Lifter Puller in Norwegian: Mission Viejo // Oppdrag Mondeo

[muzzleofbees]

For the past year or so I've been a) learning to play guitar, and b) tried to translate some of the songs I'm learning to Norwegian, a little bit to please the kids, but also because I'm finding great joy in it myself. The past week I've been working on a Norwegian version of Mission Viejo, from Lifter Puller's first album, but also frequently played in Craig's solo set in recent years. I hope you can look past the lack of musicianship, and appreciate the cover anyway, haha.



People tend to be interested in lyrics around here, and while I'm not sure how many of you who will understand any of this, I'll post them below. It's not exactly a translation, but I've done my best to keep the plot and the atmosphere pretty similar. It's more an interpretation, also in the lyrical sense, but I think people able to understand it will find something familiar.

OPPDRAG MONDEO

Klokka tikker sakte nå
Vi har begge masker på
Rulletekst så askegrå

Svever i ditt verdensrom
Så belest, men like dum
Kjeven låst og munnen tom

Går inn for landing nå, en dommedag med tøfler på
Jeg ligger pent på skrå
Med høsten kommer rette linjer

Skjelvent fundament som glir
Røde øyne, halsen svir
Stjernesludd og gråpapir

Pakker om og pakker inn
Gavebånd av rustent sinn
Dagen døv og natta blind

Vet ikke om du fins
En krone til, og jeg er prins
Broren din, han koker nå
Hviskelek og heksebrenning

Et feilskjær er er uhell
Men tre det er en vane
Og jeg glemmer aldri de gangene

Vi kjørte rundt i morgengry
Hodet i en tåkesky
Stålhjerte og bein av bly

Jeg ville ikke skremme deg
Ville bare gjemme meg
Siste søndag er så seig

Jeg mister grepet snart, en ukes tid til skolestart
Med høsten kommer rette linjer

[tableinthecorner]

This is fantastic! I don't speak Norwegian but it sounds great— I honestly really like the acoustic, stripped-back quality of it. It becomes more of a campfire-type song, which is really cool

[star18]

Absolutely dig this! Well done!

(kinda funny, I saw this on the FB "positive posting" group and when I saw your caption about Norwegian lyrics I was like 'aw that's gotta be Muzzle!")

I'd love to see more home-made stuff on the board like this!

[actslapless]

Great post, love seeing stuff like this!

[redwino]

Flott versjon! Nesten litt DumDum Boys preg også, synes jeg :-)

[muzzleofbees]

Thanks, guys! I know my limitations, but just being able to experience this music I love so much in a new way, feel pretty good.

[skepticatfirst]

Hey man, this is really good, I have to say. I don't want to interrogate your translation choices but I do have to make one comment and ask one question:

One, "landing" for "coming down" is pretty good --- using one actual Craig Finn word ("Tecate landing") to translate another!

Two: why "Mondeo" for "Viejo"? Is this a way of finding a word that's recognizable in Norwegian, scans with the accent on the second syllable, and ends in an 'o', so you tied it to the "brother's car"?

[muzzleofbees]

One, "landing" for "coming down" is pretty good --- using one actual Craig Finn word ("Tecate landing") to translate another!

Hah, that was unintentional! I don't think there's a decent Norwegian expression for "comming down", at least not with the same format (verb/preposition). I could have rephrased it into a (pretty good) word like "nedtur", but it doesn't have the same druggy implications. "Å lande" (to land) isn't exactly drug lingo, but in the right context, most norwegians would get it. And even though I didn't think about it when I wrote it, I've also been playing the song Myk Landing quite a lot. That's definitely a drug song. "Sitter her på taket mitt/ sigarett og Aralditt/ og tenker mens jeg faller/ om jeg lander/ håper jeg jeg lander mykt". Which loosley translates too: "Sitting on the roof/ cigarettes and glue/ I'm thinking that if I fall/ when I come down, I hope I'll land soft". "Aralditt" is a brand of glue, I don't know if you have it in the US? Anyway, you sort of made me discover a layer in the translation I wasn't quite aware that was there.

