Chinese Song Translation 《辣妹子》

[思考题]

Over the past 6 months I've taken an avid interest in Chinese language songs as a productive means of studying and supplementing my Mandarin.

With friends' encouragement, I have undertaken the posting of English translations of both widespread classics and some of my personal favorites.

My interest does not lie in literal, word for word translation. Certain words and phrases, though poignant in their native Mandarin context,

sound ambiguous or halting in English. Rather I aim to express the feeling of each song -- as if the lyrics were as natural to sing in translated

English as they were in the original Chinese. I am not avoiding literal interpretation, so much not allowing it to interfere with the tone or

underlying concepts of each song.

While I encourage any questions, 'quires and qualms, my hope is that rather than simple criticism, we instead make constructive suggestions with specific examples.

My initial words are not the end all, but rather the instigation of further creation.

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Chinese Song Translation 《辣妹子》 - She is hot.

For an online recording of the song click &cat=0&gate=1&ct=134217728&tn=baidumt,%C0%B1%C3%C3%D7%D3++&si=%C0%B1%C3%C3%D7%D3;;%CB%CE%D7%E6%D3%A2;;56399;;56399&lm=-1&mtid=1&d=1&size=1572864&attr=0,0&titlekey=585673521,606282697&mtype=1"]HERE

A fun and popular folk song

辣妹子辣辣妹子辣......................She is hot, she is hot,

辣妹子辣妹子辣辣辣....................She is hot, she’s hot hot hot,

辣妹子从小辣不怕......................She was never afraid of spice,

辣妹子长大不怕辣......................When she grew up she was never afraid of spice,

辣妹子嫁人怕不辣......................Only afraid of a marriage without spice,

吊一串辣椒碰嘴巴......................Bite a bunch of chillies,

辣妹子从来辣不怕......................She was never afraid of spice,

辣妹子生性不怕辣......................She was born to love spice,

辣妹子出门怕不辣......................She was only ever afraid of going out with no spice,

抓一把辣椒会说话......................Bite into a bunch of chillies, now were talking,

辣妹子辣妹子辣妹子....................She is hot, she is hot,

辣妹子辣妹子辣妹子哟..................She is hot, she is hot, yo.

辣妹子说话泼辣辣.....................She speaks with passion,

辣妹子做事泼辣辣.....................She moves with passion,

辣妹子待人热辣辣.....................She will welcome you warmly,

辣椒帮她走天下.......................Chilli gives the spice of life,

辣出汗来汗也辣呀汗也辣................She sweats chilli, sweats chilli ,

辣出泪来泪也辣呀泪也辣................She cries chilli, cries chilli,

辣出火来火也辣呀火也辣................She spits fire, and the fire is chilli,

辣出歌来歌也辣 歌也辣.................She sings chilli, the song is chilli!

This is a playful and flirtatious song about a young woman and her zest for life.

CULTURAL NOTE:

This song is sung by Song Zuying 《宋祖英》, from wikipedia:

"Song Zuying is the most famous soprano in China"

For more information on Song Zuying click HERE

[xiaocai]

I have to say it is rather an interesting choice to translate this song.

One thing I'm not very sure about is:

Is 辣妹子 the Chinese equivalent to "hot girl" in English? Because 辣妹子 and 辣妹 are different in Chinese AFAIK.

[gato]

Yeah, 辣妹子 means bitchy, actually.

[xiaocai]

So this song should go like:

She is bitchy, she is bitchy,

She is bitchy, she's bitchy bitchy bitchy,

Hmmm, doesn't sound like something one should be very proud of...

[roddy]

I suspect there's a more moderate interpretation, or you'd hear this a lot less on CCTV. Fiery, feisty, spunky. Nothing wrong with those words being shouted out at prime time.

[思考题]

Thank you gato, xiaocai and roddy for your comments,

You bring up a good point, the only reason I still have a preference for 'hot' is that 'bitchy', 'fiery', 'feisty' and 'spunky' are all two syllable words that as a would-be lyric severely affect the tempo and rhythm of the song. Also I feel the 辣妹子 has a definite playfulness, which requires a word without a negative meaning.

TRANSLATORS NOTE (from nciku):

辣妹子 [làmèizi]

1. A girl from Hunan or Sichuan Province. Also broadly used to refer to a forthright, bold and eloquent girls.

[内森]

The song describes a （泼辣） bold and vivacious woman; strong is mind, spirit and deed （从小...不怕）. She exudes （出汗） a passion that spreads beyond herself; others caught in her path cannot but be overtaken by it. At the end of the song, I read 汗、泪 and even 火 to be more akin to the English “blood, sweat and tears.” There’s fire in her blood; it moves her--unconditionally--to be a force of passion in the normally drab world of our, under heaven （天下）.

辣妹子辣辣妹子辣......................She is hot, she is hot,

辣妹子辣妹子辣辣辣....................She is hot, she’s hot hot hot,

辣妹子从小辣不怕......................BORN A FEARLESS GIRL,

辣妹子长大不怕辣......................BECOME A FEARSOME WOMAN,

辣妹子嫁人怕不辣......................HER only FEAR IS PASSIONLESS LOVE,

吊一串辣椒碰嘴巴......................IF YOU PLAY WITH THIS PEPPER YOU’RE GOING TO GET BURNED,

辣妹子从来辣不怕......................She HAS NEVER FEARED SPICE,

辣妹子生性不怕辣......................SHE WANTS IT; SHE NEEDS IT,

辣妹子出门怕不辣......................CAN THE WORLD OUTSIDE HER DOOR APPEASE HER DESIRE?

抓一把辣椒会说话......................PLUCK UP YOUR COURAGE, IF YOU DARE SPEAK IN HER PRESENCE,

辣妹子辣妹子辣妹子....................She is hot, she is hot,

辣妹子辣妹子辣妹子哟..................She is hot, she is hot, yo.

辣妹子说话泼辣辣.....................HER WORDS ARE SHARP,

辣妹子做事泼辣辣.....................HER ACTIONS BOLD,

辣妹子待人热辣辣.....................BUT IF SHE KNOWS YOU, SHE’LL YOUR INFLAME YOUR SOUL,

辣椒帮她走天下.......................HER SPICE IS HER SAVIOR, THAT SPARKS HER MORTAL COIL,

辣出汗来汗也辣呀汗也辣................She sweats chili, sweats chili ,

辣出泪来泪也辣呀泪也辣................She cries chili, cries chili,

辣出火来火也辣呀火也辣................She spits fire, and the fire is HOT,

辣出歌来歌也辣 歌也辣.................She sings OF chili, AND THE song is HOT