Já, þúsundfalt
Upplifðir nóg
Komin með nóg
En það varst þú sem allt
Lést à hjarta mér
Og það varst þú sem andann aftur
Kveiktir innà mér
Tilfinningum
à hrærivél
Allt úti um allt
En það varst þú sem alltaf varst
Til staðar fyrir mann
Og það varst þú sem aldrei dæmdir
Sannur vinur manns
(hopelandic)
Yfir á gömlum ára
Sem skÃtlekur
Þú syndir að landi
Ãtir frá öldugangi
Ekkert vinnur á
Þú flýtur á sjónum
Sefur á yfirborði
Ljós à þokunni
I don't like the translation offered here at all that everyone's basing their comments on. It's awkward, unwieldy and literal in a way that seems to not understand Icelandic and English are actually closely related languages. For example, tranlsating the verb "kveiktir" as "awoke" makes no sense when there's an English cognate "quicken" which is 1) much more poetic and 2) closer to the lyric. Here's a better translation:
you've tried it all yes, a thousand times experienced enough come through enough but it was you who let it all into my heart and it was you who once again quickened my spirit
i left, you left
you stir up emotions in a blender all out for all but it was you who was always there for me and it was you who never judged - a true friend
i left, you left
you sail on the rivers over the old years leaking badly fighting the waves can't help you floating in the sea asleep on the waves a light in the mist
when I listen to the end, everything around me freezes and life is perfect
I first listened to Ara Batur while I was sleep deprived and incredibly stressed. Around the 8 minute mark I actually just burst into tears.
This song has got to be the most beautiful piece of music ever created.
one word: EPIC
What I like so much about Sigur Rós music is the possibility to interpret it in very personal, unique ways. I'm an amateur astronomer, and I got to the idea that the song is a perfect soundtrack for watching sunset and stars appearing in time lapse.
The sad part of the song follows the night that is coming, our beautiful Sun sinking lower, dissapearing, making everithing dark, cold, unfriendly. But as the sky becomes dark, more and more stars appear to fill it. As the cold night completely falls down, and the choir starts to sing, altough we cannot see our Sun, what we see is are vast millions of other bright worlds, the view and sounds compared into emotion beyond words.
It was the idea i got before i read the translated lyrics (I don't know Icelandic). Altough strange, it seems possible to me now to think of the Sun as the one we parted from when it set. It also brings hope that someday, the Sun, or what ever someones "one who I part from" will appear and rise again, someday.
sry for the long post, i couldnt help myself ;) . so monumental and beautiful indeed!
Thanks a lot for a translation of this song. It is so hard to find any translation of Sigur Ros songs. Yeah, I know there are some, but still too few. I really appreciate you put it here. These are great lyrics.. I love Sigur Ros music. There is some kind of inexpressible sadness in their music and in the same time there is so much joy. It is mixed in some mysterious way. arnfdeno do you have a translation of any other lyrics from the new album? I would be grateful if you put it on this website. Should you have translation of song Illgresi, it would be great :)
One of the greatest pieces of music created in the last 10 years
@SmallClone And the last 20 years
@SmallClone And the last 20 years
this song is god like. no idea what it means but its my favourite song of 2008 so far
here is a rough translation:
Ára Bátur (Row Boat)
You tried everything Yes, a thousand times Experienced enough Been through enough But you it was who let everything Into my heart and you it was who once again Awoke my spirit
I parted, you parted
You stir up Emotions In a blender Everything in disarray But it was you who was always There for me It was you who never judged My true friend
I parted, you parted (hopelandic)
You sail on rivers With an old oar Leaking badly You swim to shore Pushed the waves away But to no avail You float on the sea Sleep on the surface Light through the fog
(hopelandic)
btw, credit for the transcript and translation goes to the folks from the SR official MB. you know who you are. :)
I forgot to interpret it. So..for me this song is about friends as it is said in the lyrics. It is about friends who've been together through thick and thin. Their friendship have lasted even through times when they did not understand each other..but they've always been for each other. I guess one of them has been through terrible things, extremely bad time.. And there came a time when their friendship ended. I guess this friend who haven't been through these terribles things didn't know what to do. He run out of conceptions how to help the other. Maybe now he feels an enormous remorse for what happened, and for what he might do but he didn't. Now he feels sorry that he let his friend down. But maybe he felt before that there are no options or solutions left. I guess he focused so much on wondering about solutions and forgot just to be there for a friend. These are very sad lyrics..I mean I have experienced some kind of similar situation recently and these lyrics convey what I feel. But I still believe that parting is not right solution.