Translation is at best an echo.
quote by George Borrow

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Echo
Echo, echo...
We come, we go-woah
No I don't want to be just another
Echo, echo...
Everywhere I go
There's something I really need
Everyone I know
Is someone I want to be
Even though
I don't really know me
I better pick it up
Before I let it slip away
I better stick it out
Before I take another day
Into mouth
Everything I say fades out
Echo, echo...
We come, we go-woah
No I don't want to be just another
Echo, echo...
Can I open up your eyes?
Only when the clouds break?
Can I feel the light?
Even though the world shakes
Every night,
You're my quiet satellite
Can I hold you close?
Do her out of focus
And everything I know
I don't even know this
It all falls through
I'm here and I hear you
Echo, echo...
We come, we go-woah
No I don't want to be just another
Echo, echo...
Do you hear me?
Do you hear me?
Cause I need to, just to reach you
Do you hear me?
Coming clearly?
Am I hollow?
Just an echo
Echo, echo...
We come, we go-woah
No I don't want to be just another
Echo, echo...
Echo, echo...
We come, we go-woah
No I don't want to be just another
Echo, echo...
song performed by by Vertical Horizon

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Maybe Baby
I heard stories about you
Id like to think that they were true
I did not know youd be like that
With those surprises under hat
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
When you dance between the stars
In the night late sweet and dark
Turn them over one by one
You dont need to jump the gun
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
When the night is feeling flush
And when the night is all a hush
Electric look eclectic blue
Keep one dream that wont come true
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my maybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my ma-aybe baby
Be my (echo), be my (echo), be my ma-aybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Be my, be my, be my, be my maybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Youre the one (? )
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Be my, be my, be my, be my maybe baby
(unintelligible) maybe baby
I heard stories about you
Id like to think that they were true
Be my maybe (? )
Be my, be my, be my, be my
(fade)
song performed by by Cars

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The Eyes Of Truth
(curly m.c.)
.
The eyes of truth
Are always watching you.
Mongolian chant translation
Alsyn gazryn zeregleenn
Aduu shig mal shig torolzonoo khuoo
(translation:
In the distance the mirage stands out like
Horses and cattle.
Very glad to see my beloved son.
--- sandras whispers ---
Je me regarde
Je me sens
Je vois des enfants
Je suis enfant !
(translation:
I look at myself
I feel myself
I see the children
I am a child! )
song performed by by Enigma

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A translation is no translation, he said, unless it will give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.
quote by John Millington Synge

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The best thing on translation was said by Cervantes: translation is the other side of a tapestry.
quote by Leonardo Sciascia

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The Japanese version comes with a translation, but that's different from the lyrics, so people could look things up and find a translation of their own if they're interested.
quote by Utada Hikaru

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Echo Song
I
Who can say where Echo dwells?
In some mountain-cave, methinks,
Where the white owl sits and blinks;
Or in deep sequestered dells,
Where foxglove hangs its bells,
Echo dwells.
Echo!
Echo!
II
Phantom of the crystal Air,
Daughter of sweet Mystery!
Here is one has need of thee;
Lead him to thy secret lair,
Myrtle brings he for thy hair--
Hear his prayer,
Echo!
Echo!
III
Echo lift thy drowsy head,
And repeat each charmëd word
Thou must needs have overheard
Yestere'en ere, rosy-red,
Daphne down the valley fled--
Words unsaid,
Echo!
Echo!
IV
Breathe the vows she since denies!
She hath broken every vow;
What she would she would not now--
Thou didst hear her perjuries.
Whisper, whilst I shut my eyes,
Those sweet lies,
Echo!
Echo!
poem by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

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For the version of this CD released in Japan, a translation of the English lyrics is included, but there are lots of places where meanings are lost in the process of translation.
quote by Utada Hikaru

