Nagi
About "Ruby Tuesday"...I want to compose the best Japanese translation.
"Ruby Tuesday" is the one of most favorite English songs for me. However , I haven't been able to grasp the exactly meaning of this song for more than 20 years. The lyric seems to be very simple. But that's why it's difficult for non-English speakers. Fortunately, I have met many foreign friends who speak English since I have joined italki. I think now that I can put into practice my teenage dream of composing the best Japanese translation of "Ruby Tuesday" with your help. I don't care if you can speak Japanese or not. Please just tell me the correct meaning of this song!

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don't matter if it's gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows, she comes and goes

Q1:"She would never say" 彼女は「言わない」?「言わなかった」?
...The tense of English grammar always bothers me. Especially this "would". When it means? past? or now?

Q2:"No one knows, she comes and goes"="No one knows where she comes from and where she goes"? or "No one knows the fact that she comes and goes"?

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Q3: "Who could hang a name on you" = "No one can name her" ? or "I cannot call her name and no one either" ?

Q4: "When you change with every new day"
...Why is this "when"? I feel that "while" or "whenever" is more suitable. Cannot be replaced?

Don't question why she needs to be so free
She'll tell you it's the only way to be
She just can't be chained
To a life where nothings gained
And nothings lost, at such a cost

Q5: "She just can't be chained
To a life where nothings gained" ...I can understand this part. But what does the next part mean? Where does "And nothings lost, at such a cost" connect to?

"There's no time to lose", I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind
Ain't life unkind?

Q6: "Catch your dreams before they slip away"...Who did say this? Mic? or Ruby?

Q7: How many sentences are there in next part?  ①Dying all the time
lose your dreams ② you will lose your mind ③Ain't life unkind?...OK?

...Many Japanese websites are competing different explanations. But the truth must be only one. Please share with me the natural feeling that when an English speaker hear this song for the first time!
May 7, 2017 4:38 PM
Comments · 14
1
This is great to have, but it's going to take me a long time to study the translation since my Japanese is so rudimentary. I don't want to depend on Google Translate. :) Btw, I like 紅い宝石の火曜日の人, but bear in mind that both "Ruby" and "Tuesday" have actually been used to name girls in the West. They're pretty esoteric names, but the Western mind parses them both on face-value and also as names (albeit rare ones). So, to translate this into Japanese, I would be looking for equally quirky names that convey the sense preciousness and/or some ephemeral length of time. If "jewel" and "Tuesday" are NOT used in Japan for names, then I don't think that they'll convey the same art as Ruby Tuesday does. And the katakana version, of course (IMO), doesn't have any art either. :)
May 8, 2017
1
Anyway, I must show you my translation.

自分がどこから来たのか
彼女は決して話そうとしなかった。
いちど過ぎ去ってしまえば
昨日なんてもう関係ない。
太陽が照らす昼間も
一番暗い夜の中でも
誰も知らない。
彼女がどこから来て どこへ行くのか

どうしてそんなに
自由でいなくちゃいけないのかなんて
彼女にそんなことは聞くもんじゃない。
ただそうするしかないからだって
きっと彼女は言うだろう。
何も手に入ることがないから
何も失うことがない
そんな虚しさを代償として支払い続ける人生に
彼女は縛られていることなんてできないんだ。

時間は無駄にできない
彼女がそう言うのを聞いた。
夢なんてどんどん通り過ぎては
死んで行くんだから
その前に捕まえなくちゃ。
夢をなくしたら
心もなくなっちゃうよ。
人生って、薄情なものだと思わない？

さよなら ルビー・チューズデイ
誰がきみに名前なんてつけられるだろう
きみは毎日変わっていくのに。
ぼくは今でもきみを想い続ける

...There's a Japanese unique way to express the double meanings. Firstly, translate the words "Ruby Tuesday" as "紅い宝石の火曜日の人", and then, put Furigana on this line as "ルビー・チューズデイ". But I think this method is rather pedantic. So I confined my translation to reproduce the sound of "Ruby Tuesday" using Japanese characters. I'd like to hear your thoughts about this translation if you please, too. Thank you, Mr.White!
May 8, 2017
1
"Each listener will interpret, and be moved by, the song in their own personal way depending on their own personality and experience."...I appreciate your opinion. But I think misreadings cannot always be appreciated. For example, many Japanese listeners believe that Bob Marley's "No woman, no cry" means "There's no woman who doesn't cry" thanks to the wiseacres in the media. But the internet has taught me that Bob's message was simply "Don't cry". His message will never reach our ears as long as we are drowning in misinterpretation. On the other hand, I have heard that Joe Strummer had cried out when he knew his song "Rock the Casbah" is LOVED by US soldiers who were assaulting middle east cities. Although I think Joe himself is partly responsible for this, I cannot stand such types of "misreading".

The first foreign record which I bought myself was The Band's so-called "Brown Album". And to this and from this, the most favorite song is "The night they drove old Dixie down". But the Japanese lyrics card was full of typographical errors and misinterpretations. I felt I had been cheated when I know the fact 15 years later. And I still haven't come to feel like appreciate "my own personal way depending on my own personality and experience." But I will reserve my opinions about this for another occasion.
May 8, 2017
1

Firstly, I'm feeling very moved by your sincere explanation. "How is it possible to name, and therefore describe, you, given the circumstance that your nature changes every day (or all the time)" This interpretation is completely new to me. Most Japanese listeners believe that this "when" of "when you change with every new day" describes about the moment Mic misses her (Although thanks to the internet, now that we know this song was written by Kieth. But to this and from this, this song is brought to us by Mic's voice). And I have never noticed the relationship between "Tuesday" and "every new day". Other comments also changed my view of this song. But what moved me most is your love to this song exuding from between your lines.

May 8, 2017

Nagi,

When I am curious about songs, their meanings, and the background of songs, I use a site called genius.com.  On this site users can make annotations with what they believe the lyrics mean or about the background of the song. Here is a link for Ruby Tuesday on genius.com. https://genius.com/The-rolling-stones-ruby-tuesday-lyrics

Different people make annotations so what you see on this site can conflict with each other, but they often give you ideas and links to follow up on.  On the site, on the left, the lines of the songs are highlighted when someone has made an annotation.  Click on the highlighted links.  For example, the first annotation on this song says ¨Keith Richard’s lyrics are about Linda Keith, his girl friend who left him for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Jimi Hendrix</a>:¨

The annotation for the chorus says Brian Jones actually wrote the song, and gives a link to a long interview by Mick Jagger.http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mick-jagger-remembers-19951214

As you are making translations this site could be helpful to you.


May 12, 2017
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Nagi
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, Gaelic (Irish), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin), English, Korean, Vietnamese
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