OK, here it is in its entirety - a copy of the e-mails/messages I've sent so far:
Hi guys! There's a site here http://www.comnet.ca/~rg/menu_ch.htm with a lot of songs on it (most of which I don't know!). There's this place, http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/translate, which gave me the two hilarious translations below. I've copied Boum! and La Mer here:
BOUM!
paroles et musique: Charles Trenet
La pendule fait tic-tac-tic-tic
Les oiseaux du lac pic-pac-pic-pic
Glou-glou-glou font tous les dindons
Et la jolie cloche ding-dang-dong
Mais... boum!
Quand notre coeur fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Et c'est l'amour qui s'éveille
Boum!
Il chante «Love in Bloom»
Au rythme de ce boum
Qui redit boum à l'oreille
Tout a changé depuis hier et la rue
A des yeux qui regardent aux fenêtres
Y a du lilas et y a des mains tendues
Sur la mer le soleil va paraître
Boum!
L'astre du jour fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Quand notre coeur fait boum-boum
Le vent dans les bois fait hou-hou
La bîche aux abois fait mê-ê-ê
La vaisselle cassée fait fric-fric-frac
Et les pieds mouillés font flic-flic-flac
Mais... boum!
Quand notre coeur fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
L'oiseau dit boum, c'est l'orage
Boum!
L'éclair qui, lui, fait boum
Et le bon Dieu dit boum
Dans son fauteuil de nuages
Car mon amour est plus vif que l'éclair
Plus léger qu'un oiseau, qu'une abeille
Et s'il fait boum, s'il se met en colère
Il entraîne avec lui des merveilles
Boum!
Le monde entier fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Quand notre coeur fait boum-boum
LA MER
paroles: Charles Trenet
musique: Cherles Trenet, Albert Lasry
La mer qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent, la mer
Des reflets changeants sous la pluie
La mer au ciel d'été confond ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs, la mer
Bergère d'azur infinie
Voyez près des étangs ces grands roseaux mouillés
Voyez ces oiseaux blancs et ces maisons rouillées
La mer les a bercés le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour, la mer
A bercé mon coeur pour la vie
And here are the translations:
The Sea
The sea which one sees dancing along the clear gulfs
has of the money reflections, the sea
of the reflections changing under the rain.
The sea with the sky of summer confuses its white sheep
with the so pure angels, the sea
infinite shepherdess of azure.
See close to the ponds these large wet reeds.
See these white birds and these rusted houses.
The sea rocked along the clear gulfs
and with a love song, the sea
deluded my heart for the life.
Bang!
The clock makes to tic-cTac-tic-tic
The birds of the lake peak-cCap-peak-peak
Glou-glou-glou make all the turkeys
And the pretty bell ding-dang-dong
But... boom!
When our heart makes boom
all with him says boom
and it is the love which wakes up.
Bang!
It sings " Coils in Bloom "
at the rate/rhythm of this boom
which repeats boom with the ear.
All changed since yesterday
and the street has eyes which look with the windows.
Y has lilac and y has hands tended
on the sea the sun will appear.
Bang!
The star of the day makes boom
All with him says boom
When our heart made boom-boom
The wind in wood made hou-hou
the bîche with the barks made the mê-4th-4th
broken crockery makes fric-fric-frac
And the wet feet make cop-cop-flac
But... boom!
When our heart makes boom
All with him tells to boom
the bird says boom, it is the storm
Bang!
The flash which, made him boom
And good God says boom
In his armchair of clouds
Because my love is sharper than the light
Plus flash than a bird, than a bee
And if it makes boom, if it is put in anger
It involves with him wonders
Bang!
The whole world makes boom
All with him says boom
When our heart made boom-boom
I think that, while La Mer loses something in the process, Boum! seems to gain a, er, je ne sais quois. Curious how 'boum' becomes 'boom' or 'bang' depending on the context, or lack of it. I don't know how it arrived at things like tic-cTac-tic-tic, but it adds to the charm in some way I think, nest-ce pas? I particularly like 'the biche with the barks'! (Apparently, that should be 'The hind in her death-throes' - yechh!) And in the last-but-one verse, it manages to get 'light' and 'flash' the wrong way round, among other things.
Well, getting into the realms of poetry (not what we always expect in a popular song, but sometimes we find it) I was taken by 'roseaux mouillés/maisons rouillées' - one is practically a spoonerism of the other. I'm well aware that the sound of the words is probably more important than their meaning, so I'm not put off by the prosaic content of La Mer - it sings very well in French (I've been singing it all the time for a week!). The sheep in La Mer: is this a usual French metaphor for clouds? We often speak of them as fleecy.
Well, I shall have to try and produce English versions of the words (without trying to rhyme them!); having a better idea of the meaning, I can try and keep the sense.
Oh, there are planty of songs I do know on the site, so we can keep this going for a long time if we want to!
Y'a d'la joie,
Steve