Belgium | French | Song Lyrics
December, 2017For this labor of love, I set ambitious goals: to translate 50 songs, preserving Brel’s meter and rhyme schemes, as well as the essence of his imagery, moods, and caustic humor, without ever being a slave to the original lyrics. That is, I put lyricism and naturalness of phrasing ahead of word-for-word equivalency. I chose a mix of songs that have not been translated before and songs that have poor English versions. I am currently translating all the songs on his famous last album, which he recorded in secret shortly before his death.
- Michele Herman
The Brooklyn Rail welcomes you to our web-exclusive section InTranslation, where we feature unpublished translations of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. Published since April 2007, InTranslation is a venue for outstanding work in translation and a resource for translators, authors, editors, and publishers seeking to collaborate.
We seek exceptional unpublished English translations from all languages.
Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry: Manuscripts of no longer than 20 pages (double-spaced).
Plays: Manuscripts of no longer than 30 pages (in left-justified format).