Lost in Translation Vol. 10 REVEALED

Lost in Translation is back with the answer to this week's song! For the first time in five weeks, readers were stumped.

It’s a sunny and mild afternoon up in the Yorkshire Dales and I’m reflecting on the progress we continue to make on the journey of turning our house into a home. At the beginning of the week our bedroom furniture arrived and after four hours of unpacking and assembly, our master and guest bedrooms are now just about complete. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor was rapidly getting old after two weeks and it’s been wonderful sleeping on a proper bed again. Later in the week our TV and soundbar arrived and over the last few evenings we’ve been taking advantage of having an entertainment system by catching up on some of our favorite TV shows and recent blockbusters. Last night we had a blazing fire in the wood burning stove while watching a movie and I kinda felt like I’d died and gone to heaven!

We’ve also continued to explore the local area, both on foot and by car. On Wednesday afternoon we visited one of the many local cafes and checked out a local farm shop before heading into the beautiful village of Clapham. The National Park car park in the village centre serves as a base for half a dozen great walks, including to Ingleborough Cave (500 feet below Ingleborough Mountain) as well as a circular route up to the mountain itself covering a little over 10 miles and 2,000 feet of vertical ascent. The village is also home to several lovely independent shops, an outdoor education centre, a Norman church, and a pub which dates back to the 17th century. Clapham Beck, which originates on the slopes of Ingleborough, runs through the village and provides a lovely tree-lined backdrop to walks along both sides of its banks. We’d not yet ventured into Clapham, which is less than 15 minutes away by car, but after this week’s visit we’ll certainly be back!

And now what you’ve been waiting for! It’s time to provide the answer to Monday’s Lost in Translation.

The Translated Lyric

Here’s the lyric I provided:

It was the same crowd every night.

In the smoke-filled room

Sometimes you could see a hint of love.

But it never flourished.

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The Original Lyric

And here’s the original lyric as it was before being passed through half a dozen languages:

Every night, it's the same old crowd

In smoky rooms

You catch a faint glimpse of love sometimes

But it never blooms

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The Song

For the first time in five weeks nobody came through with the correct song. My initial clue on Monday was “we’re going with another ballad, a late 80s track from a male solo artist that reached the top 10 in Canada and the top 30 in the US.” I purposely mentioned the top ten status in Canada at the beginning to sneakily point people in the direction of it being a Canadian artist, which it did as a couple readers wondered whether it was Bryan Adams (who was randomly co-hosting the morning show on Radio Lancashire this week!). By the middle of the week nobody had come through with the correct answer so I posted a Note with several additional hints: “After his departure from a group responsible for eighteen top 40 singles, this artist went on to earn nine top 40 hits as a solo artist, three from this album alone.”

And now here’s the reveal! The lyrics are from the first half of the third verse of the Don Henley Song “The Last Worthless Evening” from his third solo album The End of the Innocence. It felt like this album was everywhere in the fall of 1989 when I arrived in Halifax for my freshman year of college. In Canada the song peaked at number five on the Singles Chart and at number three on the Adult Contemporary Chart, while reaching number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The album, which is Henley’s best selling release (over six million units sold in the US), peaked at number 8 in the US and made the top 50 in more than half a dozen countries. Here’s the video of the song, cued up at the start of the lyric:

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Feel free to jump into the comments with your thoughts:

• How did you do? Were you close? Or completely stumped?

• Did you know this song already?

• Would you have been able to name the song from the original lyrics?

We’ll see you again on Monday with a new installment of Lost in Translation. Until then, happy listening!!