Le Vieil Amant/The Old Lover, by Emilie Simon (translation)

I've wanted for quite a while to transfer a lot of my old translation attempts away from Facebook, so after my translation of the Georges Brassens song 'Les Passantes', the next obvious choice is Emilie Simon's music.

If you've not heard of Emilie Simon, she's one of my favourite musicians/singer/songwriters, not just in French, but EVER. I suppose you could say she comes under the electronic category as she does use an amazing array of weird and wonderful gadgets to create her music, including some strange contraption that attaches to her arm like something out of a Tim Burton film and which modulates the quality of her voice in real time, a bit like the Talk Box favoured by Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, so she can get that strange auto-tune effect, add echoes, or make her voice 'stutter', amongst other things - anyway it's very cool.

But when anyone says electronic music it might suggest something more techno than what it actually is - Emilie's voice is towards the higher end of the range, clear and crisp and times, then soft, breathy and delicate at others, and at times innocent like a young girl (especially when she sings in English on tracks like 'Flowers'), though she can belt it out as well (e.g. on tracks like 'Song of the Storm') - so thinking about it, she's actually quite similar to Kate Bush - and a few of her albums are themed around the natural world like Végétal, Flower Book, and La Marche de L'Empereur which won the 2006 Victoire de la Musique award for a film soundtrack for the French documentary of the same name about the Emperor penguins. 


This probably makes her sound a bit like Bjork, but she does also play the guitar so many of her tracks have a punky-rock feel (like 'Roses Never Fall In Love') and she's covered a few rock tracks like Nirvana's Come As You Are, and Iggy Pop's I Wanna Be Your Dog. But what is awesome about Emilie's music is her amazing ear for music so her and her very talented sound engineer Cyrille Brissot (he built the arm gadget) come up with some awesome ideas to make the sounds they're after - like striking the strings of a piano from under the lid while Emilie is playing a melody, splashing out and looping a rhythm in a giant bowl of water, or just tapping and knocking a rhythm on the piano lid. Although I love Emilie's tracks as they are on the album, I think she really comes into her own when she and her team perform live, especially if it's been recorded on film so you can see all the cool gadgets, and inventive sound-makers they use on stage.

But it's really the lyrics and sounds of the words that are my favourite part of her music, which is why I wanted to try to translate them so non-French speakers could in some way access her music, although I have to hold my hands up and admit, it's nowhere near perfect. Poetry/music is one of the hardest things to translate, partly because of trying to get the rhythm of the words right, but also the sonority and rhyme is extremely difficult to replicate if you're trying to keep the meaning of the words. At times I've had to adapt the words to keep the sonority whilst still trying to communicate the overall meaning - it's definitely good exercise for the brain! But anyway, this is my best shot, so I hope you like it :)

Here's a video of the track I've translated Le Vieil Amant which is an acoustic version (so not so many gadgets this time), but I think its simplicity really makes the beauty and melancholy of the song stand out.  The original text and my translation are both below:

PS I know 'muguet' is not the same as lily, but it fits better :0)

Mon amour j'ai pensé
Avec naïveté
Qu'un brin seul de muguet
Pouvait te ramener
Alors j'ai retrouvé
Un ou deux vieux sonnets
Pour te rappeler
Pour te rappeler
A moi mon amour
A travers ce beau jour
De printemps j'ai laissé
Près de tes pieds tomber
Un brin seul de muguet
Mais il s'est désséché
Attendant ce baiser
Qui ne viendra jamais

I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
To call you back,
To call you back
To me. My sweet,
On this lovely day
Of spring did I
Let fall at your feet
One little lily
That has since dried
Awaiting that kiss
That will never arrive

Le mois de mai
S'est joué de moi
Cette année
J'ai laissé couler trop d'emois
Cette fois le mois mai
S'est moqué de moi
Cette année
J'ai laissé couler trop d'emois
Cette fois
Cette fois

The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time

Il est parti le temps
Il n'a pas pris son temps
Me voilà qui t'attends
Comme un vieux prétendant
Me voilà qui regrette
Devant ces quelques miettes
Une vielle amourette
Qui n'a ni queue ni tête

He left on that day,
He did not hesitate,
And here I am, I wait,
Like an old candidate,
Here I am, I regret,
I cannot forget,
An infatuated brunette,
The lonely half of a duet

Mon amour j'ai pensé
Avec naïveté
Qu'un brin seul de muguet
Pouvait te ramener
Alors j'ai retrouvé
Un ou deux vieux sonnets
Que tu n'as jamais aimé

I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
You never liked it anyway

The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time

Je voulais je l'avoue
Danser joue contre joue
Je l'avoue je rêvais
De te faire tournoyer
Respirer cet air frais
Regarder rayonner
Le visage d'un amour
Qui n'a pas vu le jour

I did want, I admit,
To dance cheek to cheek,
I admit, I did dream,
Of our dancing feet,
The fresh air we’d breathe,
Basking in the gleam,
Of the face of a love,
That was never to be.

