Soramimi
Encyclopedia
or ; is a Japanese
term for homophonic translation
of song lyrics, that is, interpreting lyrics in one language as similar-sounding lyrics in another language. A bilingual soramimi word play
contrasts with a monolingual mondegreen
or homophonic transformation.
n band O-Zone
's song "Dragostea din tei
" (マイヤヒー, named from the words in the opening of the song). The refrain of the original song (in Romanian
) is:
The soramimi version:
Tamori
has had a long-running "Soramimi Hour" segment on his TV program Tamori Club
, where he and his co-host watch mini-skits based on soramimi kashi submitted by the audience. The following are examples from "Soramimi Hour": the real lyric, followed by the soramimi text in Japanese, followed by the Japanese text romanized, followed (in parentheses) by the English translation.
From Prince
's "Batdance
":
From Metallica
's "Enter Sandman
":
From Sean Paul
's "Fire Links Intro":
From Wu-Tang Clan
's "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber":
From Michael Jackson
's "Ghosts
":
From Jim Croce
's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
":
From The Beatles
' "I Want to Hold Your Hand
":
From Emerson, Lake & Palmer
's "Benny the Bouncer":
From Scorpions
' "You Give Me All I Need":
From Filippa Giordano
's "Casta Diva":
From the Gipsy Kings
' "Bem, Bem, María":
From Mudhoney's "Here Comes Sickness":
From the Red Hot Chili Peppers
' "Suck My Kiss
":
director on YouTube
with the username "Buffalax", has uploaded several non-English music videos edited to include subtitles of the written English approximation of the video's original language's sound. These include Internet meme
s such as:
The latter, involving the video for Prabhu Deva Sundaram's song, "Kalluri Vaanil" from the Indian
Tamil movie
, Pennin Manathai Thottu
, has occasionally been referred to as "the web's hottest clip" On the Internet, both the terms "Buffalaxed" and "Benny lava" are now synonymous with mondegreens, "words or phrases misheard in ways that yield new meanings." Buffalax's account was closed in early 2011 for copyright violation complaints, and the videos (including those that were not copyright violations) were all deleted.
Soramimi transcription is also commonly used in animutation
s for comic effect.
("blādi" in the original is dialect for standard Arabic bilādī بلادي = "my country".)
In another instance, a Russian-language cover of Tic Tic Tac
, a popular soca
/disco hit by Carrapicho, phonetically rendered the first phrase of the chorus, Bate forte o tambor, as Мальчик хочет в Тамбов (Malchik Hochet v Tambov = "A boy wants to go to Tambov
").
sounds like "Agathe Bauer", a German woman's name.
Some popular examples are:
, invented by DJ Timur Perlin. The name "Mama Appelsap" refers to the song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" by Michael Jackson, because the lyrics "Mama-se mama-sa ma-ma-coo-sa" (in imitation of Soul Makossa
by Manu Dibango
) sound like "Mama say mama sa mama appelsap".
("Mama Appelsap" literally means "Momma apple juice".)
Some popular examples are:
Also from Denmark, artist Benny Vigan Madsen has made a number of "illustrated" soramimi clips of national anthems, most popular among which the Red Army Choir's version of the USSR anthem, where the final line "Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot" (It leads us to the triumph of Communism) becomes "Pasta med sprut. Nå, kunne vi sparke en røv?" (Pasta with booze. So could we kick an ass?)
, juxtaposing the music with images appropriate to the supposed lyrics, for example showing four cans of tuna for "O Fortuna"
In Mandarin Chinese, there is a joke based on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" which goes:
In Israel, soramimi flash clips of the song Dragostea din tei
known as 'Dori Met' (דורי מת, Dori is dead) is very popular. The clips includes the misheard nonsensical lyrics (the first song is heard as 'Dori is dead, if you shoot him, Nadav Adler, amen to him...', the second as 'Maya she, Maya he, Maya ha, Maya haha! [...] Felix in a bill, sleep, sleep, hey!') and matching visual representations: in the first song, a boy named Dori is killed; on the second, pictures of Maya Buskila are shown with beards or with clown make-up, etc.
In Romania
, the children's song "Pula Pula", by Brazilian singer Aline Barros became a sensation, getting airplay on major radios and spawning several YouTube parody videos with Romanian
soramimi lyrics, as "pula" means "penis" in Romanian and it is heavily repeated in the chorus.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
term for homophonic translation
Homophonic translation
Homophonic translation renders a text in one language into a near-homophonic text in another language, usually with no attempt to preserve the original meaning of the text. In one homophonic translation, for example, English "sat on a wall" is rendered as French "s'étonne aux Halles" 'is...
of song lyrics, that is, interpreting lyrics in one language as similar-sounding lyrics in another language. A bilingual soramimi word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
contrasts with a monolingual mondegreen
Mondegreen
A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song...
or homophonic transformation.
