Bruce Springsteen - Johnny 99
To translate is always to betray
I bring you back (lucky you!) my little column of free and unfaithful translations (interpretations more than translations), language – even when it’s the one you happened to be born with – is a barrier and communication is only a utopian desire; so take this stuff we call translation with a big grain of salt.
I’m outing myself: I confess I’ve never really connected with the "Boss," his music doesn’t resonate with my strings (my problem). But his lyrics...
Bruce Springsteen - Jonny 99
So the car factory down in Mahwah shut down last month, then Ralph went looking for a job but didn’t find one and came home dead drunk because he’d mixed Tanqueray and wine
then he grabbed a gun and shot a night watchman and now they call him Johnny 99
In that part of town where you don’t stop at red lights, there was Johnny waving his gun around, shouting he’d shoot himself in the head. Until a plainclothes cop took him from behind and, so
in front of the Tip Top Club, they cuffed Johnny 99
The city gave him a public defender but the judge was John Brown, the bastard. He stepped into the courtroom and glared down at poor Johnny. The evidence is clear boy, and the sentence will fit the crime: 98 years in jail plus one, then we’ll be even, Johnny 99
Shouts and punches flew in the courtroom and Johnny’s girl had to be dragged away by force. His mother stood up and shouted, “Judge don’t take my boy away like this!” Well son, any statements before the guard takes you away forever?
“Judge, I had debts no honest man can pay and the bank held tight to the mortgage to take my house away. Now I’m not saying that makes me innocent but it was way more than all this crap that put that pistol in my hand
So, Your Honor, I firmly believe it’s better if you put me to death if you think taking a man’s life is about the thoughts he has in his head. So try sitting in that chair again and think it over well.
And let them cut my hair and prepare me for the execution. outing: crimine:
To translate is always to betray
I bring you back (lucky you!) my little column of free and unfaithful translations (interpretations more than translations), language – even when it’s the one you happened to be born with – is a barrier and communication is only a utopian desire; so take this stuff we call translation with a big grain of salt.
I’m outing myself: I confess I’ve never really connected with the "Boss," his music doesn’t resonate with my strings (my problem). But his lyrics...
Bruce Springsteen - Jonny 99
So the car factory down in Mahwah shut down last month, then Ralph went looking for a job but didn’t find one and came home dead drunk because he’d mixed Tanqueray and wine
then he grabbed a gun and shot a night watchman and now they call him Johnny 99
In that part of town where you don’t stop at red lights, there was Johnny waving his gun around, shouting he’d shoot himself in the head. Until a plainclothes cop took him from behind and, so
in front of the Tip Top Club, they cuffed Johnny 99
The city gave him a public defender but the judge was John Brown, the bastard. He stepped into the courtroom and glared down at poor Johnny. The evidence is clear boy, and the sentence will fit the crime: 98 years in jail plus one, then we’ll be even, Johnny 99
Shouts and punches flew in the courtroom and Johnny’s girl had to be dragged away by force. His mother stood up and shouted, “Judge don’t take my boy away like this!” Well son, any statements before the guard takes you away forever?
“Judge, I had debts no honest man can pay and the bank held tight to the mortgage to take my house away. Now I’m not saying that makes me innocent but it was way more than all this crap that put that pistol in my hand
So, Your Honor, I firmly believe it’s better if you put me to death if you think taking a man’s life is about the thoughts he has in his head. So try sitting in that chair again and think it over well.
And let them cut my hair and prepare me for the execution. outing: crimine:
lector
yesterday 23:17
DeRank ™: 19,95
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