Mon amour j'ai pensé
Avec naïveté
Qu'un brin seul de muguet
Pouvait te ramener
Alors j'ai retrouvé
Un ou deux vieux sonnets
Je sais tu n'aimes pas les sonnets
Je sais

I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
I know, you don’t like poetry,
I know

The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time

Just love Emilie's style....

Hangover food (Masala omelette and homemade hash browns)

I need to preface this recipe with the reason behind my eventual cooking choice.

Long story short, my boyfriend had a very bad hangover this morning, and regardless of the fact that I wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic (amongst other unimpressive acts, he'd left our front door unlocked), I did feel as if I wanted to cook something that would help bring him back from 'Zombieland'. So I turned to Ravinder Bhogal's "Cook in Boots" to see if I could find some inspiration. After about half an hour drooling over recipes I didn't have the ingredients or energy to cook, I decided to combine two recipes from her 'Hangover Food' chapter.


The Masala Omelette I've cooked on several occasions but I'd never tried the hash browns before, and I thought since Tom really likes hash browns it would be pretty good hangover food. It turned out really tasty in the end and definitely filled us both up, and Tom did indeed seem a lot more alive after eating it (and was able to keep it all down, which is a definite plus!!). Now I can't say it cured him completely, but then again I haven't seen him as drunk as he was last night in about 2 years so the fact that he's up and about at all is a miracle.

Omelette might be a bit flat but probably due to being in the oven for too long

Now I didn't quite get the timing right to have both parts of the dish ready at the same time (partly because one of my two mixing bowls was otherwise engaged - ewww); instead I had to prep both dishes one at a time and keep the omelette warm while the hash browns were cooking, but what I thought I'd do was write down what I did this time, with comments on how I'd get it right next time at the end of the post.

Again, as with most of my posts I didn't follow the recipes exactly and I changed/added ingredients according to what I had in the fridge so this is what I used and what I did.

Ingredients

Masala Omelette (serves 2)
1tbsp vegetable oil
1 leek, sliced
1 handful closed cup mushrooms, stalks removed and quartered
1 v. small shake of crushed chillies (less than 1/4 tsp, original asked for 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped)
1 small tomato, seeds removed and chopped
5 eggs
1 splash milk (optional)
1 tsp garam masala
1 shake ground coriander (the recipe asked for 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, but I'm not much of a fan, so never have it in the house)
sea salt and black pepper to season

Onion hash browns (makes 12, so there were a few left over!)
NB. Original recipe used cumin, but again I'm not a big fan so I left it out
500g peeled and grated potatoes
1 small onion, grated (or whizzed through a mini-chopper if you've got one :p )
2 shakes ground coriander (original recipe asked for 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander)
1 shake crushed chillies (approx 1/4 tsp)
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying (original asked for olive oil)

Method

1. Soak the grated potatoes in cold water for extra crunch. At this point I set it aside and left it while I started preparing the omelette. I'll comment at the end on how I would improve the methodology.

2. Preheat the grill to hot. Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the leeks, the chilli, and a tbsp of the chopped onion from the hash brown ingredients. Fry until soft, and then add the tomato and the chopped mushrooms and fry for another minute.


3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs (they need to be quite fluffy or it might end up a bit flat like mine) and season with the garam masala (it will turn the eggs a browny-green colour but don't be put off!), salt and pepper. Add the splash of milk at this point if you like and whisk in along with the ground coriander.

4. Pour the beaten eggs into the frying pan and tilt the pan so the egg sets evenly. Once it has set underneath (silicon spatulas are great for lifting up the omelette and taking a peek), slide it under the grill and leave until it's just set on top. (After this point I had to keep my omelette warm in the oven at a low heat)

5. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes then squeeze out as much excess water as possible.

6. Put the potatoes into a large bowl with the rest of the chopped onion, crushed chillies, ground coriander and mix well. Fold in the flour and mix in the egg.

7. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan (I used a griddle pan and it worked just fine as long as you tilt the pan to make sure the whole surface is covered).

8. With wet hands, shape roughly 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into a flat fritter and carefully slide into the frying pan. Cook the hash browns for about 3 minutes on each side until nice and golden brown and crispy-looking (again silicon spatulas are great for peeking underneath to see how they're getting on). Be gentle when turning them as if they're not brown enough underneath then they can fall apart pretty easily.

9. Drain on kitchen paper, and repeat with the rest of the mixture, adding more oil as necessary (be careful how much you put in as it can spit!). My pan could fit about 4 fritters at one time so I cooked them in 3 batches, although depending on how quickly you can shape and add the fritters you may have to turn some of them sooner than the rest of the batch.

10. Once they've all been cooked, remove the omelette from oven, divide in two and serve with as many hash browns as you can handle!

Notes for next time

Since it actually takes a little while to shape and fry the hash browns, next time I would probably try doing it the other way round, i.e. preparing and frying the fritters first and then popping them in the oven to keep warm while you cook the omelette, as this didn't actually take very long at all. I might also try halving the recipe for hash browns as it was quite a lot of food with the omelette as well, so this would reduce the frying time as well. I think they'd also be really nice served with tomato and onion chutney as well, so shall remember to add that next time.

