Alternate Lyrics to Carmina Burana (SLYTMNDP)

February 12, 2009 10:08 AM

If you, like me, find it sometimes difficult to parse the intricacies of great opera, this modernized and localized translation of O Fortuna might be of use. Some men, apparently, like cheese.
posted by Shepherd (20 comments total)

Well, Carmina Burana ain't opera, but that's still cute.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:10 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

True that. Apologies to musicologists.
posted by Shepherd at 10:13 AM on February 12, 2009

Reminds me of elephants.
posted by greytape at 10:33 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

if you appreciated that, check out this parodic translation of orff's text.
posted by barrett caulk at 10:36 AM on February 12, 2009

Well, Carmina Burana ain't opera, but that's still cute.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:10 PM

Fixed.
posted by greekphilosophy at 10:40 AM on February 12, 2009

if you appreciated that, check out this parodic translation of orff's text.

Am I missing something here? Parodic? My latin (and mittelhochdeutsch) are a little rusty but I fail to see the parody...

But maybe that was the joke or something.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 10:57 AM on February 12, 2009

What if I don't, like you?
posted by rocket88 at 11:10 AM on February 12, 2009

Has this old chestnut never been posted to MeFi before? Wow.

Also, I like YTMND waaaay too much. Such a guilty pleasure.
posted by GuyZero at 11:11 AM on February 12, 2009

Are you sure that was parodic? I don't know much Latin, but it looked like a plain old translation based on what I know of what that piece was supposed to be about.
posted by idiopath at 11:14 AM on February 12, 2009

ps. that was a reply to barret caulk, not the O.P.
posted by idiopath at 11:16 AM on February 12, 2009

So, my university choir is doing Carmina Burana this semester. One day we all sang these lyrics. It was epic.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:22 AM on February 12, 2009

Either barret caulk is joking, or doesn't understand what Carmina Burana is actually about. (It's based on student drinking songs, among other popular medieval music.) Orff's contribution was setting them to music, as none was recorded.
posted by dhartung at 11:47 AM on February 12, 2009

Okay, so I'm not the only one confused about "parodic." I obviously have no freakin' idea what opera is, so I was hesitant to say anything else.
posted by Shepherd at 11:55 AM on February 12, 2009

Well you say Car-mee-na and I say Car-my-na
You say Bur-ahh-na and I say Bur-ee-na
Car-mee-na, Car-my-na
Bur-ahh-na, Bur-ee-na
Let's Karl the whole thing Orff
posted by turaho at 11:56 AM on February 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

okay, okay. yes, it was a joke. i just provided the link for anyone who was unfamiliar with the piece and curious about what it really said. i often forget that you can't always clearly communicate deadpan humor through text.
posted by barrett caulk at 11:59 AM on February 12, 2009

Ah, memories. O Fortuna awesomeness + discovery of techno version + aliens vs marines = a mashup video I did on a Mac IIci a decade before YouTube.
posted by jaimev at 12:42 PM on February 12, 2009

It's actually "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi," thankyouverymuch. I am partial to Cour D’Amours, Si Puer Cum Puellula

Si puer cum puellula
moraretur in cellula,
felix coniunctio.
Amore succrescente,
pariter e medio
propulso procul taedio,
fit ludus ineffabilis
membris, lacertis, labiis.

“If a boy lingers with a little girl
in a cellar,
their meeting is fortunate.
As Love increases and for both
boredom is dispatched far from their midst,
an indescribable game occurs with
limbs, shoulders, lips.”

The following translation of J.A. Symonds is rather free but captures the spirit of the original:

When a young man, passion-laden,
in a chamber meets a maiden,
then felicitous communion,
by Love's strain between the twain,
grows from forth their union;
for the game, it hath no name,
of lips, arms, and hidden charms.

Bawdy tavern-song, don't need no switching-up as it is!
posted by exlotuseater at 1:34 PM on February 12, 2009

That was seven kinds of awesome Jaimev! Well done!
posted by stonepharisee at 1:54 PM on February 12, 2009

I actually got the chance to play this song at a club to start a gig the other day, thanks to an excellent recent mash-up with a Larry Tee track.
posted by empath at 4:09 PM on February 12, 2009

I expected a picture of Colin Mochrie to show up in there somewhere. Hell, I didn't watch the whole thing, maybe one did. YTMND + wacky lyrics based on what a foreign language sort of sounds like in English = I'm gonna go buy some dog biscuits from pets.com and tell people to vote for Nader because Bush and Gore are basically the same, man.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:32 PM on February 12, 2009