One of the neat things about working with a theater company, is the wonderfully creative environment you find yourself in. This is true even if what you do is natural building, and the people you meet are not even into the performing arts. This is exactly what happened in the events that led up to this story of finally translating a song I've been meaning to bring close to non-Hungarian speakers since I first heard it as a teenager.

The Background Story

It couldn't have been any more typically serendipitous: Two of my friends took the bus to the garbage dump of Puerto Escondido to gather some tires. When they came back, they had two hitch-hikers with them who decided to take a brake from traveling the Mexican surfing sites and check out our construction. One of them happened to be Hungarian. More than that, since she was raised in Germany, so we had more than one connecting point. Speaking the same four languages does form a bond! It didn't take long till we discovered common ground in music as well. I put on a song she recognized immediately, and we both agreed, this needed to be explained to the others... meaning anyone else who doesn't understand Hungarian.

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This hasn't been my first attempt at trying to express the same ideas in English. The song deals with elemental existential questions regarding life, purpose, and meaning. I must have been around fifteen or sixteen when these questions felt highly important for me, however, my enthusiasm for literary translation soon faded seeing that no one really cared. Though looking back, I think not being able to share the translation work was a major factor in abandoning the effort. This time, throwing ideas around back and forth, it seemed to be not only much easier, but a lot more enjoyable. Though the text and the idea are not too difficult to get across, one must choose the best expression to maintain the same rhythm, so the song can be sung in the languages translated to.

The Song in Question

Titled Valaki mondja meg - Somebody Tell Me, the song is from the 1973 musical An Imaginary Report on an American Rock Festival written by composer Gábor Presser and lyricist Anna Adamis. It raises a list of philosophical questions regarding human life, and its common dilemmas pertaining to it.

This was the first Hungarian musical, which combined the performance of a popular rock band with a theatrical presentation. Back then such a co-operation was not only a novelty, completely unheard of in both genres, but it needed to be sanctioned by the communist regime. To achieve this, the work was presented as a criticism of the youth- and counterculture, particularly in the decadent United States. Though it capitalized on the highly popular rock music at the time, the musical received heavy criticism from both the music and theater scene. In the end, by the time it was released, it became an instant success.

The Lyrics

Instead of paraphrasing, let me present the translation we came up with. Of course, we're aware that we are probably not the first ones who have undertaken this, but instead of looking for the translated lyrics, we wanted to go through the exercise ourselves. And yes, it is far from perfect, as it needs a bit more fine tuning. However, I believe both the English and the Spanish versions are good enough to present here. If either of you have any suggestions, they are always appreciated.

English

Somebody tell me what is this life like,
Somebody tell me why is it like this,
Somebody tell me why life is so lovely,
Somebody tell me why isn't it,
Somebody tell me why humans are good,
Somebody tell me why they aren't,
Somebody tell me why they turn evil,
Somebody tell me why they don't.

Somebody tell me who I should trust in,
Somebody tell me who I should not.
Somebody tell me where we can get to,
What is the taste of the water of life,
Somebody tell me why many years' time
Can fly by as quickly as a moment's pass,
Somebody tell me the meaning of gone by,
Somebody tell me where is it now.

Somebody tell me what I should live by,
Father told me not to hurt others.
Somebody's seen that I hurt you before,
Somebody's seen you hurt me too.
Somebody tell me the reason we are here,
Mother told me just to be happy,
But she never told me why not on this earth here,
She never once said: tell me why.

Español

Digame alguien cómo es la vida,
Digame alguien por qué es así,
Digame alguien por qué la vida es linda,
Digame alguien por qué no lo es,
Digame alguien por qué el humano es bueno,
Digame alguien por qué no lo es,
Digame alguien por qué se vuelve mal,
Digame alguien por qué no.

Digame alguien en quien confiar,
Digame alguien en quien no,
Digame alguien quien puede llegar a donde,
Cómo sabe el agua de la vida,
Digame alguien por qué los años largos
Pasan tan rápido como un instante,
Digame alguien qué significa el pasado,
Digame alguien dónde quedó.

Digame alguien cómo vivir,
Mi papá me dijo que no lastimes.
Alguien ha visto que me lastimaste,
Alguien ha visto que te lastimé.
Digame alguien para qué estamos aquí,
Mi mamá me dijo para ser feliz.
Pero núnca me dijó por qué no en este mundo,
Núnca preguntó: digame.

While the German version still needs to be worked out, we are both excited to perform this song at the theater, together with the theater group, even though there is not even a stage, let alone a theater building at the moment. But that is clearly not what makes a theater...

Please Visit my Previous Posts in my Music Monday Series:

In Country: Folks Songs of Americans in the Vietnam War
Images Conjured up by Tom Waits' Music
Polynesian Salt Water Music
Folk Songs from Your Home Village - Hungarian Regional Sound Archives
Party Tunes from the Wild East - The "Russendisko" Experience
Gloomy Sunday - The Hungarian Suicide Song
Memorable Weirdness - What Do You Want A Japanese To Do Again?
Songs of the Mexican Revolution: La Adelita
Accordion-Rock You May Not Know (But Really Should) - Los Tabascos
Beyond the Boundries of Styles and Genres - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
No Prophets in Their Own Land - Rodrigo y Gabriela
The First Hip-Hop I Actually Liked - Things Fall Apart by The Roots
The Harder Sound of the Middle Ages - Corvus Corax
Party Like There's No Tomorrow, Cry Like Everything Is Lost - Hungarian Gypsy Music
Classic Canadiana: Stan Rogers
Floating Into the Night by Julee Cruise
Obligatory Line-Dance at Mexican Parties - El Payaso de Rodeo
The Sound of the Hungarian Zither