Sunday 20 May 2007

Translation exercise 2: Shenkie video

My apartment comes with a tv with MTV which might seem dangerous but actually the videos they show aren't that exciting - they have a predominance of dance music videos (boring!) and woofy English rock (Arctic monkeys, coldplay blah blah). But! I happened to see an incredibly amusing one this morning, and even if you didn't find the article from De Brug Nijmegen interesting, I think you'll like this one, although it looks better on tele.



It's by a band called 'De jeugd van tegenwoordig' (the youth of today / contemporary youth). Purported to be the winner of a competition which asks people to make their own music video but actually professionally done. It is extremely amusing, and would probably be classified as child porn in Australia.

Band website:
http://www.dejeugdvantegenwoordig.com/
Filmakers website:
http://www.filmjugend.de/
An article about the clip/band/filmaker (in dutch):
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/34650690

I downloaded two different transcriptions of the lyrics - both are totally different! It doesn't sound like it would be such a hard song to hear the words of, if you could speak dutch, but maybe the people transcribing it can't speak much dutch either, or perhaps they're 8 years old. Anyway, the meaning clearly isn't deep, whatever it is (think I'll stick to De Brug from now on).

Shenki
Reverse, you’re crazy for this one!

(Willie Wartaal)
Dan wat! Ik spit niet goed,
What then! I (something) no good
Ik hop hip als een konijn in de Jimmy Woo,
I hip hop like a rabbit in Jimmy Woo
G in de hoek met groepies G in de hoek met tjoeries,
G in the corner with groupies, G in the corner with [tjoeries]
Eentje voor je praatjes, eentje voor je stank,
one for your chats, one for stink
Eentje voor je …,
one for your [?skins/skinheads]
Want die dames willen gratis drank,
because the girls want free drinks
Dus twee tjoeries en twee keer twoe,
so two [tjoeries] and two times [twoe]
Je hele crew is een beetje moe,
your whole crew is a little bit tired
Nepkomen ik weet niet hoe,
fronting I don't know how
Shenkies zijn played out als Evisu
Shenkies are played out like Evisu

Chorus:
Shenkie in de koelkast
Shenkie in the fridge
Kenker je bent een fool gast
Kenker you're a fool guest
Oublié, quelque chose
(french - help!)
Faffie, faffie, oeh ah
(2x)

(Fabergé)
P en faber E en G en een E met een moeilijk streepje Gé,
to the P to the E to the G to the E with a difficult stroke
Ik kraak wat af….,
I diss a bit
Als ik door je heen prik zijn de rapen gaar,
when I pierce you with my weaving rap (a rather imaginative interpretation_
Ja ik ben weer op TV (…),
Yeah, I'm on TV again
Als ik…..(met m’n luchtbalon),
when I... (with my balloon)
Shows in Frankfürt…. ,
En ik hang met Reverse, hij is ook bekend,
And I hang with Reverse, he's also well known
Geld geven heeft zeker zin,
Getting money makes sense
Stort je props maar lekker op m’n rekening,
Kindly leave your props on my account
Wat is al die shine en die slechte geur,
What's all the shine and the bad smell
Fabergé, Willie W en Vieze Fur,
Faberge, Willie W and Dirty Fur
Wat de fok is al die shine en slechte geur,
What the fuck is all the shine and bad smell
Fabergé, Willie W enneh Vieze Fur
Faberge, Willie W and Dirty Fur
Refrein

(Vieze Fur)
Koetjesrepen in me huis,
Caramels in my house (koetjesrepen are a brand of caramel or some other typically dutch sweet, there's a lot of them)
Koetjerepen in me vacht,
Caramels in my skim
Koetjesrepen in me buik ,
Caramels in my tummy
Koetjesrepen komen hard,
Caramels come hard (?)
(2x)

Koetjesrepen, koetjesrepen
Caramels, Caramels
Wie wil er nou m’n koetjesrepen
Who wants my caramels then?
Koetjesrepen, koetjesrepen
Caramels, Caramels
Neem alsjeblieft m’n koetjesrepen
Please take my caramels

(lyrics downloaded from http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/34650690)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good song, I appreciate the translation.

As for "Oublié, quelque chose," it literally means "forgotten, something." If the lyrics actually say "Oublier," that might make more sense, then meaning "forgetting something." Hope I helped.

Anonymous said...

goede start