Jan 3, 2011

Il Vit En Toi

Or, "He Lives In You." It's an amazing video from the French cast of Le Roi Lion ("The Lion King").


Lyrics (with my very, very rough translation in italics):

La nuit est* l'esprit de la vie
The night is the spirit of life
Appelle
Calling
Mambella
Mambella
Et une voix comme l'enfant qui a peur
And a voice like a child who is scared
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Replies
Oh mambella
Oh, mambella
Il vit en toi
He lives in you
Il vit en moi
He lives in me
Toujours il veille
Forever he keeps watch
Sur ce que tu vois
On that which you see
Dans l'eau qui part comme un miroir
In the water that leaves like a mirror
Même dans ton reflet**
The exact same [way] in your reflection
Il vit en toi
He lives in you

*This must be 'est' ('is') instead of 'et' ('and', as in the original English) if the second line is the singular 'appelle'. However, if the second line is the plural 'appellent' (pron. the same as 'appelle'), it would be 'et'. I've chosen to make it singular, since I like the idea of 'the night' and 'the spirit of life' being one and the same (representing Mufasa, the deceased father) , paralleling the singular, fearful respondent voice (representing Simba, the living son). Different from the English, but a better point made.
**I went for a more word-by-word translation here. The point that it is making, in less clunkly language would be: "...in the water which, like your image in a mirror, leaves, he lives in you."

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