Sounder’s Piv Txoj Lus: Song Translation
Posted on 23 November 2009
First off, I want to say THANKS to my friend Lasia for the awesome Hmong Lyrics, as she had said, her Hmong writing skills are still pretty new, so there may be some spelling errors in it, so if you guys find any, please let me know so I can correct them.
WHEW!!! This must had been one of the hardest songs I had ever translated! Why, well in this song, they used a lot of metaphors that are used amongst the elders to teach the youngsters life lessons and a lot of those are just almost impossible to translate into understanding correct American terms. I know what they mean and what they are, but it’s just hard to find the right words to make the term meaningful or understandable. SO IF ANYONE CAN CORRECT OR FIX ANY OF THOSE TERMS SO IT’LL BE MORE UNDERSTANDABLE PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW SO I CAN FIX IT!!!
This is one reason why I LOVE the Sounders!! They turn old Hmong terms into a great modern and meaningful songs, or they use huge Hmong words that are not used in everyday Hmong language anymore, another word, they are preserving the Hmong culture in their songs! Not just that but their songs are very meaningful, the depth of their songs are deep and strong, and I just never get tired of listening to their music.
Again, just a reminder, their album will be released this Thanksgiving, so go out and buy their album, support them! We all had been waiting for about 5 years for this album to be released and it’s finally here!!!
I had said I’ll translate this song from one of my previous post, so here it is.
Artist: The Sounders
Song: Piv Txoj Lus
Album: Kuv Hlub Koj (KHK) will be released on November 26 2009
luag tej laus piv txoj lus hais tias
The elders had always said
tsis pom dej dag ces siab tsis nqig
If you don’t see fake water then you’ll never know
luag tej laus piv txoj lus hais tseg
the elders had always stated that
ua tau tsiv tag mam pom ntoos yiag
after you build your home, then you’ll see better woods
luag tej laus ua paj lug hais tseg
The elders leave words that
ua hlav luam ces zoo khaws ntsug
good business only comes to those with good hearts (???)
luag tej laus ua paj lug hais tseg
The elders leave words that
yuav poj yuav sev tsuav zoo thawj tug
getting marry is best with the first one
luag hais tias
they said
yuav poj yuav sev
getting married
tag lawm mam pom hluas nkauj zoo dua kev
then you’ll see someone better
luag hais tias
they said
qub neeg qub siab
same person same heart
tsis yug dua tshiab ces yeej hloov tsis tau
if you are not reborn, you won’t be able to change
tej tug tij neeg ob peb lub siab
some people has many hearts
twb muaj ib tug tseem ntshaws tus tshiab
even with someone by their side, they still want another
cas ib lub paj muaj ob tug ntxhiaj
why does a flower have two scent
muv ntsia npaum cas los tsis zoo lub siab
no matter how many bees are surrounded, they are never happy
luag tej laus piv txoj lus hais tias
The elders had always said
yuav poj yuav sev yuav saib caj cev
before you marry, you look into the family history
luag tej laus ua paj lug hais tseg
the elders leaves words that
tau tus tsis zoo yuav pua ib sim
if you marry someone bad, you are forever in ruin
luag hais tias
they said
yuav poj yuav sev
getting married
tag lawm mam pom hluas nkauj zoo dua kev
then you’ll see someone better
luag hais tias
they said
qub neeg qub siab
same person same heart
tsis yug dua tshiab ces yeej hloov tsis tau
if you are not reborn, you won’t be able to change
tej tug tij neeg ob peb lub siab
some people has many hearts
twb muaj ib tug tseem ntshaws tus tshiab
even with someone by their side, they still want another
cas ib lub paj muaj ob tug ntxhiaj
why does a flower have two scent
muv ntsia npaum cas los tsis zoo lub siab
no matter how many bees are surrounded, they are never happy
tej tug tij neeg ob peb lub siab
some people has many hearts
twb muaj ib tug tseem ntshaws tus tshiab
even with someone by their side, they still want another
peb ua tij neeg twb txawj tu siab
we as humans do know how to feel sorrow
luag hais npaum cas los yeej tsis nkag yus lub siab
no matter how much others said, they still don’t understand
9 responses to Sounder’s Piv Txoj Lus: Song Translation
Opps sorry just popped up..
I was looking to see where I could comment on your song translation but couldn’t find a comment section so I’m sorry had to put it here..
In your translation of :
ua hlav luam ces zoo khaws ntsug
good business only comes to those with good hearts (???)
It’s stating that “business is only good the first time around”.
Something like that I noticed you had ??? and that’s why I thought I’d comment. Good job on the rest and I love the lyrics to this song.. Not so much the voice or music but the lyrics are good.
ces siab tsis nqig
I think that actually translate to: then won’t be satisfied
rather than: then you’ll never know
[...] 6. Tig Rov Los 7. Koj So Sexy 8. Kuv Hlub Koj 9. Hlub Tuaj Nraub Siab 10. Tau Cev Tsis Tau Siab 11. Piv Txoj Lus 12. Leeg Nyob Sab [...]
I think it’s not suppose to be fake water but yellow water.
“ua hlav luam ces zoo khaws ntsug”
I think it can also translate to ‘business is only good the first roll(reference to farming rolls)’
sidenote, the song here is the demo single version, the album sounds more richer and a few lines are added…but judging from your blogs, you’ve already heard it, ^_^
Appleseed, thanks for the correction, I have had few correction help already, jsut havent gotten to it, but will do in a bit! thanks!!
I had a hold of this demo and had put up this post before the album was released therefore I used this demo instead. I’ll go ahead and stream the original when I do fix the mistakes later on tonight. I did purchased this album, well worth it!
OMG I love this song so much! Whenever I’m down I always listen to this song *sigh*
That’s what I was thinking too.
Mai, THanks! I’ll get it fixed!