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Echo
Put down your things and rest awhile
You know weve both nowhere to go
Yeah, daddy had to crash
He was always halfway there you know
And no, I dont pretend theres any more of that
They say one day, youll look up and laugh and hear
The same sad echo when you walk
Yeah, the same sad echo when you talk loud and clear
Its the same as the same sad echo around here
I promise you this winter
I will worship you like gold
And ride your train forever
Electric fortunes to be told
And I dont want to question or even celebrate
All the joy you took and then gave back too late
Its the same sad echo when you lie
Its the same sad echo when you try to be clear
Its the same as the same sad echo around here
Well, I woke up right here
In a pool of sweat
With a box of pills and you
Yeah, and Im gonna keep my head
Im gonna keep my cool
Oh, Im so in love with you
Yes and in another world nothing was like this
There may have been a girl
There never was a kiss
The poison came in liquid
She was naked all the time
And no one could explain it
It was all between the lines
And I dont seem to trust anyone no more
It could be faith Im just not sure
Its the same sad echo every day
Yeah the same sad echo another way
When you call
Its the same as the same sad echo most of all
Well you just got tired
You just gave in
You took it hard
Then you just quit
You let me down
You dropped the ball
You fell on your face most of all
And I dont want to mean anything to you
I dont want to tempt you to be true
Its the same sad echo comin down
Its the same sad echo all around in my ears
Its the same as the same sad echo around here
song performed by by Tom Petty

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La Soadora
Yo; el otoo
Yo; el vespero
He sido un eco
Ser? una ola
Ser? la luna
He sido todo, soy yo
Yo; el verano
Yo; el bano
Soy la soadora
(translation:
The dreamer
-----------
I; the autumn
I; the evening star
I have been an echo
I shall be a wave
I shall be the moon
I have been everything, I am myself
I; the summer
I; the ebony
I am the dreamer )
song performed by by Enya

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Shoo Be Doo
Its funny, honey, but you dont care
You never wanna take me anywhere
You ride around in your cadium car [echo]
You keep wishin upon a star [echo]
Why is it you dont care
Dont ya go, dont ya go, makin eyes at me
Dont remind me [echo]
Dont you tell me what to do
Shoo be doo [echo]
Shoo be doo
Dont ya tell me what to do
Dont ya tell me what to do
Shoo be doo [echo]
Dont ya tell me what to do
Unintelligible [echo]
Shoo be doo [echo]
song performed by by Cars

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A Memory Shall Flow
Into a melody, a memory shall flow
Guided by an echo, and, ever so slow
O're to the mountains, t'is dancing on a breeze
T'is the echo laughing with the trees.
Into the sky to the path of the unknown
A great many memories, o're the miles have flown
Remember an echo has a memory in tow
T'is yours for the picking, t'is yours to show.
Into an echo conducting its humble chores
When to look upon a memory is completely yours
Building a mountain of memories an echo's test
To pick from a tree, the memories I like best.
poem by M. Rene Riel

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Im In Love All Over
(don king, j.d. martin)
Well Im flying out of tulsa
Trying to get out to the coast
Missing my connections
But its you I miss the most
Im in love all over (echo)
Im in love all over (echo)
Well Im in love all over
Everywhere I go
Well my heart feels like bursting
When you walk into the room
My lips just start thirsting
For another kiss from you
Im in love all over (echo)
Yes Im in love all over (echo)
Im in love all over
From my head down to my shoes
In search of true affection
I found a new direction
And thats straight to you
Oh I use to like to play around
But I can see thats all over now
Oh my friends sure like to gossip
Think they know the gospel truth
Words leak like a faucet
When it comes to me and you
Im in love all over (echo)
Oh Im in love all over (echo)
Yes Im in love all over
Everywhere I go
Im in love all over
From my head down to toes
Im in love all over
Everybody knows about me and you
Repeat verse 5, 6, 7
Oh yes they do
Cause Im in love all over
Im in love all over
Yes Im in love all over
Yes Im in love all over
song performed by by Reba Mcentire

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Kometenmelodie
[Lyrics are an excerpt of "The Heaven Prolog" from Faust - Wolfgang von Goethe. In this masterpiece, these lines are said by Raphael archangel]
Die sonne toent nach alter weise
In brudersphaeren wettgesang
Und ihre vorgeschriebene reise
vollendet sie mit donnergang
[Translation 1:]
The sun sounds out in an old manner
In a fraternal vocal competition
And its prescribed course
Reaches a conclusion with a thunder
[Translation 2:]
The sun intones its ancient song
Mid rival chant of brother spheres
Its predestined course it speeds along
In thund?rous march throughout the years
[Translation 3:]
The sun intones, in ancient tourney
With brother-spheres, a rival song
Fulfilling its predestined journey
With march of thunder moves along
[Translation 4:]
The sun is chanting his ancient song
In contest with the brother spheres
Rolling with thunder steps along
Down the predestined course of years
song performed by by Kraftwerk

