Translations & Interpretations

for Western Pop Songs

by Grace Hui Chin Lin

ISBN 978-957-43-0999-3

978-957-43-0999-3


Title page

....4

Send in the Clowns.6

Early Morning Rain11

Sisters of Mercy17

Do You Know Where You're Going To?23

There's Kind of Hush 27

Let It Be.....31

Donna, Donna....36
My Way.40

Kiss Me Goodbye..46

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother 51

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?.............................56

Memory.....62
The Last Waltz68

1
 Venus.72
Yellow Bird...75

Wind Beneath My Wings.79

Here, There and Everywhere.....86

L'Horloge...90

Je Ne Veux Pas Travailler......95

Que Sera Sera..99

T'en Va Pas...106

Lascia Ch'io Pianga.....111

Who by Fire.114

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3
 This volume of lyric translations and interpretations has

been composed, due to my interests in singing English songs

and learning English. The philosophies in the lyrics

sometimes are very significant and passionate. For example, I

found precious tears in eyes when listening to He aint heavy,

he is my brother. I investigate life mottos from well-written

lyrics, which inspire me to go further and achieve higher

goals. I encourage students and language learners to listen to

them during vocations, which make them learning English

vocabularies and grammars at the same time. In a calming

mode, the American and European cultures can be discovered

from the thought-stimulating lyrics.

Also, in the keenly competitive contemporary society,

listening to music might be the superlative tactic of releasing

pressure. Our sentiment can be refreshed by the singers
passion and the lyric writers comfort. The cited original texts

(selected lyrics) are in English and European languages.

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5
 Send in the Clowns
By Stephen Sondheim

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?

Me here at last on the ground,

You in mid-air..

Where are the clowns?

Isn't it bliss?

Don't you approve?

One who keeps tearing around,

One who can't move...

Where are the clowns?

Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,

Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours.

Making my entrance again with my usual flair

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 Sure of my lines...

No one is there.

Don't you love farce?

My fault, I fear.

I thought that you'd want what I want...

Sorry, my dear!

And where are the clowns

Send in the clowns

Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer?

Losing my timing this late in my career.

And where are the clowns?

There ought to be clowns...
Well, maybe next year.

7
 !!!

...
!!

!!!

...

...

??

...

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10
 Early Morning Rain
By Gordon Lightfoot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY_iq7pvzXg

Composed by Gordon Lightfoot, this Spadecaller Video

features the 1965 hit recording by Peter, Paul, & Mary

accompanied by the original artwork of Matthew

Schwartz.

In the early morning rain,

with a dollar in my hand.

And an aching in my heart,

and my pockets full of sand.

I'm a long way from home,

and I miss my loved one so.

In the early morning rain,
with nowhere to go.

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 Cut on runway number nine,

big 707 set to go.

I'm stuck here on the ground,

where the cold winds blow.

The liquor tasted good,

and the women all were fast.

There she goes, my friend,

she's rolling down at last.

Hear the mighty engines roar,

see the silver bird on high.

She's away and westward bound,

far above the clouds she'll fly.

Where the morning rain don't fall,

and the sun always shines.
She'll be flying over my home in about

three hours time.

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 This old airport's got me down,

it's no earthly good to me.

Because I'm stuck here on the ground,

cold and drunks as I might be.

You can't hop a jet plane,

like you can a freight train.

So I'd best be on my way,

in the early morning rain.

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 9

707

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 Sisters of Mercy
By Leonard Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFEefcARdY4

A Spadecaller Video featuring artwork by Matthew

Schwartz in accompaniment with Leonard Cohen's song,

Sisters of Mercy.

Oh the sisters of mercy,

they are not departed or gone.

They were waiting for me,

when I thought that I just can't go on.

And they brought me their comfort,

and later they brought me this song.

Oh I hope you run into them,

you who've been travelling so long.

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 Yes you who must leave everything,

that you cannot control.

It begins with your family,

but soon it comes around to your soul.

Well I've been where you're hanging,

I think I can see how you're pinned:

When you're not feeling holy,

your loneliness says that you've sinned.

Well they lay down beside me,

I made my confession to them.

They touched both my eyes,

and I touched the dew on their hem.

If your life is a leaf,

that the seasons tear off and condemn.

They will bind you with love,
that is graceful and green as a stem.

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 When I left they were sleeping,

I hope you run into them soon.

Don't turn on the lights,

you can read their address by the moon.

And you won't make me jealous,

if I hear that they sweetened your night:

We weren't lovers like that,

and besides it would still be all right.

We weren't lovers like that,

and besides it would still be all right.

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 Do You Know Where You're Going To?
By Michael Masser and Gerald Goffin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOil_ht0khI

Do you know where you're going to ?

Do you like the things that life is showing you ?

Where are you going to ? Do you know ?

Do you get what you're hoping for ?

