, looking forward to reading the translation!

frissko - :-)

RS said...

anon - Another really nice song that I wish I could translate to Tamil is "She" by Elvis Costello - http://stolenimpressions.blogspot.com/2007
/04/she-by-elvis-costello.html

Anonymous said...

heeeey RS - I need your help translating this tam song into english. I speak telugu and just learnt that Shalini herself sang this one. I really liked this song amd it wud be a biiig favor if u cud translate this one to english. I greatly greatly appreciate all ur help :)

Cheers!
Smitha

Song: Sontha Kuralil Paada
Movie Name: Amarkkalam (1999)

tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa
mmmm sondhak kuralil paada mmmm romba naaLaa aasai
helloa susheelaa aanti helloa jaanaki aanti kuyil paattuch chithraa
elloarum ennai manniyungaL

tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa
mmmm sondhak kuralil paada...tharaararaaraa
mmmm romba naaLaa aasai...tharaararaaraa

kaatRilaeRi pattup paadap poagiRaen
oru gaanam paadi vaanampaadiyaagiRaen
veNNilaavil thaNNeerundu kaetkiRaen
nilaavil senRu neer arundhap poagiRaen
moonRu loagam kandu vaazhap poagiRaen
munnooRu aaNdu iLamai vaangap poagiRaen
tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa hey hey hey tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa hey hey
mmmm sondhak kuralil paada...cha cha cha cha
mmmm romba naaLaa aasai

cha charaa cha charaa
charaara charaara charaararaaraa charaara charaara charaararaaraa

indha bhoomi pazhaiya bhoomi allavaa
oru pudhiya bhoomi salavai seydhu koNduvaa
aadhi manidhan nalla manidhan allavaa
oru jaadhiyatRa manidha jaadhi koNduvaa
ulagam thoonga otRaip padukkai koNduvaa
angu uRangavaikkum endhan paadal allavaa
ulagam thoonga otRaip padukkai koNduvaa
angu uRangavaikkum endhan paadal allavaa

tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa
mmmm sondhak kuralil paada...sondhak kuralil paada...
mmmm romba naaLaa aasai...romba naaLaa aasai...
hello susheela aanti hello jaanaki aanti kuyil paattuch chithraa
elloarum ennai manniyungaL

tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa

tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa tharaararaaraa
mmmmmmmm...

RS said...

Smitha - sure thing, give me some time and I'll post the translation in this space :)

RS said...

Ok, here goes, I haven't tried lyrical translation because well, the song doesn't really inspire that much :) It's just a happy, pretty trite song, nice to hum along and then forget...:)

sondhak kuralil...aasai
Been wanting to sing (in my own voice) for a long time

hello susheela...manniyungal
My apologies to Susheela aunty...Chitra aunty, who sings like a cuckoo,

kaatrilaeri pattup...vaanampaadiyaagiRaen
Watch me climb in the wind and sing like a free bird,

vennilaavil...poagiren
I ask the moon for water, so I may alight on the moon and drink some

moonru...vaangap poagiren
I shall visit all the three worlds and I shall demand for 300 years of youth,

indha bhoomi...konduvaa
Isn't this earth ancient? Bring me an earth cleansed (of sins?)

aadhi manidhan...konduvaa
Ancient man was noble, bring me mankind without castes...

ulagam...allavaa
Bring me a single cot for the world to fall asleep in, and they shall sleep listening to my song

Anonymous said...

heeeeey RS!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you soooooo very much! You rock! I have been visting ur blog for over two years now. I speak Telugu and have always wanted to learn Tamil. Especially at times when beautiful tam movies are dubbed and the wonderful illayaraja/rehman musical lyrics are mercilessly butchered during the translation. Now I know where to go when I need to understand some Tamil. Once again thanks for all your efforts :) Keep this blog going.
Cheers
Smitha

Anonymous said...

Sorry for spaming u again. Yeah the lyrics dont seem to be any inspiring. Sad I thought Shalini had a pretty nice voice...

Smitha

Gayatri said...

Got inspired by you. try this:
http://gayatribala.blogspot.com/2007/11/guess-this-song.html

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