help tranlating a song title

[kala83]

:p Hi there I am kind of new here I had a question to ask if I may I got into the th Band Gazette a while ago and I really like one of theirs songs "Anata No Tame No Kono Inochi" but I am kind of lost as to what the title means? and since it my favorite song I would love to get a translation as to its meaning I thought I heard one of my friends say tha it ment "I do this for you"? but I am not entirely sure.

Any help would be very, very wonderful and apreichated Thank you!

[magevampjoe]

I can only help with the title.

I think it means '(I do this) for your benefit'. I do this is in brackets because it may not mean that, but may just be 'for your benefit'.

Sorry, you need someone with more japanese skill than me for this.

[kala83]

lol thats ok you got a lot further then I did.....i am sure I can find some who can help me translate this fairly well...this fourm is fairly big so I would be suprised to not get some good help on the matter

[magevampjoe]

Just remember that people are busy, and also it is about 5:40PM there (that about right? Depends on your zone of course) and so 1) rush hour, 2)People may not go on their PC till later on. Also, many of the better people live in Japan, or even more east than me, so they may be asleep. In UK it is now 10:40PM, in japan, it is only 7:40AM, and in eastern Europe a couple hours ahead of me, so right now isn't really the best time for people to answer. However, I am sure someone will get back to you if you have patience.

Joe

[nice gaijin]

I'd translate it either as "this/my life is for you" or "this life that is for you"

As for the lyrics. We help those that help themselves. Give it a shot before you ask us to do the work for you. Also, translating stuff in romaji is like hopping backwards on one foot; it's much easier to translate stuff that's actually written in Japanese.

[Mikawa Ossan]

I would translate the title similarly to Nice Gaijin. I would go for "This Life for You".

And I second his comment about making an effort yourself before asking for help. Otherwise it sounds too much like you want us to do it for you rather than with you. As has been stated before, this is not a translation service, after all!

Good luck!

[nice gaijin]

I would go for "This Life for You"
Less literal, but definitely more lyrical. I like it.

[kala83]

I'd translate it either as "this/my life is for you" or "this life that is for you"

As for the lyrics. We help those that help themselves. Give it a shot before you ask us to do the work for you. Also, translating stuff in romaji is like hopping backwards on one foot; it's much easier to translate stuff that's actually written in Japanese.
I would translate it myself that but I have but I have maybe two Kanji technically memorized and thats about it....for my extent of Japanese..for the moment I never expected to get this translated right away I fully expected it to take a while I just wanted a little assistance...really.

I would translate the title similarly to Nice Gaijin. I would go for "This Life for You".
And I second his comment about making an effort yourself before asking for help. Otherwise it sounds too much like you want us to do it for you rather than with you. As has been stated before, this is not a translation service, after all!
Good luck!
yeah I do get what you mean i think I will take off the lyrics...and just leave it as finding out the title...like I orginally thought...like I said I would have tried to translate it myself...but I am very,very new to Japanese and don't know the first thing about simple translation apart from how its suppoused to work but I saved the lyrics to a file on my computer.......so I guess when i get better at my Japanese skills sorry for coming off rude didn't mean to do that I will go back and edit the post now

[Mikawa Ossan]

If you don't know any Japanese, a good start would be to use an online translating service such as Babel Fish (http://world.altavista.com/). Their translations are suspect at best, but it's better than nothing, right?

[Elizabeth]

My vote for most moving translation goes to "My Life is for you."

In any case, for anyone not familiar with the Japanese word "Inochi" (life) it is definately another human life being offered, not way of living or lifestyle or a person talking to themselves. :)

[Charles Barkley]

I second Elizabeth's sentiment. The 'this' in 'this life for you' is vague in English--it could refer to the you person. The this in the japanese just reinforces that it is the speaker's life, so adding 'this' into the english translation seems unnecessary.

[Mikawa Ossan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the original title a sentence fragment? Why then translate it as a sentence?