When you look behind you,

there's no open door

What are you hoping for ? Do you know ?

Once we were standing still in time,

chasing the fantasies that filled our minds

And you knew how I loved you,
but my spirit was free laughing,

at the questions that you once asked of me.

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 Now looking back at all we planned.

We let so many dreams just slip through our hands.

Why must we wait so long before we see ?

How sad the answers to those questions can be.

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26
 There's Kind of Hush
By Les Reed and Geoff Stephens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KiOWLMMkx8

There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight.

All over the world,

you can hear the sound of lovers in love.

You know what I mean.

Just the two of us,

and nobody else in sight,

there's nobody else.

And I'm feeling good just holding you tight.

So, listen very carefully for me.

Get closer now and you will see what I mean.

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 It isn't a dream.

The only sound that you will hear.

Is when I whisper in your ear I love you,

for ever and ever.

There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight,

all over the world.

People just like us are falling in love.

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30
 Let It Be
By The Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGNkpsfTRwY

When I find myself in time of trouble,

mother Mary comes to me,

speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.

And in my hour of darkness,

she is standing right in front of me,

speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.

Let it be, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.

Whisper words of wisdom: Let it be.

And when the broken hearted people,

living in the world agree,

There will be an answer: Let it be.

For though they may be parted,

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 there is still a chance that they will see,

There will be an answer: Let it be.

Let it be, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.

Yeah, there will be an answer: Let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,

there is still a light that shines on me.

Shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music,

mother Mary comes to me.

Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.

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 Donna, Donna
By Joan Baez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfb2ULc0Jhk

On a wagon bound for market

There's a calf with a mournful eye

High above him there's a swallow

Winging swiftly through the sky

How the winds are laughing

They laugh with all they might

Laugh and laugh the whole day through

And half the summer's night

Donna Donna Donna Donna

Donna Donna Donna Do
Donna Donna Donna Donna

Donna Donna Donna Do

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 "Stop complaining" said the farmer

"Who told you a calf to be

Why don't you have wings to fly with

Like the swallow so proud and free

Calves are easily bound and slaughtered

Never knowing the reason why

But who ever treasures freedom

Like the swallow has learned to fly

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 My Way
By Claude Franois, Jacques Revaux and Paul Anka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-fk9q5oAqY

And so I face the final curtain.

My friend, I'll say it clear.

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.

I've lived a life that's full.

I've traveled each and every highway.

But more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

Regrets, I've had a few,

but then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do,

and saw it through without exemption.

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 I planned each charted course.

Each careful step along the byway.,

But more, much more than this

I did it my way

Yes, there were times I'm sure you knew.

When I bit off more than I could chew.

But through it all, when there was doubt.

I ate it up and spit it out.

I faced it all and I stood tall,

and did it my way.

I've loved, I've laughed and cried.

I've had my fill; my share of losing,

and now, as tears subside.

I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that.

and may I say - not in a shy way.

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 "No, oh no not me,

I did it my way."

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught.

To say the things he truly feels,

and not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows I took the blows,

and did it my way

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 Kiss Me Goodbye
By Petula Clark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHIRfR9VU2M

We choose it, win or lose it.

Love is never quite the same.

I love you,

now I've lost you.

Don't feel bad,

you're not to blame.

So kiss me goodbye
and I'll try not to cry.

All the tears in the world won't change your mind.

There's someone new

and she's waiting for you.
Soon your heart will be leaving me behind.

Linger awhile,

then I'll go with a smile.

46
 Like a friend who just happened to call.

For the last time pretend your are mine.

My darling, kiss me goodbye.

I know now

I must go now,
though my heart wants me to stay

That girl is your tomorrow,

I belong to yesterday.

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 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
By Hollies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h8loYnNlZA

The road is long, with many of winding turns,

that lead us to (who knows) where, who knows where.

But, I'm strong, strong enough to carry him.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

So long we go, his welfare is my concern.

No burden is he to bear, we'll get there.

But I know he would not encumber me.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

If I'm laden at all, if I'm laden with sadness,

that everyone's heart isn't filled
with the gladness of love for one another.

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 It's a long long road from which there is no return.

While we're on the way to there, why not share.

And the load doesn't weigh me down at all.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

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 Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
By Pete Seeger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqTf8DU6a0

Where have all the flowers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the flowers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the flowers gone?

Gone to young girls, every one!

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago

Where have all the young girls gone?

Gone to young men, every one

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 When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young men gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the young men gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the young men gone?

Gone to soldiers, every one

When will they ever learn?

And where have all the soldiers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the soldiers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one

When will they ever learn?

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 And where have all the graveyards gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the graveyards gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the graveyards gone?

Gone to flowers, every one

When will they ever learn?

Oh when will they ever learn?

