Indonesian Songs Translated

Earlier, I wrote about some Indonesian songs, "Anjeun", "Kalangkang", "Es Lilin" (the versions by Nining Meida), and "Cinta Melulu" by Efek Rumah Kaca. I intended to see what the songs meant when translated into English, and here is my attempt.

Overall, two out of three of Nining Meida's songs, recorded in the 1980s, are about love, and maybe the third ("Es Lilin") is as well. So love songs were nothing absolutely new in Indonesia when ERK released "Cinta Melulu". I assume ERK was more opposed to bad love songs or morally corrupting ones than artistically well-done or morally enlightening ones.

"Anjeun":

This song, and all the others by Nining Meida, is in Sundanese, a language spoken by one of the people groups of Indonesia. It's a relatively big people group, and so Google Translate has a translator for it. Also, there's a site called terjemahansunda.com that can translate Sundanese to many other languages.

I tried terjemahansunda.com and translate.google.com and neither of them has a function (or enough of a function, as far as I saw) to provide multiple meanings when words mean more than one. Without that, I don't think I can be an armchair translator very effectively. I don't intend to learn Sundanese any time soon, so I decided just to copy down the translate.google.com output, but it has some obvious problems, like untranslated words and seeming nonsense (things which such artists as Elizabeth Fraser and David Bowie might use, and some which in their way might work with the song, but others which sound like Mad Libs).

The song is more ambivalent than I would have guessed from the music.

--

There is no one to love except you
There is no one to worry about except you
The best in the world
the best in the world except you
Anu heman and daria
Who promised to be faithful only to you

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I am happy to meet you
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'm sorry to be beside you
Just a little unfortunately

If you meet Osok, ask to rush
The base must be unknown
No, you've already...

===

There is no more

That's what you think
There is no more
who is happy except you
Inggis is allowed by others
Inggis loves someone else except you
Every night reading
Special sorting pellets for you
Oh, oh, oh,
Less eat less sleep thinking of you
Oh, oh, oh,
Want to be close
want to be close... Only with you
The base must be unknown
Send a letter with the wrong content
Bad luck and harm
Break up here and there...

==

There is no more
Who loves except you
There is no more
Who cares except you

The best in the world
the best in the world except you
Anu heman and daria
who promised to be faithful only to you

Oh, oh, oh
I am happy to meet you
oh, oh, oh,
I'm sorry to be beside you

Just a little unfortunately
If you meet Osok, ask to rush
The base must be unknown
No, you've already...

"Es lilin"

I found the MIDI of "Es lilin" that I liked back in the day, and I now think that the part I liked was just the melody, which Nining Meida sings somewhat differently, so I thought the old melody had been an instrumental line added by the MIDI programmer. But it's a good MIDI, and the site for it is still up. There are a lot of Indonesian songs there in MIDI form.

Here is that site's version of the lyrics, translated through translate.google.com:

ice candle is eu-ceu
young coconut
helped me eu-ceu
to Majalaya

I'm sorry
I'm sorry
that there is a mistake

And here are the lyrics for Nining Meida's version:

The ice candle was pushed and pushed
I was helped by Sukajadi
I'm ashamed of my unexpected employer
I'm sorry it doesn't happen

Ice candles are made in Bandung
I took it to Cipaganti
I'm ashamed to be ashamed
I'm sorry it doesn't happen

That's who the boss is leading the buffalo
tied with a handkerchief
that's who is my employer too
the one who doesn't listen to me is better than jungjun

The ice candle is very light
it feels like a cabin
I am a wise employer
I'm always afraid of being taken anywhere

--

While working on this, I found a video on YouTube that translates the Sundanese lyrics of "Es Lilin" into Indonesian, so maybe there is some hope for me to someday find the meaning of "Es Lilin".

"Kalangkang"

This one turns out to make some sense as run through Google Translate. I think it does fit the spookiness of the music.

In the dream
It's so close
Kanyaaah is clean
Loyal as a lover...

In the dream
It's so cute
Sweet friendly face
Do not be ashamed

Long flowing hair
The hand is stretched out
Slowly face up
The hug felt tight

Above the sand flour geten
A symbol of blossoming love
The happiness of the two... the two

Unfortunately....it's too bad
It's just a shadow...
Hope ... hope .... SELF
That is in line with reality

"Cinta melulu"

Since this song was in Indonesian, I had more resources available, and I came up with a translation that is plausibly faithful to the song and also makes sense:

[Verse 1]
Nada-nada yang minor
-Tones that minor
Lagu perselingkuhan
-Adultery song
Atas nama pasar semuanya begitu klise
-On behalf of market [each other] [that way] cliche

[Minor key adultery song, cliches to make money]

[Verse 2]
Elegi patah hati
-Elegy breaks heart/mind
Ode pengusir rindu
-Ode repellent longing
Atas nama pasar semuanya begitu banal
-On behalf of market [each other] [that way] banal

[Elegies (beautiful, graceful, classy, stately songs) that break your heart / mind. Odes (similarly classy) of repellent longing. For commercial reasons, banal]

[Chorus]
Oh hoo
Lagu cinta melulu
-Mere love song
Kita memang benar-benar melayu
-We very really Malay
Suka mendayu-dayu
-like limp
Lagu cinta melulu
-Mere love songs

[We Malay people like limp songs that are merely love songs]

Kita memang benar-benar melayu
-We very really Malay
Suka mendayu-dayu
-like limp
Lagu cinta melulu
-Mere love songs

[(same)]

[(Lyrics repeat)]