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Song of Remembrance: Best translation? 2009/6/11 01:58
Hello,
I would like to find a good translation for the phrase, "Song of Remembrance". It is a song that causes one to recall the things of the past.

Here are some suggestions from the dictionary:
追懐の歌
記憶の歌
見覚えの歌
述懐の歌
回顧の歌
思い出の歌
想起の歌
Which do you think reads the best? Perhaps something I've not listed? What sounds most poetic?

Thank you for your help!
by CAline  

... 2009/6/11 22:37
Some sounds like "song of recognition," "song of looking back" or "song of recollections," matter-of-fact, or not quite poetic.
思い出の歌 would be a popular way to put it. Not quite poetic, but quite familiar and friendly.
Did you come across the word 追憶 ("tsuioku")? I might use this one for "remembrance."

But it all depends on the nuance you want to put it into the song title :)
by AK rate this post as useful

RE: Song of Remembrance 2009/6/13 02:13
: Which do you think reads the best? Perhaps something I've not listed? What sounds most poetic?

Each of the seven words for "remembrance" shows at least one meaning of this English word. However, five of them don't exactly show your meaning ('to recall the things of the past'), and the other two (追懐, 回顧) sound to me not so great for that song. I'm a Japanese, but I can not recommend a word as the best without knowing that song well. (Maybe you hope to let it unpublished, I suppose.)

If you use the translation in a song title, how about omitting の歌 ?
I think of two songs called 追憶 (mentioned by AK); one of them is "The Way We Were" (beginning with "Memories light the corners of my mind"). However, I don't think of a song title in which a Japanese word meaning remembrance is followed by の歌.
Or.... Isn't it a good choice to put 'what is recalled' after 懐かしの [natsukashi-no] or 懐かしき [natsukashiki]? Both mean 'good old' and the latter is an archaic word. (懐 is also used to mean 'attach' or 'get attached' as in "A dog get attached to me.")
e.g. 懐かしきわが故郷 [kokyou or furusato]: My good old home town

- 追憶, 懐古 (mentioned later) and the seven words in your question can not mean 'to remind.'
- 追憶, 懐古, 追懐, 述懐 and 回顧 sound to me archaic in a good sense to some extent. Maybe these five words don't suit a song such as a rock' n' roll or a pop of 1960's or later.
- 追憶 literally means 'to chase or trace (追) what was memorized (憶).'
- 懐古 may include nostalgia. I think it's not popular for song titles. It can be used ironically, and also may be confusing because it is pronounced the same as 回顧 and 解雇 ('to dismiss from a position').
- 追懐 is a word which I seldom encounter. Without 古 (old), I guess it has less risk of being ironical. My dictionary lists 追悔 ('to regret later'), which is pronounced the same and also sounds archaic to me.
- 記憶 means 'to memorize' / 'what was memorized' (i.e. recollection or memory). It doesn't mean 'to recall things in the past.'
- 見覚え can not be followed by の歌. It means recollection of seeing in the past. Usually it is used in phrases見覚えのある and 見覚えのない.
- 述懐 means 'to tell what one thinks or recalls.' Things thought or memorized may be unpleasant ones.
- 回顧 means 'to retrospect' 'to look back around on' and it can be used when a person recalls things from another point of view.
- 思い出 means 'what is recalled' (i.e. memories), and it sounds popular and familiar as AK says. A song title "Green, Green Grass Of Home" is known as 思い出のグリーングラス in Japanese. 思い出 also appears in songs for kids and compositions by elementary school pupils.
- 想起の歌 is a mismatch of words. 想起 means 'to be reminded of' 'to bring back to mind' and it sounds to me rather formal than poetic.

//

by omotenashi rate this post as useful

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