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 Memory
By Trevor Nunn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L6rEm0rnY

Midnight, not a sound from the pavement

Has the moon lost her memory

She is smiling alone

In the lamplight

The withered leaves collect at my feet

And the wind begins to moan

Memory, all alone in the moonlight

I can smile at the old days

It was beautiful then

I remember the time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

Every street lamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning

Someone mutters

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 And the street lamp gutters

And soon it will be morning

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of a new life

And I mustn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory, too

And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days

The stale, cold smell of morning

The street lamp dies

Another night is over

Another day is dawning

Touch me, it's so easy to leave me

All alone with the memory of my days in the sun

If you touch me

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 You'll understand what happiness is

Look! A new day has begun

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 The Last Waltz
By Engelbert Humperdinck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-DLO_tcApI

I wondered should I go or should I stay.

The band had only one more song to play,

and then I saw you out the corner of my eyes,

a little girl alone and so shy.

I had the last waltz with you.

Two lonely people together.

I fell in love with you.

The last waltz should last forever.

But the love we had was going strong.

Through the good and bad we'd get along,
and then the flame of love died in your eyes.

My heart was broke in two,

when you said goodbye.

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 It's all over now.

Nothing left to say,

just my tears and the orchestra playing.

La

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 Venus
By Shocking Blue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_qM9rSROIw

A goddess on a mountain top,

was burning like a silver flame.

The summit of beauty she was,

and Venus was her name.

She's got it. Yeah baby she's got it.

Well, I'm your Venus.

I'm your fire at you desire.

Well, I'm your Venus.

I'm your fire at you desire.

Her weapon were her crystal eyes,

making every man a man.

Black as a dark night she was,

Got what no one else had.

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74
 Yellow Bird
By Brothers Four
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ph36YwIg4o

Yellow bird, up high in a banana tree.

Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me.

Did you lady friend leave your nest again/

That is very sad makes me feel so bad.

You can fly away in the sky away.

You're more lucky than me.

I also had a pretty girl.

She's not with me today.

They're all the same the pretty girls.

Take tenderness then they fly away.

Let her fly away in the sky away.

Picker coming soon take from night to noon.

Black and yellow you like a banana too.

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 They might pick you someday.

Wish that I were a yellow bird.

I'd fly away with you,

but I sit nothing else to do.

Yellow bird, yellow bird, yellow bird....

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 Wind Beneath My Wings
By Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M912EcPDrKM

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

It must have been cold there in my shadow,

to never have sunlight on your face.

You were content to let me shine, that's your way.

You always walked a step behind.

So I was the one with all the glory,

while you were the one with all the strength.

A beautiful face without a name for so long.

A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,

and everything I would like to be?

I can fly higher than an eagle,

'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

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 It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.

I want you to know I know the truth,

of course I know it.

I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

You're everything I wish I could be.

I could fly higher than an eagle,

'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?

You're everything, everything I wish I could be.

Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,

'cause you are the wind beneath my wings,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

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 Oh, the wind beneath my wings.

You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly, fly, fly away. You let me fly so high.

Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky,

so high I almost touch the sky.

Thank you, thank you,

thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.

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 Here, There and Everywhere
By The Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4fxCbwRhuE

To lead a better life,

I need my love to be here.

Here, making each day of the year,

changing my life with a wave of her hand,

Nobody can deny that there's something there.

There, running my hands through her hair,

both of us thinking how good it can be,

someone is speaking, but she doesn't know he's there.

I want her everywhere,

and if she's beside me I know I need never care,

but to love her is to need her.

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 Everywhere, knowing that love is to share,

each one believing that love never dies,

watching her eyes and hoping I'm always there.

I will be there, and everywhere.

Here, there and everywhere.

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89
 L'Horloge
By Charles Baudelaire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAc135NchZo

Horloge ! dieu sinistre, effrayant, impassible

Dont le doigt nous menace et nous

dit "Souviens-toi !

Les vibrantes Douleurs dans ton cur plein d'effroi

Se planteront bientt comme dans une cible ;

"Le Plaisir vaporeux fuira vers l'horizon

Ainsi qu'une sylphide au fond de sa coulisse ;

Chaque instant te dvore un morceau du dlice

A chaque homme accord pour toute sa saison.

"Trois mille six cent fois par heure, la Seconde

Chuchote : Souviens-toi - Rapide, avec sa voix

D'insecte, Maintenant dit : Je suis Autrefois,

Et j'ai pomp ta vie avec ma trompe immonde !

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 "Remember ! Souviens-toi, prodigue Esto memor !
(Mon gosier de mtal parle toutes les langues.)

Les minutes, mortel foltre, sont des gangues

Quil ne faut pas lcher sans en extraire l'or !

"Souviens-toi que le temps est un joueur avide

Oui gagne sans tricher, a tout coup c'est la loi.

Le jour dcrot ; la nuit augmente, souviens-toi !

