Amariyu

Translating songs from English to Chamorro has been a favorite hobby of mine for a while. When I was first learning to speak Chamorro this was a fun necessity. It helped me, albeit in small fragments, practice the structure of making short sentences in Chamorro. One of the first songs that I translated was a favorite of mine at the time, "Yellow" by the band Coldplay. The lyrics, like many of that sort of generic, but somehow epic pop songs are incomprehensible. They are meant to be so fehman, but don't really make sense. They feel as if they make some sort of higher sense, but when taking in a literal and direct way, you might wonder how bulachu or bileng the songwriter was when he was penning these lines.

Needless to say, after so many years "Yellow" remains one of my favorite songs to sing in both English and in Chamorro. I often sing along in Chamorro as its droning tune and repetitive lyrics wind their way to their conclusion.

Note that the translation is not meant to be exact by any means. As with any translation such as this, the meaning will sometimes wander in order to fit into the line length or the imagery will change in order to conjure up something which is more friendly and familiar to the new language.

******************

"Amariyu"


Atan hulo' i estreyas
Ya taimanu ma inayi hao
Ya todu i bida-mu
Ya puru ha' manamariyu

Maloffan yu'
Ya hu tugiyi hao' ni kanta
Put todu i bida-mu
Ya puru ha' amariyu

Ya i tiempo-ku pa'go
Hafakao bida-hu?
Ya puru ha' amayiru

I lassas-mu yan i te'lang-mu
Mambunita todudu
Ya un tungo', un tungo' hu guaiya hao atdet
Un tungo' hu guaiya hao atdet

Munangu yu'
Hagu hu li'ofggue
Hafakao bida-hu
Sa' puru ha' hao amariyu

Manyungga yu'
Un raya para Hagu
Hafakao bida-hu
Ya puru ha' amariyu

I lassas-mu yan i te'lang-mu
Mambunita todudu
Un tungo'
Put Hagu bai hu sangran maisa yu'
Put Hagu bai hu sangran maisa yu'

Magahet hu'u
Atan taimanu ma inayi hao
Atan taimanu ma inayi hao
Atan taimanu ma ina
Atan taimanu ma inayi hao
Atan taimanu ma inayi hao
Atan taimanu ma inayi hao

Atan hulo ' i estreyas
Ya taimanu ma inayi hao
Yan todu i bida-mu


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