A better title would have been: Translations taking the heart out of songs, but since that was exactly two letters too long some of you might have been irritated.

The gigolo thread gave me the idea to this discussion. I've always liked the German original song 'Schöner Gigolo' and I've always hated its English 'translation' 'Just a gigolo' for it tears the heart out of the song. When you listen to the English version (I assume you know it) can you imagine that it once was a biting sarcastic antimilitary song?

A similar example for me is how Jacques Brel's beautifully sad and sarcastic song 'Le moribond' became an unpalatable sweetie as "Seasons in the sun".

What have they done to these songs! Do you have similar experiences?

Wolfgang