more than one language

Tattered and Worn ~ So We Pray

 Whenever we translate into a language we understand, I have often wondered how much the meanings have changed. Especially when we translate songs, poems and more into what is our American English. I thought about what it would be like to go the other way. I have a love of hearing people speak or sing in their native language even if I don't understand it. Thanks to a grant from the Center for Art Humor and Soul (C.A.H.S.) I finally had a way to explore this idea. They are doing some amazing things as a non-profit and I encourage you to take the time to explore their work. 

         I previously worked with Nohemy Garcia, when she recorded two of my songs back in 2015. This time around, it was her skill at translating my lyrics into phrases and words that her people would understand. I'll give one brief example. The opening lyric in Tattered and Worn is 

"I've got mixed feelings. I'm upside down, can't seem to find my way." 

Nohemy explained to me doing a literal translation would have been silly as any Spaniard would wonder why you are upside down. Surely that won't solve anything! So she was intentional and deliberate in massaging the meaning into phrases that would make sense after translating. 

She took the original tracks from 2015 into Yon’s studio and recorded new vocals in Spanish.  It was notable in hearing how different she sang the language of her birth to one she learned later. My hope is that having these two songs in both will be another way of communicating. In both languages she did some marvelous work in giving these song life. Her voice and the person she is has elevated these songs into something beyond what I might have imagined when I wrote them all those years ago.

The lyrics and recordings in each language of both songs are posted below along with some thoughts from Nohemy. If you'd like to learn more about Nohemy's music please check out https://nohemy.bandcamp.com. 

_ Jeff Raught 2021

Nohemy Ruth Garcia Soria

Nohemy Ruth Garcia Soria

My name is Nohemy Ruth García. I'm a member of the Mennonite church in Burgos, which I love and in which I serve in different ministries, like the worship team and the coordination of youth events among others. 

I’ve been a musician for many years and worked as a session musician. Music is definitely one of my greatest passions. I have studied a couple of music degrees, specialized in both contemporary and classical singing and piano.

As part of my training I studied 3 years at Hillsong International Leadership College, in Sydney Australia, majoring in Worship and Creative Arts. I then got offered a job as a trainer and vocal coach for Hillsong College. Hillsong has been my family during that time and I always feel part of it, even in the distance.

Along my work at Hillsong, I also worked as a soprano for the Chamber Singers at the Sydney Opera House during the time I lived in Sydney. Both these experiences have been some of the most wonderful ones in my life. 

 

I believe God has always been faithful to me and He has given me amazing opportunities like the one I had in the summer or 2015, when I got invited to lead worship in the Global Youth Summit, representing Europe, in Pennsylvania, and to be part of the worship team for the Mennonite World Conference. I got given the opportunity to present one of the songs I wrote called “Despertar” (Awakening) and the testimony behind it, and how it became my own personal “Awakening”. But that's another part of the story… ☺

 

Here is a link to the YouTube video clip of the song, in case you want to check it out.☺

 

Despertar Video Link

Translating the text

This project is more than just a recording. The moment I heard the songs and the story behind them I poured my heart into it because I connected with the meaning and the emotions conveyed in them.  

It was a wonderful surprise that years later we would be trying to bring all that beauty and share it with others by translating the lyrics into Spanish. What a brilliant opportunity!  

Translating songs is often a challenge because you want to get the most accurate sense of the songs and transfer it into Spanish and that’s not always easy. This project has opened the possibility to explore this and give it a beautiful new light. The melody is the same and yet, hearing it in my mother tongue gives it so much strength, such different colors and nuances… the sound and the richness of Spanish musicality makes listening to these two songs a whole new experience.  

I encourage you to get both the English and Spanish version and to listen to one after the other and appreciate the nuances and the fragrant changes of each one of them. ~ Nohemy Ruth Garcia Soria

  

Tattered and worn - The Lyrics

SPANISH LYRICS -   DEJAS AJADO MI SER   

Un paso en falso, todo al revés. No sé ni qué sentir.   

Duele el recuerdo y duele olvidar. Mañana volver a empezar   

  

  

  

Y todo se agolpa, ya nada sigue igual ¿Qué quedará de mí?   

Y confieso, casi cada vez:   

Dejas ajado mi ser.   

  

  

No hables de ello, mejor dejarlo ir. Huyo para volver.   

Voy a aprendiendo, lo que ya aprendí. Tú no te alejas de mí.   

  

  

  

Y todo se agolpa, ya nada sigue igual ¿Qué quedará de mí?   

Y confieso, casi cada vez:   

Dejas ajado mi ser.

ENGLISH LYRICS - TATTERED AND WORN 

I've got mixed feelings. I'm upside down 

Can't seem to find my way.  

It hurts to remember, it hurts to forget 

Tomorrow is just like today. 

  

It all runs together, yet nothing stays the same 

Wondering who I am. 

Still I'm confessing, nearly all the time 

I'm feeling tattered and worn. 

  

Don't talk about it, just try and run away. 

Escaping to come back home. 

Slowly I'm learning, what I knew before. 

God's never left me alone. 

  

It all runs together, yet nothing stays the same  

Finding out who I am.  

Still I'm confessing, nearly all the time  

I'm feeling tattered and worn.