I'll let you know how it goes next time I try this particular combo!

PS. Admittedly the colour of the omelette might not be very appealing to some of you, but I promise it was really really nice. And if that doesn't convince you, Tom just commented that the photo I just added makes it look a bit like doner meat. Next time I might just let him suffer...

The starving artist?

Hi there,
I just recently had a quick look back through some of my favourite pages on Stumble Upon and top of the list is this one about tattoo artist Scott Campbell.

If you have a chance to check the link out you'll see some truly fascinating sculptures that are made by laser cutting the shapes out of stacks and stacks of...wait for it....






US dollars!

The images he uses as a base for his sculptures are traditional fare for a tattoo artist - lots of skulls, flames, spider webs, butterflies, etc - and the article points out the contrast between on one side the notions of wealth, plenty, and the lack of concern about 'wasting money' (one of the pieces is made up of $11,000 in uncut but genuine currency), and on the other side what could be considered "working class" imagery. Now I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that particular terminology, as I don't think the imagery is exclusive to class, but as I mentioned before it is indeed reminiscent of traditional, All-American, tattoo imagery, which I suppose you could argue is not commonly associated with the upper echelons of society.

But it does also shock, as the use of so much money seem to directly contradict the notion of the starving artist who has to live from hand to mouth - just how did this guy get all that money I wonder. You could of course see it is a visual representation of an attempt to free oneself from the shackles of money - it reminds me of Rage Against The Machine's music video for 'Sleep Now in the Fire' when they occupied Wall Street, and where a homeless man wins a wheelbarrow-ful of cash on a game show, only to walk away in disgust at the money hungry audience and TV host. History seems to have repeated itself of late, with the Occupy Wall Street movement of the past two months protesting against greed and corruption, and indeed yesterday saw 30,000 take to the streets in NYC, and all entry points to the New York Stock Exchanges were blockaded. 

But back to the art. To my mind, what is particularly interesting is the motif of the skeleton in several of the pieces, which acts like a 'memento mori' (latin for "Remember your mortality"). In my opinion, it seems to be talking about how wealth, and the material things we spend our money on, amounts to very little when we die in the end, but also how excessive wealth can be a destructive force in the world. The economic downturn that was caused by recklesd and unregulated lending and gambling of wholly intangible sums of money has been the downfall of many big businesses and banks, which sadly had the knock on effect of making the world a pretty damn impossible place to live for the all those little guys across the world who lost their businesses or their job, their savings, their homes, and in some cases their families, and so on and so forth. For some people the credit crunch really was the final nail in the coffin.

And in many ways we still can't get our heads around numbers that are so huge. When I was a student, I tried my best to pay attention in Finance classes, and although the lecturer was young, pleasant, and dare I say it, vaguely attractive, it was still so dry, that I didn't even bother attempting to revise Finance for the exam and just hoped that I could answer enough accounting questions to pass (it worked by the way). But there is one thing that the lecturer did pass on which was the link to the following article about how to understand the phenomenally gargantuan numbers sprawled across the news about debts, losses, bail outs, deficits, and so on.

"How to understand a trillion dollars?" by Time Business.

In some ways, I think that this is also another aspect of what Scott Campbell is trying to accomplish with his dollar sculptures. By highlighting the waste involved in creating his pieces, he is also helping us visualise money in more tangible terms. I mean, let's be honest, if we actually had to keep all our actual money (excluding credit and overdrafts) at home under the mattress in $1 bills (or £5 notes) then we'd probably think it looked like a lot, but you would soon be able to see the pile grow smaller and smaller as you had to spend it. But as it is we keep our money in a bank, where we have an overdraft, and most likely a credit card (and a lot of people have more than 1). We spend our money electronically for the most part nowadays too, and I think that is another reason why it has become so easy over the past decade for 'spendaholics' to get into debt.

If I were ever in a position to actually want a Louis Vuitton handbag that cost, let's say £450, then I (personally) would be 100 times less likely to purchase it if I had to hand over £450 in cash than if I could just whack it on a credit card. My boyfriend Tom, as a matter of fact managed to get out of his overdraft relatively quickly by just taking out £10 cash per week to spend on non-essential items (so anything apart from food, fuel, and rent etc), and he felt that having his spending money in cash was a much better way of making sure he stuck to his budget, because when it was gone it was gone. This is something that I really want to try as I hate having to pay overdraft fees, so the sooner I get out the better.

But I digress. One final comment on this work and then I'll leave it for today. I mentioned earlier the skull and skeletons can be seen as a reminder of our mortality and our impermanence in this world, and it seems nowadays that not a lot lasts for very long. In today's 'throw away society' it is not only appliances and computers that are no longer built to last (it's called planned obsolescence I believe), but even the latest fashions that we wear and the newest bands and pop stars that we listen to are all produced to be lusted over, consumed, and almost immediately forgotten as soon as the next big thing comes along. So the fact that these sculptures were created by a tattoo artist, whose day to day job is to create artwork that does for the most part endure is an interesting contrast.

Once again, I feel as if I really want to get the tattoo I've wanted for the last couple of years, but sadly I can't afford it right now...