"Lost in Translation" : FAWM

Lost in Translation

2 days ago by @berni1954

Skirmish: There's no business like.... (@richardmasters)

Lost in Translation

berni1954

00:00

Liner Notes

#Electro-Acoustic #Work #DonnerHush

I was a translator from Catalan into English for 35 years. Twenty year of that time were as a Lecturer in Translation at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

I have seen an incredible change in the profession and some of my gripes are in this song.

Instrument: Donner Hush-I (Travel Guitar with on board effects)

Lyrics

CHORDS: Three Chord Trick in C INTRO: (F) (G) (C)

Being a freelance translator You can set your hours of work A fact that friends all envy As they view you with a smirk "You've got it so easy!" They'll repeat it to you rote But if they knew the hours we work They'd know why we don't gloat

The deadline is looming There's ten thousand words to go Its five o'clock in the morning When I'll finish I don't know The amount of research I had to do Means I won't be earning a lot I'm running now on caffeine And my eyes are all bloodshot

There was a time we translated From the original text But they've got us correcting Some AI's bloody mess There's twice enough work now For a third of the pay The romance in translating Has long since had its day

CHORUS

The robots don't get context Silly errors we often see Like a book about beavers Mentioning women's anatomy Or literal translations That don't make any sense Robots seldom know when They may be giving offense

CHORUS

Comments

@janeg 8h

I have several friends who would relate to every word of this! Except some are doing all this as volunteers for causes they believe in. The beaver line is especially memorable.

@willow1 1d

You’re so eclectic, Berni! 10,000 is just too many words. Fun song, such a unique take on translation!

@jerrypettit 2d

Nice vocal over an...interesting story. I enjoyed this one! ❤️

@rshakesp 2d

Great song - musically sets up a great framework for the story - I happen to have worked with an in person translator in a government context this morning - and it was astonishing what he was able to do - I think library translation is even more amazing - keeping the soul of the text is a piece of magic - so chapeau!

@richardmasters 2d

I was speaking with a someone about their work as a translator, and it parallels yours exactly. The robots don't get context. Kinda key to everything Love the detail about the book on beavers. Yes, let AI take control of everything, nothing could possibly go wrong, the big picture is vastly overrated.

@hmstreetteam 2d

I sympathize with the translator’s plight as I struggle to learn a language with the help of translation tools that I often have to correct, despite my own limited knowledge. This is a witty song that gives a glimpse into work that most listeners probably will not have thought about.

@marthie 2d

Heard of this before: more work for less pay. Pity to hear about this. What a fun song you made from it! Could become a great drinking song everybody is singing along to!