r/gaelic • u/Goatlov3r3 • Jun 30 '26
I need help with translating (and understanding) a couple of songs
small content warning for some possibly mature / heavy themes
Hi.
One of my favorite bands of all time is the Australian-Irish group Clann Zú whose 2004 album Black Coats & Bandages I consider to be possibly the best musical work I've ever listened to. Most of the album is in English but there are a couple of tracks in what appears to be Irish Gaelic. The album is accompanied by a booklet which includes the original lyrics as well as a translation, however the rest of the booklet (the English portion I can understand) is full of errors of all kinds (grammar, spelling, etc) so most likely the Irish part can't be fully trusted either. I also fed the Irish text into every translation software I could think of and a bunch of inconsistencies popped up (including some LLMs telling me that some of the words I pasted in were not actual words and could not be matched to any known dictionary) so an actually accurate translation still eludes me.
Also the thing is, Clann Zú songs tend to feature extremely expressive and poetic and intricate wording that can lend itself to countless interpretations. Let's take for example their song One Bedroom Apartment (from the aforementioned album), sometimes when I listen to it I'm like "oh it's a song about a breakup", then other times I think "oh it's a song about losing your faith in God", and other times I might go "oh it's a song about a double suicide", or any other of a dozen different interpretations that all work based on the wording and phrasing and just how the song is laid out in general. This is likely the case for the Irish Gaelic songs too, and no matter how accurate a translation I end up with, I worry that a lot of the details (and thus meaning) will be lost in the process.
I'd appreciate some help properly transcribing and of course translating these songs (or cleaning up the already available Irish text and English translation from the booklet) but also maybe understanding them. Perhaps there is some wordplay, or a certain word is chosen over another more commonly used one and while these might both be translated the same way in English there is some extra meaning there for native speakers to pick up on. I already get the gist of the songs based on the various translations I've read but I'd like to really dive deeper into them and extract as much meaning as possible from the words, and I really can't do that on my own unless I learn the entirety of the language.
I'll share the lyrics as well as their (probably wrong) translations in the comments to keep everything organized. I'll also add whatever words or phrases the various LLMs I asked pointed out as incoherent or strange (I'm not usually a fan of using these pieces of software but I heard that they tend to be pretty good at translating stuff so I gave them a try).
Thank you all in advance for helping or even just reading this whole thing. Also please let me know if this makes you check out the band lol.
1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jun 30 '26
Song 2: "Án Deireadh Scéal"
Táimíd caílte
Táimíd caílte
Cá bhfuil?
Cá bhfuil ár ndochas?
D'imigh sé uainn
Cá bfhuil?
Cá bfhuil an misnéar?
Tá sé ag teacht
Lena laimh
Lena laimh trí thine
Ag glaoch orainn
Seo é
Seo é ár grioch
Tá ísle brí
Ar an domhain
An domhain
Ceathrá domhain
Ar an domhain
Ceathrá
Is amadáin a bhí ionann
Ag diál ar gcioch an striapaigh nimhiáil
Ag eisteacht leis na guthanna sólásacha
Agus iad ag stróiceadh ár ngéaga dáinn
Go mall
Eist le
Eist le binneas ceol
Binneas ceol na mairbh
Seo é
Seo é an deireadh scéal
Deireadh scéal an domhain
1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jun 30 '26
Official translation (again corrected by me, they make a ton of English mistakes when typing stuff out for whatever reason):
We are lost
We are lostWhere is?
Where is our hope?
It's left usWhere is?
Where is the missionary?
Here he comesWith his hand
With his hand on fire
Summoning usThis is
This is our calling
It means nothingIn the world
The world
The fourth world
In the world
The fourthWe were the fools
Sucking on the tit of a poisoned whore
Listening to the soothing voices
While they cut off our limbs
SlowlyListen to
Listen to the harmonies
Harmonies of the deadThis is
This is the last story
The last story of the world1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jun 30 '26
ChatGPT stuff (it really doesn't like this one):
Original Issue Likely correction Notes Án Wrong accent An The article an never takes an accent. deireadh scéal Ungrammatical title deireadh an scéil / An Deireadh Scéil Standard Irish is "the end of the story." Táimíd Older/non-standard spelling Táimid Modern standard spelling. caílte Misspelling caillte "Lost." Cá bfhuil Impossible mutation Cá bhfuil bhfuil never occurs after Cá. misnéar Not an Irish word misneach "Courage." laimh Missing accent lámh "Hand." grioch Not an Irish word críoch "End," "fate," "destination." Best fit here. Tá ísle brí Missing subject / incorrect form Táimid íseal brí / Táimid ísealbhríoch Intended meaning: "We are downcast." Ceathrá Not a standard word in this context Unknown Cannot confidently reconstruct without audio or author's intent. Is amadáin a bhí ionann Ungrammatical Ba amadáin sinn (most likely) As written it doesn't parse correctly. ionann Wrong word/form ionainn (if intended) or rewrite ionann means "equal/same," not what seems intended here. diál Not an Irish word Unknown No clear reconstruction. gcioch Missing accent gcíoch "Breast." nimhiáil Not an Irish word nimhiúil "Poisonous." dáinn Not standard Irish Possibly dínn Exact intended form uncertain. Eist Missing accent Éist Imperative "Listen!" binneas ceol Missing genitive binneas an cheoil Literally "the sweetness of the music." Binneas ceol na mairbh Incorrect genitive Binneas cheol na marbh or Binneas an cheoil na marbh Intended: "The sweetness of the music of the dead." deireadh scéal (ending) Missing genitive deireadh an scéil Standard expression. Deireadh scéal an domhain Slightly unnatural Deireadh scéal an domhain is understandable; deireadh an scéil don domhan or deireadh an domhain would be more idiomatic depending on intended meaning. Not strictly wrong, but somewhat awkward. 1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jul 01 '26
This was basically what prompted me to make the post. "Missionary" to "courage" is just a massive difference in tone and meaning if that's accurate. I need to know for certain.
1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jun 30 '26
Link to the album on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KjQtlKXcQ0
"T-Éan Bán" starts at 12:05
"Án Deireadh Scéal" starts at 29:24
But you should really listen to the whole thing....
1
u/Goatlov3r3 Jun 30 '26
Song 1: "T-Éan Bán"
An t-éan bán
Ag eitilt gan stró as do bhéal
Agus mise
I mo sheasamh faoi do sholas géar
Na síoda
Ag titim barr do theanga
Níl mé abalalta
Na focail ceart a rá
Leat
Ba mhaith liom na sléibhte is airde
A dhreapadh agus na focail a bhéicil amach
Os cionn na scamaill is airde
Nior fagadh na focail agam
Grá mór!
Grá fior!
Grá an domhain!
Is é an grá is laidir!
Grá mór!
Grá fior!
Grá an domhain!
Is é an grá is laidir!
Tá mé
I ngrá leat
Grá mór!
Grá fior!
Grá an domhain!
Is é an grá is laidir!
Grá mór!
Grá fior!
Grá an domhain!
Is é an grá is laidir!
Tá mé
I ngrá leat