[Charles Barkley]

I think its overly vague, in that the title could read something what 'how your life has been going.' Of course if there are hints of this element in the song as well (I have never heard of it and have not looked at the lyrics) perhaps a nice nuance could be added by a vague title. But if its just a song about living one's life for the sake of the other person, I don't like the English.

Is there anything particularly wrong with translating a fragment into a sentence in a case like this?

[Mikawa Ossan]

Well, whether we like what the title says, it says what it says. :p Trying to change what the title means when we translate is not only misleading, but it is dishonest and smacks of cultural imperialism. (I had a college teacher who was livid about this idea of cultural imperialism in translation. I guess some of that has rubbed off on me. :p)

But to answer the question, no, I don't think that it's inherently bad to translate fragments into sentences if that is the best way to convey what is meant in the original text. However, it does have a different nuance to say something as a fragment than as a sentence. Further, I think it's best to try to preserve the original text in terms of meaning and nuance when translating, because most people wouldn't understand the original text even if they did see it (otherwise what would the use of translating it be?) and so the translation becomes the closest thing that most people have to the original text. When the text is altered (even just stylistically), it alters the perception of it that the reader has. I think that is bad, as it leads to misunderstanding down the road.

I think its overly vague, in that the title could read something what 'how your life has been going.'
I have to respectfully disagree. I think the title is actually pretty cut and dry.

[Buntaro]

Hi everybody!

One of my favorite karaoke songs is Inochi Kurenai. I guess that translates as, "You won't give me your love"?

[Elizabeth]

Further, I think it's best to try to preserve the original text in terms of meaning and nuance when translating, because most people wouldn't understand the original text even if they did see it (otherwise what would the use of translating it be?) and so the translation becomes the closest thing that most people have to the original text. When the text is altered (even just stylistically), it alters the perception of it that the reader has. I think that is bad, as it leads to misunderstanding down the road.
Just speaking personally, if all I knew was the title "This life is for you" in English, without appreciating the subtle limitations of "inochi" in Japanese, it would conjure a variety of meanings largely related to "your" present social/physical life/environment being a good fit, as a call to make "your" life as meaningful as possible and perhaps lastly as a statement of feeling from another person.

Whereas in Japanese, "inochi" it is clearly only the latter. Not daily existance, livelihood, psychological centerdness etc etc. It is from a mortal life or being in the biological sense of the term. End of story. :relief:

[orochi]

The translation in this case is no more than that--a translation.

[kala83]

My vote for most moving translation goes to "My Life is for you."

In any case, for anyone not familiar with the Japanese word "Inochi" (life) it is definitely another human life being offered, not way of living or lifestyle or a person talking to themselves. :)
I think I agree with you on this one i just recently found a clip on Youtube of this PV that actually has subtitles and from what the subs are translating to its about a guy that is obsessed with peeping at a girl across from his apartment through his window...and apparently he lives entirely out of apartment and wants to meet this girl but because of his obsession he can't....and apparently he films this girl on video and and takes pictures of the girl.

Its a weird concept to think of since there really is no girl in the video at all, but you just have a view of the guy and apparently his daily habits that deal with his obsession.

But after seeing this clip...I think I agree with this translation more then anything. lol if anyone is interested I can post up the link to the PV if anyone wants to take a peek at all.

[Kirakira1232]

Hi everybody!
One of my favorite karaoke songs is Inochi Kurenai. I guess that translates as, "You won't give me your love"?


Inochi means a human life, kurenai however is a more casual form of kudasai. So its something like "Won't you give me your life".

[ASHIKAGA]

Inochi means a human life, kurenai however is a more casual form of kudasai. So its something like "Won't you give me your life".

Actually, くれない (kurenai) is a bright red color (紅 in kanji, can also be read べに - Beni ). The title 命くれない refers to the lives of the two lovers that are burning bright, bright red.

[Kirakira1232]

Thats also true, I didnt really think of it like that lol. I dont really know that song ^^

[ASHIKAGA]

Thats also true, I didnt really think of it like that lol. I dont really know that song ^^


What can I say.... I'm old. I KNOW these songs. lol

Karaoke, anyone???? :sing: