“You cannot translate the songs,” says Ricky Martin about serving both English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. “When you write an English song, you write an English song, and then when you start writing in Spanish, you just have to start from zero. If you’re lucky enough to find the same storyline, well, you’re lucky.” Sometimes it works out better than others.
For instance, one track called “Shine” in English is about love; the Spanish song with the same music is titled “Te Vas” and is about someone leaving. Another, “The Best Thing About Me Is You,” has almost identical English and Spanish versions.
And then there are the songs that some fans might find confusing no matter what language they speak.
He points to one track that opens with the line, “Que bella eres,” which translates to, “You’re such a beautiful woman.” Martin says people have accused him of sending mixed messages, since he’s openly gay but singing about women.
“No, I’m not,” Martin says. “I’ve been in love with women, and I just had to write about the beauty of those relationships.”
[NPR]
Mas = More
[Coro:]
Hay que pedirle
Más más más a la vida
Que sea hasta que se apague el sol
Y la luna
Y que no importe
Más más más lo que digan
Como si fuera la la última noche
De tus días
Just dance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8u_dZ0a7hU
Fagburn
Interesting.
The album isn’t even being released in the UK…
cabr1to
Yup, Spanish has a specific gender in nouns and adjectives, and English doesn’t. Does that mean he’s sending “mixed signals”? No, he’s just rather aware that mainstream Latin American audiences would freak if they heard a clearly same-sex reference on the radio. More to the point, it wouldn’t *be* played on the radio at all. Know thy audience.
MAS
@cabr1to: True. A lot of Latinos like Ricky, but they hate when he talks about his gayness, check out People en Español comments if you don’t believe me.
Chris
I am sick of gay celebrities pulling the “I can still love women” line. Either you are bi, or you are whoring yourself. Pick.
bearding
@Chris: Ricky’s beards are celebrities, he can’t / won’t out them.
hf2hvit
CHUPA! CHUPA! CHUPA COMO LA PUTA!
Rub it the right way!
huh?
@hf2hvit: WTF???
Red
@cabr1to:
Err, is it so hard for hom to sing songs with gender-neutral lyrics? He doesn’t have to sing heterosexual love songs at all.