{"id":3278,"date":"2008-10-13T16:52:40","date_gmt":"2008-10-13T22:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/cher-in-translation\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T08:40:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:40:50","slug":"cher-in-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/2008\/10\/cher-in-translation\/","title":{"rendered":"Cher in Translation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cher-italian\"<\/a> I didn\u2019t post last week. There was just a lot of drama going on and work was utterly busy. Yeah, I said it. Utterly. My upcoming wedding, planning for which had gone off track for about 6 months,  got back on track last week just in time for the economy to collapse and the political process to implode with crazy candidate behavior and, quite frankly, what seems like scary lynch mobs forming. I\u2019m addicted to election news. <\/p>\n

Then I joined a Ulysses<\/em>reading group with my bf and some people at work which has been very challenging but rewarding (so far I like James Joyce's overall structure and much of his poetic language but the stream of consciousness, after pages and pages, fails to serve). I\u2019ve been trying to keep up in pottery (did the annual trip to Ojai this weekend where we revisited Sylvia Raz<\/a> and found a new favorite sculptor, Ted Gall<\/a>). I\u2019ve also been trying to organize the wedding planning schedule from a 6-month stockpile of notes, keep up with political emails and do the 9 to 5 (which has entailed a lot of web postings of foreign language translations on Internet policy). And then there have been the interpersonal disappointments, the alienation, the self-doubt,  the mild passive-aggressive persecution, the ennui. What can you do? <\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve wanted to publish this blog post for months, back when Cher scholar Peter sent me a slew of Sonny & Cher singles on CD in Italian and French. There was a lot to chew on and I kept waiting for my bf to have time to translate the three rare songs; but that time never materialized. He\u2019s just not as dedicated to Cher scholarship as I am. What gives? <\/p>\n

I did learn many interesting facts about Sonny & Cher singing in translation in the 60s. Can I just say how very kewl the whole thing is, Cher singing in Italian and French? I really love it. Almost as much as Cher with an Italian accent in Moonstruck<\/em>. It can really make you think about a song in a different way. According to one website, in 1966 Cher herself competed in Italy with four covers of "Bang Bang" already on the charts by cover artists.  How crazy is that? And Ahmet Ertegun said the song was\u201d one of the greatest post-WW2 songs ever written.\u201d I mean it\u2019s good but\u2026 calm down.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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<\/a>\"Mama-italian\"<\/a> 1.  When My Dollies Have Babies \u2013 Italian (version 1)<\/strong> 
Translation of \u201cMama (When My Dollies Have Babies)\u201d <\/p>\n

I love the opening guitar of this song. However, I\u2019ve always felt the chorus of children was a bit shrill. The strings are moving, though. It\u2019s interesting that \u2018Mama\u2019 is a word existing in so many latin-based languages, one that needs no translation. I asked my bf about Cher\u2019s translation performance. He told me her Italian is passable, better than Sonny\u2019s. I myself enjoy this version. For some reason in this Italian version of the song, we lose the final note \u201cMama.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1967 Sonny & Cher took part in the San Remo festival. Apparently Harold Battiste conducted the orchestra for the songs \u201cIl Cammino Di Ogni Speranza\u201d and \u201cMa Piano (per non svegliarti).\u201d Peter\u2019s CD, which came already compiled by a fellow Cher scholar from Australia, also included Sonny singing  \u201cL\u2019umanita\u201d but I\u2019m not sure if this was a festival song or just a Sonny-Italian one-off.  <\/p>\n

There was drama at the '67 festival. Quite a lot. A suicide and nasty allegations against Sonny & Cher. You\u2019d think it was a 2008 US presidential election for all the mud slung. These sites talk about it briefly: <\/p>\n

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