Geantraí

[moonwise]

Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas í seachain a chroí na pléasc í
Déanfaidh sí dámhs' is dámhs'
Déanfaidh sí dámhs' le pléisiúr
Déanfaidh sí dámhs' is dámhs' mé féin 'sí féin le chéile

We will throw her up and up
We will throw her up easily
We will throw her up and up, hopefully she will not explode
She will dance and dance
She will dance with pleasure
She will dance and dance myself and herself together

--Anúna

Comments

caith suas nó cuir amach

[caoin.livejournal.com]

8-) funny mushrooms might also explain the excessive dancing.

As usual, the idiom doesn't translate of course. Irish has a full paradigm of direction words that English lost long ago. Suas means 'up from here', so you would have to be projectile vomiting up into the air for it to apply. 'Up from below' is aníos. In any case, in Irish you don't 'throw up' you 'put out'! (Cuirim amach) This also explains why the translation of 'output' is not cur amach ('vomit'), but aschur ('ex-put'), though as an occasional programmer I think either could be valid.

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[arafel.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I just thought that the "she" was being tossed into the air. This isn't my translation; it's from the disc jacket, though I have translated it myself with the help of a dictionary.

Commentary is appreciated though! ;)

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[caoin.livejournal.com]

I just realised I'm getting this song mixed up with something else. I thought I had it on an old record, but in fact that's Dilín Ó Deamhas. They do seem very similar though, e.g. -

Caithimis suas is suas é,
Caithimis suas an páiste;
Caithimis suas is suas is suas é,
'S tiocfaidh sé anuas amárach..

- so I wonder if they're different versions of the same thing? I think dTigeas a Damhsa, which is on one of the early Clannad albums, is also a relative. If you could be bothered satisfying my curiosity, have a listen to this (242KB) snippet and tell me if the tune's the same.

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Hmm... they have a passing similarity. You can scan the lyrics you posted to the tune of Geantrai - if I could post mp3's I'd put up a link. The lyrics are quite similar, yes -

Caithimis suas is suas é,
you will toss him up and up
Caithimis suas an páiste;
you will toss up the child
Caithimis suas is suas is suas é,
you will toss him up and up and up
'S tiocfaidh sé anuas amárach..
and he will come down tomorrow..

thanks for the translation practice! ;)

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[caoin.livejournal.com]

BTW did you know that geantraí is one of three old categories of song: geantraí (lively music), goltraí (sad music/laments) and suantraí (sleep music/lullabies)?

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did. *grin* But thank you for telling me! ;)

Re: caith suas nó cuir amach

[lordraziel.livejournal.com]

And here I thought it was a polka! Where is Lawerence Welk when you need him?