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kyburgnaamahdarling:
naamahdarling:
saxifraga-x-urbium:
dontbearuiner:
anotheralexandros:
diasporika:
Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ in Yiddish, by klezmer musician Daniel Kahn
can I just say, I love this version so much not just because it’s beautiful in its own right (it is), but because it’s such a good translation? it’s by no means an exact translation, but a lot of times when I see translated music, people strive to be as close to exact as possible, and what’s so great is that Daniel Kahn doesn’t do that. he doesn’t have to–he’s coming from the same background as Leonard Cohen, he understands all of the religious allusions as well as the uniquely Jewish viewpoint behind them. so he allows himself to stray from the literal words, and having that freedom actually makes his translation (and re-translation) more authentic because it has the same nuance and underlying meaning as the original.
which I think is especially poignant for Hallelujah, because a lot of Christian artists have covered this song and totally changed or eliminated the most explicitly Jewish verse–the one that references “the name”–in favor of one that describes the explicitly Christian “holy dove/ghost/spirit.” which sucks because and it’s a really powerful verse, and I think putting it back into its original context, and then translating it into and then back from Yiddish makes it even more powerful.
This is stunning.
ref. the 1984 lyrics
(i prefer this version too; the act of profound surrender in that second quoted verse below).
You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Chorus
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
This is … absolutely breathtaking.
*scrubs at tears*
reblogging again because it’s just that amazing
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2nBCclO
via IFTTT
naamahdarling:
saxifraga-x-urbium:
dontbearuiner:
anotheralexandros:
diasporika:
Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ in Yiddish, by klezmer musician Daniel Kahn
can I just say, I love this version so much not just because it’s beautiful in its own right (it is), but because it’s such a good translation? it’s by no means an exact translation, but a lot of times when I see translated music, people strive to be as close to exact as possible, and what’s so great is that Daniel Kahn doesn’t do that. he doesn’t have to–he’s coming from the same background as Leonard Cohen, he understands all of the religious allusions as well as the uniquely Jewish viewpoint behind them. so he allows himself to stray from the literal words, and having that freedom actually makes his translation (and re-translation) more authentic because it has the same nuance and underlying meaning as the original.
which I think is especially poignant for Hallelujah, because a lot of Christian artists have covered this song and totally changed or eliminated the most explicitly Jewish verse–the one that references “the name”–in favor of one that describes the explicitly Christian “holy dove/ghost/spirit.” which sucks because and it’s a really powerful verse, and I think putting it back into its original context, and then translating it into and then back from Yiddish makes it even more powerful.
This is stunning.
ref. the 1984 lyrics
(i prefer this version too; the act of profound surrender in that second quoted verse below).
You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Chorus
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
This is … absolutely breathtaking.
*scrubs at tears*
reblogging again because it’s just that amazing
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2nBCclO
via IFTTT
