So I’ve just discovered Will Stetson the other day and really liked his covers but i wanna know if his covers are accurate if not then who else makes good covers like him that are actually accurate?
Well, as with most lyrics translations, they are an interpretation of the original, given how cryptic the original often is, especially in vocaloid songs. And because he needs to make it singable, it is more often than not on the liberal side of things, especially if he tries to make them rhyme, too. So he needs to decide what the overall message of the song is and what are the important parts and try to keep those as he changes the rest somewhat to make it singable in English. So you could pick apart every song he translated or rather covered, because I am not sure he is making the translations himself, and say things like “this is incorrect”, “this is totally different in the original”, “this kind of fits but I don’t agree with that interpretation”…..
Mind you, this will be admittedly true about every singable translation of a Japanese song. If you really wanted an accurate translation, it couldn’t ever be singable. But if you’re asking whether the english sort of fits the mood, message and intention of the japanese lyrics, then I’d say yeah, they usually do. At least in the two songs I’m familiar with in original that I’ve listened to by him.
1 comment
Well, as with most lyrics translations, they are an interpretation of the original, given how cryptic the original often is, especially in vocaloid songs. And because he needs to make it singable, it is more often than not on the liberal side of things, especially if he tries to make them rhyme, too. So he needs to decide what the overall message of the song is and what are the important parts and try to keep those as he changes the rest somewhat to make it singable in English. So you could pick apart every song he translated or rather covered, because I am not sure he is making the translations himself, and say things like “this is incorrect”, “this is totally different in the original”, “this kind of fits but I don’t agree with that interpretation”…..
Mind you, this will be admittedly true about every singable translation of a Japanese song. If you really wanted an accurate translation, it couldn’t ever be singable. But if you’re asking whether the english sort of fits the mood, message and intention of the japanese lyrics, then I’d say yeah, they usually do. At least in the two songs I’m familiar with in original that I’ve listened to by him.