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To Have or to Have Not
From the movie The Irony of Fate - lyrics by A. Aronov, music by M. Tariverdiev
If you don’t have a house,
Fire is not a threat,
And your cat won’t choke on a mouse
If you don’t have a cat.
If you don’t have a lover,
Your love will never end.
And your friend won’t invite himself over (at 2 in the morning)
If you don’t have a friend.
Oh, it can be so confusing,
So hard to decide what’s what.
You do the thinking, you do the choosing:
To have or to have not.
If you’re afraid of leaving,
You don’t have to say goodbye,
And if you never start living,
You’ll never have to die.
Yes, it can be so confusing,
So hard to decide what’s what.
You do the thinking, you do the choosing:
To have or to have not.
Comments
Alexander Neydelman
December 6, 2009 at 4:50 am
Mika,
Your translations of the songs that we’ve all grew up with - were just superb!
Now I will finally be able to show the GOOD STUFF, the “reall McCoy” to my my american friends (if you don’t mind me doing so)
Thank you, Good Man!
admin
December 6, 2009 at 11:26 am
Thanks, I am very happy you like them
admin
December 7, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thank you Alexander - You can show it to anyone you like, no problem
saule tuganbaeva
January 14, 2010 at 11:36 am
как переводчику,
мне приходится выслушивать чуть больше поэтических всяких переводов страшных,
чем простым людям.
обычно выходит печально
а здесь, видимо, потому что человек не только язык знает, но и сами песни хорошо прочувствовал, всё получилось. Спасибо за тщательный, неподдельный труд.
Olga Martin
August 22, 2010 at 8:58 am
THANK YOU!
YOU ARE THE BEST! I AM RUSSIAN, BORN IN 1966 IN LENINGRAD. LIVE IN AMERICA FROM 1997 WITH MY THREE CHILDREN. I GOT MARRIED 2 WEEKS AGO.
FINALLY FOUND A MAN I WAS LOOKING FOR ALL MY LIFE! HE IS A WONDERFUL MUSICIAN AND A SONG WRITER, EVEN THOUGH HE IS NOT DOING IT PROFESSIONALLY FOR THE MONEY. I STARTED TO TRANSLATE VYSOTSKY’S SONGS FOR HIM MYSELF AND LETER FOUND YOU. I AM VERY PROUD OF MYSELF - MY TRANSLATIONS WERE VERY CLOSE TO YOURS, BUT NOT AS GREAT…
THANK YOU AGAIN. GOD BLESS YOU!
admin
August 30, 2010 at 10:22 am
Congratulations on your marriage, Olga - He sounds like a great guy - And thanks for your kind words, they mean a lot to me
Alexander Amelkin
September 3, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Mika, thank you so much for your great job!
I’m very fond of Russian bards in general and Vysotsky in particular, I’ve tried doing translations on my own, but they were never even a mile close to yours! Your translation of the Plagiarist’s song is absolutely brilliant, not losing even a bit of Vysotsky’s original humor. This translation of “To have or to have not” is also amazing!
It is especially good that you have sung all the translated versions.
Now I indeed can direct my English-speaking friends to your site so that they can listen to almost the original songs. And at least by the spirit they indeed are original!
Thank you!
Rashpill
September 15, 2010 at 6:15 am
If you don’t have a house,
The fire can’t ruin your life,
And your wife won’t cheat with others,
If you don’t have a wife.
If you do have a puppy,
Than [your] neighbor didn’t poison it yet,
And your friend won’t start to fight you,
If you don’t have a friend.
That will be closer to the original
admin
September 15, 2010 at 1:12 pm
True, but in this case I t justified in changing things around, replacing dog with cat, because it really doesn’t matter as long as the message remains the same - Sometimes you reallu have to change the form in order to save the spirit - Being too literal could be dangerous - Thanks for the suggestions, though
Mike Johnson
October 27, 2010 at 10:03 am
This really poses an age-old question, which is, is it better to have had and lost than to never had had at all? It’s always fascinating to know that every culture experiences this question in one form or another.
admin
October 28, 2010 at 8:19 am
True - although most cultures do answer in the affirmative, I think - Living itself is a kind of having, whether you like it or not - or being had, depending on your viewpoint
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