When I hear a foreign-language song that I'm curious about, I Google the song title +'lyrics' an click on the Translate icon at the bottom. And yes, it's quite evident to me that something get's lost in lyric translation, when it's done word for word.
That's why bilingual artist don't simply translate lyrics when marketing to international audiences--The change lyrics altogether in order to maintain an identical flow from version to version.
For example:
"Dimelo (which translates to "Tell Me") sounds lovely in Spanish, but it would make for an awkward, somewhat nonsensical song in English.
"Do You Know?" however, makes absolute sense in English while maintaining the essential "spirit" or meaning of the Spanish version.
So they're effectively the same song...only kinda, sorta, not really, technically.
With a poem, there is no accompanying soundtrack in which to convey sentiment though; Which would make pulling off that sort of feat much more difficult, I would think.
That's why bilingual artist don't simply translate lyrics when marketing to international audiences--The change lyrics altogether in order to maintain an identical flow from version to version.
For example:
"Dimelo (which translates to "Tell Me") sounds lovely in Spanish, but it would make for an awkward, somewhat nonsensical song in English.
"Do You Know?" however, makes absolute sense in English while maintaining the essential "spirit" or meaning of the Spanish version.
So they're effectively the same song...only kinda, sorta, not really, technically.
With a poem, there is no accompanying soundtrack in which to convey sentiment though; Which would make pulling off that sort of feat much more difficult, I would think.
