♫ ♪ Music and Lyrics...and Translation?

Dear Reader,





You should know by now that when I hear a song, it's not the music I listen to first, it's the words. I am quite fortunate to be able to understand two languages quite fluently: English and Malay. And, by understanding Malay, I can almost understand Indonesian. You see, the Malay and Indonesian languages share the same relationship as American and British English. The accents and colloquial terms are quite different, but the basic words used are pretty similiar.



Malaysians sometimes borrow Indonesian words, especially in poetry, novels or songs, because Indonesian words sound so much more poetic and romantic than our Malay ones.



Anyway, the reason I'm composing this post is not to deliver a lecture on the differences or similarities between the Malaysian and Indonesian languages. I'm here to share a song with you, my dear reader. It's called 'Juwita (Citra Terindah)' by M. Nasir. Here are the lyrics and the translation:





M. Nasir
Juwita (Citra Terindah)
Bagaimanakah aku gambarkan
Rasa yang membakar jiwaku?
Tiada kata yang tak cliché
Bagai habis bahasa bermutu
Sedang engkau teristimewa buat diriku
Ilham tugu Taj Mahal
Didirikan, oh…


Barangkali kita perlu
Melihat di sebalik materi
Kau wanita, aku lelaki
Ayuhlah kita *mengikat janji
Yang kau Juwita menolak segala dusta
Citra yang terindah
Cerita yang sakti

Chorus:
Ku serahkan nasibku pada cinta murni
Jugaku rasakan bukti
Patahkan, ku hancurkan badanku ini
Kau tetap menjadi

Oh-oh, oh-oh…*Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

Kau segala-galanya

Kau Juwita menghidupkan jiwa yang lara
Menggoncang kalbu yang lama membeku

[Chorus]

Oh-oh, oh-oh…Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

*Sempurnakan cintaku
Juwita...Juwita...
Kaulah segalanya
Segalanya...
Kaulah segalanya
Segalanya...






M. Nasir
Juwita (The Most Beautiful Image)
How do I describe
The feeling that burns in my soul?
There are no words that aren’t cliché
As if language of good quality has been used up
Whereas you’re the most special person to me
The inspiration behind the Taj Mahal
Being built, oh…

Maybe we need
To look behind the subject matter
You’re a woman, I’m a man
Come, let us *make promises
That you, Juwita, push aside all the lies
The most beautiful image
A sacred story

Chorus:
I deliver my fate to a pure love
I have also felt the proof
If I break, crush my body
You will still be

Oh-oh, oh-oh…*The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

You are everything

You, Juwita, brought a miserable soul to life
Shook up a heart that has long been frozen

[Chorus]

Oh-oh, oh-oh…The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita
Oh-oh, oh-oh…The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

*Perfect my love
Juwita...Juwita...
You are everything
Everything...
You are everything
Everything...









*mengikat janji--make promises
Ok, so I translated this phrase as 'make promises'. But the literal word-for-word translation is 'tie promises'. I love this phrase because it implies that promises, like knots, can be tied; that they are binding. Just thought you would like to know that, my dearest reader.


*pujaan--the one I adore
The original [accurate] translation for 'pujaan' is 'idol', or 'sacrifice'; you know, something to be worshipped and adored. I thought 'idol' was a little heavy for the upbeat mood of this song and, besides, I believe in the whole monotheistic "You shall have no other gods before Me" thing. So I paraphrased.


*sempurnakan--perfect
The word 'perfect' is used as a verb here, not as a noun. Examples:
Verb: 'please perfect my love'.
Noun: 'make my love perfect'.
Interestingly enough, it's almost the same situation with the Malay word. 'Sempurna' means 'perfect', a noun. Add '-kan' to the back and it becomes a verb.





Alrighty then. I should probably go now, before I come up with anymore footnotes and bore you to death. Bubbye!





Yours,



Figgy the Philologist