Two: why "Mondeo" for "Viejo"? Is this a way of finding a word that's recognizable in Norwegian, scans with the accent on the second syllable, and ends in an 'o', so you tied it to the "brother's car"?

I'll admit that was a little lazy. I wanted something that a) alluded something about riding in a car, and b) fit with the syllables. "Mondeo" was the first thing that struck me. But it's also a car I associate with growing up, the kind of car "the brother" potentially would drive. So there's a nod there.

Oh, and while we're at it: There's a small easter egg somewhere else in the lyrics. Again, I don't think it was intentional when I wrote it, but there's a line who corresponds very well with a line/a verse from another (pretty well known) Craig Finn lyric.

[skepticatfirst]

Feb 26, 2021 12:50:01 GMT -5 muzzleofbees said:

Two: why "Mondeo" for "Viejo"? Is this a way of finding a word that's recognizable in Norwegian, scans with the accent on the second syllable, and ends in an 'o', so you tied it to the "brother's car"?

I'll admit that was a little lazy. I wanted something that a) alluded something about riding in a car, and b) fit with the syllables. "Mondeo" was the first thing that struck me. But it's also a car I associate with growing up, the kind of car "the brother" potentially would drive. So there's a nod there.

Oh, and while we're at it: There's a small easter egg somewhere else in the lyrics. Again, I don't think it was intentional when I wrote it, but there's a line who corresponds very well with a line/a verse from another (pretty well known) Craig Finn lyric.

I like "Mondeo," actually! Made me think of the brother's car right away, just wasn't sure if there wasn't another meaning that I didn't know.

For the other lyric, the first thing I thought of was

    Svever i ditt verdensrom

and either 

    And so we shot ourselves out into outer space

or else

    While he was floating in space that chick took his wallet

but maybe you were thinking of something else?

[muzzleofbees]

Feb 27, 2021 8:41:25 GMT -5 skepticatfirst said:

Feb 26, 2021 12:50:01 GMT -5 muzzleofbees said:

I'll admit that was a little lazy. I wanted something that a) alluded something about riding in a car, and b) fit with the syllables. "Mondeo" was the first thing that struck me. But it's also a car I associate with growing up, the kind of car "the brother" potentially would drive. So there's a nod there.

Oh, and while we're at it: There's a small easter egg somewhere else in the lyrics. Again, I don't think it was intentional when I wrote it, but there's a line who corresponds very well with a line/a verse from another (pretty well known) Craig Finn lyric.

I like "Mondeo," actually! Made me think of the brother's car right away, just wasn't sure if there wasn't another meaning that I didn't know.

For the other lyric, the first thing I thought of was

    Svever i ditt verdensrom

and either 

    And so we shot ourselves out into outer space

or else

    While he was floating in space that chick took his wallet

but maybe you were thinking of something else?

I could easily have been those lines! And when you mention it, and want to pretend Mondeo has a double meaning, as I guess "Mondeo" is a word with the same origin as the french "Monde". The whole song (both the original, and at least my version of it) takes place in a very limited world, where the two main characters sort of exist in their own universe. But that wasn't intended, haha.

When I look back, I see the line I was thinking about isn't that clear. But I was thinking about:

"Så belest, men like dum"

...which sort of mirrors both a theme in Hot Fries, but also "pretty good with words, but words won't save your life" and "big heads with soft bodies make for lousy lovers". Belest = well read. And while I think it's a bit easy to translate "dum" with "stupid", it's sort of what it means.

[thrasher9294]

Such a cool project, and a great version of the song, man. I first heard it when Steve shared it on his fb a week or so back!

[muzzleofbees]

I'm not gonna turn this thread into my personal diary, but I know for a fact that some of you guys are pretty into Silver Jews/Purple Mountains as well, and I've just made a version of Darkness And Cold. Thought I might as well post it here.

[skepticatfirst]

Nice man! I got into Berman after you posted about Purple Mountains over on the Music board, since then it's become a favorite album, Silver Jews too. A solid performance, it sounds really good!