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The Language of Translation
What could be a better language than the language of translation
A white curtain on which
All our handiwork stands apart like dirt
All crimes are perpetrated in mother tongues
Which always contain a discourse on innocence
There are times
When translation is the only place that has a remnant of sorts
The sound of tyranny in the native tongue
Is killing sympathy!
(Translated from Hindi by Bharatbhooshan Tiwari)
poem by Asad Zaidi

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What Makes the Clouds Echo Roar
What makes the clouds echo roar?
As thunder, makes it's pitch
dark and dreary, becomes the sky
What makes the clouds echo roar?
As the sky opens up, and it begins to pour,
no where to run, no where to hide, as I,
head for cover, and still wonder,
what makes the clouds echo roar?
I look around, and see a door
swiftly as a rabbit, I reach there,
I'm really drenched, and still I ask,
What makes the clouds echo roar?
I shake off the water, on to the floor
the rain has stopped now, as I ask once again,
what makes the clouds echo roar?
do you know what? It dosn't really matter anymore.
Sweet Echo Dell
"Three there were that left my cot;
Two are here, and one is not;
Why does Willie linger? Say, can you tell?"
"He was weary by the way;
When we came he could but stay
In the shady grove at Sweet Echo Dell."
Echo Dell! (Echo Dell!) Echo Dell! (Echo Dell!)
It was there we softly said "Farewell!" ("Farewell!")
And the towering granite crest
Nobly guards his place rest,
Near the lovely lake of Sweet Echo Dell.
"Is he laden well with gold?
Does he bring me wealth untold?
Why then does he linger? Say can you tell?"
"All his treasures are above;
All he sent you was his love,
With a whispered prayer from Sweet Echo Dell."
Coming homeward, does he sing
Like a lark upon the wing?
Why then does he linger? Say, can you tell?"
Naught is heard but rippling waves,
Warbling birds, and shouting braves;
Silent is his voice in Sweet Echo Dell."
"Is he coming by-and-by?
May I bless him ere I die?
Why then does he linger? Say, can you tell?"
"Mirrored in that mountain lake,
Heaven is near, and he will wake
Never elsewhere than in Sweet Echo Dell."
"Would you crush my only joy?
Surely I shall meet my boy;
When then does he linger? Say, can you tell?"
"Never will his weary feet
Travel more, yet may soon meet
When your soul floats over Sweet Echo Dell."
poem by Henry Clay Work

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And There is...an Echo
And there is an echo
A voice without voice
Floats and repeats
The real sound of voice
That is echo
Praised by the mute
Who shouts in the sea of mist
Without someone to know
That is echo
Swing by the name
But it ignores and says
Steals the sound of real voice
But let the echo
Takes the voice and echoes
Before the power is gone
And disappears word by word
poem by Maria Sudibyo

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I Hear The Echo by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (Translated from Assamese)
I hear the echo
I hear the echo
I hear the echo
I hear the echo
Of the screaming night
Carried over from the other side
Of the mountain bodering my village
I hear the echo
I train my ears but can't hear a thing
I open my eyes wide but can't see a thing
I close my eyes and think, but do not understand
I don't know how to climb a thousand mountains
I hear the echo of the screaming night
I hear the echo
May be its the tragic story of a young girl
May be its grandma's bedtime fairy tale
May be its the longing of a farmer's nursery
The tragic story of the young girl has come to an end
The bed time fairy tale of grandma has come to an end
The longings of the farmer's nursery has come to an end
The familiar song still escapes me
I hear the echo of the new cry
I hear the echo
My dark hair get tinted with morning's red hues
The panicky mist before the eyes vanishes to the blue
A thousand cries come out of a people awakened
A thousand mountains crumble in the impact of its sound
I hear an approaching storm in the sea of humanity
I hear the echo of the new cry
I hear the echo...
- Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (1953)
© Syed Ahmed Shah(Translator) , Bokultol, Guwahati.
poem by Syed Ahmed Shah

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Poets Lost In Translation
several differing translations
of some masterpiece poems
written by immortal poets
timeless especially esteemed
written in foreign languages
stresses how much poetry
suffers lost in translation
it is the hardest literary
medium to translate due
to the multiple meanings
of some words choice chosen
in the original mother language
the wonderful poetic effects
linking such words achieves
resonates in receptive souls
Is a good translation only
achieved when the translator
is a poet with a mother tongue
knowledge of both languages
in use vibrating admiration?
Is an intimate knowledge
a unique empathic sensitivity
for chosen poet in translation
a prime necessity in translating
feelings emotions ideals writ?
poem by Terence George Craddock

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