Examples
An example would be the MoldovaMoldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
n band O-Zone
O-Zone
O-Zone was a Romania/Moldovan pop music trio that was active from 1998 to 2005 and consisted of Dan Bălan, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraş. The group gained global popularity with their song "Dragostea din tei" and their subsequent album DiscO-Zone....
's song "Dragostea din tei
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...
" (マイヤヒー, named from the words in the opening of the song). The refrain of the original song (in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
) is:
- Vrei să pleci dar nu mă, nu mă iei...
- ("You want to leave but you don't want, don't want to take me...")
The soramimi version:
- Bei sa, beishu ka, nomanoma-yei!
- ("Rice, is it, rice wine, drink it drink it yeah!")
Soramimi Hour
Japanese comedianComedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Tamori
Tamori
is a Japanese celebrity. His real name is and the screenname Tamori is an anagram of his surname. He was born on 22 August 1945 in Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture....
has had a long-running "Soramimi Hour" segment on his TV program Tamori Club
Tamori Club
is a late-night variety program hosted by comedian Kazuyoshi Morita, better known as Tamori. It is broadcast in Japan on the TV Asahi network. It started on 8 October 1982, and is one of the longest-running programs in Japan. This program deals with social phenomena from original, maniac viewpoints...
, where he and his co-host watch mini-skits based on soramimi kashi submitted by the audience. The following are examples from "Soramimi Hour": the real lyric, followed by the soramimi text in Japanese, followed by the Japanese text romanized, followed (in parentheses) by the English translation.
From Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's "Batdance
Batdance
"Batdance" is a song by Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Helped by the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince's fourth number-one single, and first since 1986's "Kiss".-Song development:...
":
- Don't stop dancing!
- Nokyo Gyunyu!
- (JACentral Union of Agricultural CooperativesObservers have suggested that the great influence of the Japanese Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives in policy making partly resulted from a widespread feeling of gratitude to the dwindling agricultural sector, which in the past supported the country's industrial modernization...
Milk! [a popular brand of milk])
From Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's "Enter Sandman
Enter Sandman
"Enter Sandman" is a 1991 song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their eponymous fifth album, Metallica. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich...
":
- 'Til the sandman he comes...
- Chiyoda Seimei ni ikou!
- (Let's go to Chiyoda Life Insurance!)
From Sean Paul
Sean Paul
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques , who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican pop rap and reggae singer.-1973–1996: Early life:...
's "Fire Links Intro":
- Mayday! [...] Dutty [...] Sean Paul! This one is hot!
- Me itai! [...] Docchi? [...] Shanpū! Rinsu wa nai sa!
- (My eyes hurt! [...] Which one? [...] The shampoo! There isn't any more hair conditioner!)
From Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
's "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber":
- Yo Meth! hold up, hold up, yo Meth! Where my Killer tape at ya?
- Yome! Hora hora yome! Fumakirā tsuiteru yo!
- (Daughter-in-law! Hey hey daughter-in-law! You've got Fumakilla [a Japanese brand of insecticide] stuck to you!)
From Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's "Ghosts
Ghosts (Michael Jackson film)
Michael Jackson's Ghosts is a short film starring Michael Jackson, co-written by horror novelist Stephen King and directed by film director and special effects guru Stan Winston which could also be classified as a long-form music video. It was filmed and first screened in 1996 and released along...
":
- Because now it's on me [...] Don't understand it. Ow!
- Bikkurishita obasan ni [...] Donna no shitenda? Ao!
- ([I said] to a surprised older woman [...] What kind are you wearing? Blue!)
From Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is the title of a song written by American folk rock singer Jim Croce. Released as part of his 1973 album Life and Times, the song was a Number One pop hit for him, spending two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1973...
":
- Meaner than a junkyard dog
- Nido me no Tōkyō Dōmu
- (Tokyo Dome a second time)
From The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
":
- I want to hold your hand
- Aho na hōnyōhan
- (Idiotic public urination ["hōnyōhan" is a legal term for the crime])
From Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
's "Benny the Bouncer":
- He'd slash your granny's face up given half the chance
- Hisashiburi soitsu wa gei da na buchō
- (Long time no see; that guy's gay, isn't he, boss?)
From Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
' "You Give Me All I Need":
- You give me all I need
- Yukimi onanī
- (Watching snow and masturbating)
From Filippa Giordano
Filippa Giordano
Filippa Giordano is an Italian crossover singer.-Biography:Filippa was born in Palermo and she is the youngest of a whole generation of musicians. At the age of nine, she started ballet at the National Academy of Rome...
's "Casta Diva":
- A noi volgi, a noi volgi (English: Turn to us, turn to us)
- Ano iboji, ano iboji
- (Um, I have hemorrhoids; um, I have hemorrhoids)
From the Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
' "Bem, Bem, María":
- No te vayas / vuelve ya / tú no me dejas / tú no me digas (English: Don't go away / come back now / you don't leave me / you don't tell me)
- Antagata, hore miya, kuruma naika. Korya mazuiyo.
- (Hey guys, look here, the car's gone. Oh, that's bad.)
From Mudhoney's "Here Comes Sickness":
- There goes sickness! There goes sickness! There goes sickness, in my daddy's car!
- Renkon suki desu! Renkon suki desu! Renkon suki desu! Ima daressu ka?
- (I love lotus rootsNelumbo nuciferaNelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...
! I love lotus roots! I love lotus roots! Just now, who was that?)
From the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
' "Suck My Kiss
Suck My Kiss
"Suck My Kiss" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released as the third single from their fifth studio album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The "Suck My Kiss" single was released in 1992 in Australia only; a music video was made for the song using footage from the Funky Monks documentary...
":
- Should have been, could have been, would have been
- Shiro ben, kuro ben, Wada Ben
- (White excrement, black excrement, Ben WadaBen WadaBen Wada , born Tsutomu Wada, was a producer for the Japanese TV channel NHK. He was born in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture. After attending Sugamo Middle School and Senior High School, Wada graduated from the Drama department of the Literature Faculty at Waseda University. He joined NHK in 1953 and...
)
Buffalax
Mike Sutton, a mondegreenMondegreen
A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song...
director on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
with the username "Buffalax", has uploaded several non-English music videos edited to include subtitles of the written English approximation of the video's original language's sound. These include Internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
s such as:
- MoskauMoskau (Dschinghis Khan song)"Moskau " is a single by the German pop-act Dschinghis Khan from their 1979 self-titled debut album.-History:The song was released in Australia in 1980, the year of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Australia's Channel 7 used the song as the theme to their television coverage of the Moscow Olympics...
- Dschinghis KhanDschinghis Khan (song)Dschinghis Khan was the West German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in German by Dschinghis Khan...
- Samurai (originally GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) - Tunak Tunak TunTunak Tunak Tun"Tunak Tunak Tun" or "Tunak", is a bhangra/pop love song by Indian artist Daler Mehndi released in 1998. At the time, critics complained that Mehndi's music was only popular due to his videos that featured beautiful women dancing. Mehndi's response was to create a video that featured only himself...
(originally PunjabiPunjabi languagePunjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
) - Boten AnnaBoten Anna"Boten Anna" is a song by Swedish eurodance musician Basshunter, which appears on his third studio album, . Due to the song, Basshunter became a noted artist in his native Sweden, as well as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland and the Netherlands after the release of the single in 2006...
(originally by Swedish musician and DJ Bass Hunter) - Indian ThrillerDonga (film)Donga is a Telegu film which was released on March 14, 1985. This film was directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy, and stars Chiranjeevi and Radha. This film is produced by T...
(originally TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
) - Benny Lava (originally TamilTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
).
The latter, involving the video for Prabhu Deva Sundaram's song, "Kalluri Vaanil" from the Indian
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
Tamil movie
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
, Pennin Manathai Thottu
Pennin Manathai Thottu
Pennin Manathai Thottu is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.It contains the song "Kalluri Vaanil" danced by Prabhu Deva Sundaram.-Soramimi spoof:...
, has occasionally been referred to as "the web's hottest clip" On the Internet, both the terms "Buffalaxed" and "Benny lava" are now synonymous with mondegreens, "words or phrases misheard in ways that yield new meanings." Buffalax's account was closed in early 2011 for copyright violation complaints, and the videos (including those that were not copyright violations) were all deleted.
Soramimi transcription is also commonly used in animutation
Animutation
Animutation or fanimutation is a form of web-based computer animation, typically created in Adobe Flash and characterized by unpredictable montages of pop-culture images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers...
s for comic effect.