Le gouffre a toujours soif ; la clepsydre se vide.

"Tantt sonnera l'heure o le divin Hasard,

O l'auguste Vertu ton pouse encor vierge,

O le repentir mme (oh ! la dernire auberge !),

O tout te dira Meurs, vieux lche ! Il est trop tard !"

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:
" ! "

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Je Ne Veux Pas Travailler
By Forbes, Lauderdale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c99HyEQZ_X8

Ma chambre a la forme dune cage

Le soleil passe son bras par la fentre

Les chasseurs ma porte

Comme les petits soldats

Qui veulent me prendre

Je ne veux pas travailler

Je ne veux pas djeuner

Je veux seulement loublier

Et puis je fume

Dj jai connu le parfum de lamour

Un million de roses nembaumerait pas autant

Maintenant une seule fleur dans mes entourages

Me rend malade

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Je ne suis pas fire de a
Vie qui veut me tuer

Cest magnifique tre sympathique

Mais je ne le connais jamais

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Que Sera Sera
By Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXQTWCTc0aI

When I was just a little girl,

I asked my mother,

What will I be?

Will I be pretty?

Will I be rich?

Here's what she said to me:

Que sera, sera,

Whatever will be, will be;

The future's not ours to see.

Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.

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When I was just a child in school,

I asked my teacher,
What will I try?

Should I paint pictures

Should I sing songs?

This was her wise reply:

Que sera, sera,

Whatever will be, will be;

The future's not ours to see.

Que sera, sera,

What will be, will be.

When I grew up and fell in love.

I asked my sweetheart,
What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows

Day after day?

Here's what my sweetheart said:

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Que sera, sera,

Whatever will be, will be;

The future's not ours to see.

Que sera, sera,

What will be, will be.

Now I have Children of my own.

They ask their mother,

What will I be?

Will I be handsome?

Will I be rich?

I tell them tenderly:

Que sera, sera,

Whatever will be, will be;

The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,

What will be, will be.

Que Sera, Sera!

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105
T'en va pas
By Rgis Wargnier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xDsf7MTGb4

T'en va pas

Si tu l'aimes, t'en va pas. Papa, si tu l'aimes, dis-lui

Qu'elle est la femme de ta vie, vie, vie...

Papa, ne t'en va pas.

On peut pas vivre sans toi.

T'en va pas au bout de la nuit.

Nuit, tu me fais peur.

Nuit, tu n'en finis pas.

Comme un voleur,
Il est parti sans moi.
On ira plus au cin tous les trois.

Nuit, tu me fais peur.

Nuit, tu n'en finis pas.

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Comme un voleur,

Il est parti sans moi.

Papa, si tu pensais un peu moi...

Papa j'suis sure qu'en jour tu reviendras

O tu vas,

Quand tu t'en vas d'ici ?

J'arrive pas vivre sans toi

Avec la femme de ta vie, vie, vie.

Papa, fais pas d'conneries.

Quand on s'aime, on s'en va pas,

On ne part pas en pleine nuit.

Nuit, tu me fais peur.

Nuit, tu n'en finis pas.

Comme un voleur,
Il est parti sans moi.

Tu m'emmneras jamais aux U.S.A.

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Lascia Ch'io Pianga
By George Frideric Handel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcP83h9AQmc

Lascia ch'io pianga

mia cruda sorte,

E che sospiri la libert!

E che sospiri,

e che sospiri la libert!

Lascia ch'io pianga

mia cruda sorte,

E che sospiri la libert!

Il duolo infranga

queste ritorte
de miei martiri
sol per piet,

de miei martiri

sol per piet.

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Lascia ch'io pianga
mia cruda sorte,

E che sospiri la libert!

E che sospiri,

e che sospiri la libert!

Lascia ch'io pianga

mia cruda sorte,

E che sospiri la libert!

!
~

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Who By Fire
By Leonard Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMi8PpyTvc

And who by fire, who by water,

Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,

Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,

Who in your merry merry month of may,

Who by very slow decay,

And who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,

Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,

And who by avalanche, who by powder,

Who for his greed, who for his hunger,

And who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,

Who in solitude, who in this mirror,

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Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,

Who in mortal chains, who in power,

And who shall I say is calling?

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Translations & Interpretations for Western Pop Songs

Grace Hui Chin Lin

Adjunct Assistant Professor

National Formosa University of Science and Technology

Dayeh University &

PhD, Texas A&M University, College Station

Master of Science, University of Southern California

Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Tamkang University

Changhwa Girls Senior High School

( Grace Hui Chin Lin)

( Grace Hui Chin Lin)

50083 154
886 4 728 3321
886 933 503 321

Email: uniontwgracelin@gmail.com
375 NTD
2013 11 4

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(CIP)

-- : , Nov. 4th, 2013

120 ; 21 x 29.5

ISBN 978-957-43-0999-3 ()
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