In terms of that translation, it was more or less correct. However, "chasseurs" translates to "hunters", not "bellhops". And 'sympatico' is not a word in English.
"Etre" is the correct lyric, not "et tres". Thus, it means "It is wonderful to be nice/likable, but I have never known it." (ie: she has never known what it's like to be nice or sweet).
Also, the translation "The sun streams through the window" doesn't fully capture the poetic intentions of that lyric. A better translation would be "The sun passes his arm by the window".
Now that we know what it says, let's talk about what it means.
Think about these points and what it says about what kind of a woman she must be. . .
1) The scent of roses, which represent love, has been tainted to her and now makes her sick. (She clearly has negative associations with love. She is unable to enjoy true intimacy. . .perhaps because of negative experiences related to intimacy?)
2) She doesn't see her self as nice, sweet, or refined (all acceptable translations of 'sympathique').
3) Her reflections on the fact that her lifestyle is going to kill her. She's clearly not proud of what she's doing.
4) She doesn't want to 'work'. What line of work do you suppose she's in that makes her disgusted with her self?
5) She just wants to forget about work and smoke. (Smoking...what one does after sex)
OK. I had to become a member of this web site to respond to the awesome interpretations of this song. Y'all are very funny!
OK. I had to become a member of this web site to respond to the awesome interpretations of this song. Y'all are very funny!
Have any of you ever been to a Pink Martini concert? (If not, I would highly recommend doing so)
Have any of you ever been to a Pink Martini concert? (If not, I would highly recommend doing so)
If you had been to one of their concerts, you would have heard Thomas Lauderdale (the guy who wrote the song) explain that he and China Forbes (the lady who sings the song) were in a hotel bar in Portland, Oregon and overheard two French-speaking Canadians (who he assumed were in Oregon as loggers) having this conversation. They "poemed" it up a bit, but he claims that this was the gist of their conversation.
It was a conversation between two men about being frustrated with work, lost love (or lovers) and life in general -- so they were at the point at which all they wanted to do was smoke and forget about everything else.
In terms of that translation, it was more or less correct. However, "chasseurs" translates to "hunters", not "bellhops". And 'sympatico' is not a word in English.
"Etre" is the correct lyric, not "et tres". Thus, it means "It is wonderful to be nice/likable, but I have never known it." (ie: she has never known what it's like to be nice or sweet).
Also, the translation "The sun streams through the window" doesn't fully capture the poetic intentions of that lyric. A better translation would be "The sun passes his arm by the window".
Now that we know what it says, let's talk about what it means.
Think about these points and what it says about what kind of a woman she must be. . .
1) The scent of roses, which represent love, has been tainted to her and now makes her sick. (She clearly has negative associations with love. She is unable to enjoy true intimacy. . .perhaps because of negative experiences related to intimacy?)
2) She doesn't see her self as nice, sweet, or refined (all acceptable translations of 'sympathique').
3) Her reflections on the fact that her lifestyle is going to kill her. She's clearly not proud of what she's doing.
4) She doesn't want to 'work'. What line of work do you suppose she's in that makes her disgusted with her self?
5) She just wants to forget about work and smoke. (Smoking...what one does after sex)
5)Her bedroom, like a cage.
6) The men, like hunters, want to take her.
C'mon folks. It's so clear -- she's a prostitute!
OK. I had to become a member of this web site to respond to the awesome interpretations of this song. Y'all are very funny!
OK. I had to become a member of this web site to respond to the awesome interpretations of this song. Y'all are very funny!
Have any of you ever been to a Pink Martini concert? (If not, I would highly recommend doing so)
Have any of you ever been to a Pink Martini concert? (If not, I would highly recommend doing so)
If you had been to one of their concerts, you would have heard Thomas Lauderdale (the guy who wrote the song) explain that he and China Forbes (the lady who sings the song) were in a hotel bar in Portland, Oregon and overheard two French-speaking Canadians (who he assumed were in Oregon as loggers) having this conversation. They "poemed" it up a bit, but he claims that this was the gist of their conversation.
It was a conversation between two men about being frustrated with work, lost love (or lovers) and life in general -- so they were at the point at which all they wanted to do was smoke and forget about everything else.