Lost in Translation Vol. 11 REVEALED

Lost in Translation is back with the answer to this week's song! The correct answer was forthcoming again this week in the fastest time ever!

After a month in the Yorkshire Dales, including 3+ weeks in the new house, the pace of life is beginning to slow down; having said that, we’re still finding ourselves quite busy. We continue to shop for items for the house (occasional tables, lamps, rugs, etc.) while also doing some adulting, like registering with a dentist and a doctor, opening a bank account and paying council tax. We’re also trying to get our walking miles in each week and are still investigating new walks in our area. This past week we once again visited the peak of Gragareth, but instead of the out and back we did last time, this time we opted for a circular route that dropped down from the summit to take in a series of cairns (the “Three Men of Gragareth”) and crossed another “fell” (hillside) before descending on a rough track through a small wood where the bluebells were in full bloom. Absolutely glorious.

Over the past week, for the first time in a very long time, I’ve begun to feel like I’m actually establishing some degree of structure in my life. I’ve reestablished my morning routine of meditation and journaling and am beginning to reap the rewards of living a little more intentionally. Tina and I are starting to eat in a manner more consistent with how we used to and it’s encouraging to see the numbers on the scale heading in the right direction. One area in which I find myself falling short is Substack, both in my writing and—to a lesser extent—my reading. I’d begun to find my Substack inbox overwhelming and recently made the decision to unsubscribe from a handful of Substacks, which has helped ease the (self-imposed) pressure. On the writing front, I’m choosing to extend myself a degree of grace rather than my typical beating the crap out of myself. At some point in the next month I’ll establish a regular writing routine and both my posting and my content should become a little more consistent. Until then, I’ll endeavor to be kind to myself.

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:

I find my way interesting

I love you

if i could buy my reasons

I'm wasting my money

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The Original Lyric

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

It's funny how I find myself

In love with you

If I could buy my reasoning

I'd pay to lose

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The Song

In what has to be record time—about 45 minutes from the post being published—friend of Joy in the Journey Steve Goldberg (of Earworms and Song Loops fame) jumped into the comments with the correct answer! Yes, for those paying attention, this is the same Steve who just last week said “I haven't played all the rounds, but I am really bad at this.” I would say someone’s a quick study! Or maybe it was just the right song in the right moment with the right combination of words. For his part, Steve did say that “It’s one of the only songs I can think of with the word reasons (other than EW&F’s “Reasons.”)” which validated my fear that the translated third line’s similarity to the original would be too much of a tipoff. It can be tough to strike the right balance when picking an appropriate song for this series. If the lyric has been made too unrecognizable by the translation process then it becomes impossible to guess, which is no fun for anyone. But if entire lines, particularly one with a memorable word, remain almost completely unmolested, then it becomes too easy. I do believe that this week’s song was a reasonable challenge, so well done to Steve!

For those that didn’t know the song, and didn’t see Steve’s answer, the lyrics are from the first verse of “It’s My Life”, the title single from Talk Talk’s second album, released in 1984. The track was successful on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at number 46 in the UK and reaching the top 40 in France and Germany while hitting number 31 and 30 in the US and Canada respectively. In 2003, No Doubt achieved considerable success with their cover of the song, released to support their greatest hits collection. Their version remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for 28 weeks, peaking at number 10, and also made the top 10 in more than half a dozen European countries.

Here’s the video of the Talk Talk version, 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!!