everything but the french is awful. I approve of only new or word-for-word
translations. I was almost physically disgusted by monsieur Bowie's take.
KS
2009/5/8 Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]>
> kasper salonen wrote:
>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZFr2Fh66zs
>>
>>
>
> Took me years to find the real Brel, if I have yet. Introduction via the
> off-Broadway show in English back in 1968. Not awful but I found later that
> the lyrics ruled the music in unbecoming ways. The late Mort Shuman,
> however, I recall doing a fabulous job with "Amsterdam" even in English.
>
> I have a bunch of mp3's of this stuff, but seeing him sing them adds to the
> drama in the voice.
>
> When Brel sings HIS original of La Chanson des Vieux Amants, simply the
> sound of the language and the vocal timbre are filled with love and
> mortality. March 16 would have been my 40th anniversary, and even before
> that, the song cut deep. This song I used as an audio background when I had
> a website holding a whole series of divorce poems. Both a nasty and
> beautiful gesture at once that may be back.
>
> ken
>
> --
> Ken Wolman http://awfulrowing.wordpress.com/
> http://www.petsit.com/content317832.html
> ---------------------------------
> "All writers are hunters, and parents are the most available
> prey."--Francine du Plessix Gray
>
|