Zainal Abidin

originally written Friday 7 October

I've been listening to Zainal Abidin's "Refleksi" album tonight; it's one of the best things I ever brought here from Malaysia. Sometimes when I hear or read something in Malay that has particular poetic impact, an English phrase flashes through my mind, and I'm not sure if it's the beginning of a translation or the ghost of a word that never existed because it's untranslatable. Anyway, I just decided to have a go at translating a couple of songs to see if I could.

I've taken some liberties with the meanings of the words, etc, and have totally destroyed the rhythm. The difficulty of rendering into another language even texts as apparently simple as pop songs has given me a great deal more respect for translators of novels, poetry, and treatises. William Weaver (the fler who did Umberto Eco's novels into English) rocks. The Italians say "traduttore, traditore" - translator, traitor - which reminds me of the time I was tutoring Remy in a Bio course and he said "traducion" and "acide amine" by mistake, which I thought was really cute...

I never paid much attention to this song before, but this evening I listened to "Ikhlas Tapi Jauh" and discovered its beautiful quality of yearning.

Bila bila kiranya diriku perlu Hari yang murung Terdengar nada yang riang ria Sekali suara meyakinkan jiwa Kaku langkah Mengkaguminya Kaku menerimanya Selagi bahuku Memikul bebannya Selagi hayatku Merasa siksa Selama senyuman Menjadi senyumku Kubawa wajahmu Walau diriku jauh Jauh...

Sometimes when I need a melancholy day I hear those sounds of happiness Once that voice wakes your spirit Slow you step In awe of it Slowly - receive it As long as my shoulders bear their burden As long a lifetime feels this raw As long as a smile can be my joy I carry your face though I am far So far...

The song is followed by what sounds like the musicians chatting in the studio and a male voice saying in English, "Yes! Yes, you listen!" quietly.

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"Manis" is one of my favourite love-is-risky songs. I played it for a friend I dated once; unfortunately he was American and didn't understand a word. I think listening to this and then spending an evening making out with someone sweet would be fun. Any Malaysian guys out there want to take me up on that?

Manis mulut di bibir Sangatlah merbahaya Sama-sama yang menyindir Selalunya Janganlah terpedaya Oleh kata-katanya Lemah lembut bicara Selalunya Bukalah matamu percayalah kataku Janganlah lalai dibiarkannya Kau, kau ke hadapan Setelah segalanya Dikau tinggalkan Tinggalkan yang mula Senyum dan ketawa Senantiasa Kau manis semula Setelah segalanya Dikau lupakan Tiada gunanya Ia dikenang-kenangkan Mengapa Manis mulut di bibir Harus manis di hati Hinggalah ke akhir Akhir pasti Bukalah matamu Percayalah kataku Janganlah lalai dibiarkannya Kau, kau yang di sana Senyumlah selalu manis selalu Tinggalkan yang mula Senyum dan ketawa Senantiasa

Lips sweet on the mouth so dangerous those teasing lips always Don't let his words confuse you speaking nice and soft always Open your eyes, believe me Don't let him leave you aside You, you always come through after everything you leave the beginning behind smiling and laughing always You're sweet again after everything Try to forget - it's no use Why do we remember? Lips sweet on the mouth oughta be sweet to your heart to the end of everything Open your eyes believe me Don't let him leave you aside You, you're there again always smiling, always sweet leave the beginning smiling and laughing always

I'll write about another two from the "Refleksi" collection next time. "Hijau" is the first Zainal Abidin song I ever heard owing to its popularity on the radio in the last few years of the 20th century. Everything about it grabbed me - the strange voice-overs at the beginning, the lovely melody and beat, the lamenting lyrics in ordinary and Kelantanese Malay, the children's laughter bubbling away to the end.

"Ceritera" is going to be my new getting-out-of-bed song, replacing Pearl Jam's "Daughter". "Ceritera" always makes me want to dance around doing fake silat moves, an impulse which will be understandable once you listen to it. Bet you didn't know you could use the Scheduled Tasks tool in Windows' Control Panel as an alarm clock - that is, if you keep your computer turned on or in standby mode all the time.

Would like to get Shellabear's English translation of the Sejarah Melayu. I'm very proud of having finished the Malay version (in the Roman alphabet, obviously not the original Jawi (Arabic alphabet)) earlier this year. ^_^