Russian
The Palestinian patriotic song "Blādi, blādi" (بلادي بلادي "Motherland, Motherland") was intentionally "misheard" into Russian (as blyadi, blyadi = "whores, whores") and uploaded to YouTube with Russian subtitles. The resulting video became an instant hit on Russian-language websites and blogs with more than 2 million views, and a number of phrases from the Russian version (especially "No money, long bumblebee") became instant catchphrases. Below is the example of the chorus:| Arabic (transliterated) | Russian | Russian (transliterated) | Russian translated |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
("blādi" in the original is dialect for standard Arabic bilādī بلادي = "my country".)
In another instance, a Russian-language cover of Tic Tic Tac
Tic, Tic Tac
"Tic, Tic Tac" is a 1996 song recorded by Brazilian band Carrapicho. Released in June 1996, it was its debut single from the album Festa do boi bumba, which was later certified Platinum disc in France. The song was also recorded by Chilli featuring Carrapicho about one year after the first release...
, a popular soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
/disco hit by Carrapicho, phonetically rendered the first phrase of the chorus, Bate forte o tambor, as Мальчик хочет в Тамбов (Malchik Hochet v Tambov = "A boy wants to go to Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
").
German (Agathe Bauer)
In Germany, the act of finding misheard lyrics in songs is known as "Agathe Bauer". This came about because the lyrics to "I Got The Power" by Snap!The Power (Snap! song)
"The Power" is an electronic pop hit song by the German music group Snap! from their album World Power. It was released as a single in 1990 and reached No. 1 in the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, as well as the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Rap charts...
sounds like "Agathe Bauer", a German woman's name.
Some popular examples are:
- The song "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and The Papas, where 'All the leaves are brown' sounds like the name "Annelise Braun"
- The song "Midnight Lady" by Chris Norman, where the line 'All my feelings grow' sounds like 'Oma fiel ins Klo', which is German for 'Granny fell down the toilet'.
- The song "Sadness" by Enigma, which features monk chanting. One of the lines sounds like 'Annelise Popel nicht', which is German for 'Annelise, don't pick your nose'.
- The song "ZombieZombie (song)"Zombie" is a protest song by the Irish band The Cranberries from the 1994 album No Need to Argue. The song, which laments The Troubles in Northern Ireland and in particular the killing of two children in an IRA bombing in Warrington, England, was written by Dolores O'Riordan, singer of the band...
" by The Cranberries, in which the line 'Zombie' sounds like the German 'Zahnweh', which means 'toothache'.
Dutch (Mama Appelsap)
In Dutch, the act of finding misheard lyrics in songs is sometimes referred to as "Mama Appelsap". This is due to the item "Mama Appelsap" on the National Radio station 3FM3FM
3FM is a Dutch radio station on the NPO which broadcasts popular music. It can be compared with BBC Radio 1.-History:3FM was created as Hilversum 3 by minister Maarten Vrolijk on 11 October 1965, to counterbalance the popular offshore station Radio Veronica...
, invented by DJ Timur Perlin. The name "Mama Appelsap" refers to the song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" by Michael Jackson, because the lyrics "Mama-se mama-sa ma-ma-coo-sa" (in imitation of Soul Makossa
Soul Makossa
"Soul Makossa" is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango. It is often cited as one of the first disco records. In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties. The response was so positive that the few copies...
by Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango
-External links:*...
) sound like "Mama say mama sa mama appelsap".
("Mama Appelsap" literally means "Momma apple juice".)
Some popular examples are:
- The song "River deep, mountain high" by Tina TurnerTina TurnerTina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, where 'And it gets bigger baby, and heaven knows' sounds like 'En ik heb spillebenen, en heb het nog!', which is Dutch for 'And I've got spindly legs, and I still do' - The song "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba, where 'You're never going to keep me down' sounds like 'Jullie hebben nog niet betaald', which is Dutch for 'You didn't pay (your bills) yet'
- The song "Golddigger" by Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, where 'Yeah she's a triflin' sounds like 'Jij zit te twijfelen', which is Dutch for 'You are (currently) in doubt' - The song "Voulez-vous" by ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
, where 'Givin' out a spark' sounds like 'Even naar de Spar', which is Dutch for '(Going) to the Spar for a short while' ("Spar" is the name of a supermarket) - The song "Love Today" by MikaMika (singer)Mika is a British singer-songwriter.After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit...
, where 'Girl in a groove with the big bust on, big bust on, big bust on' sounds like ' 'k Ken nog een boer voor de kippenstal, kippenstal, kippenstal', which is Dutch for 'I know a farmer for the chicken stable, chicken stable, chicken stable'
Danish (Undersættelse)
In Danish, where translation is "oversættelse", literally over-setting, such a mistake is called an under-setting (Undersættelse). Some songs are made with deliberate soramimi, for example:- "Er du langsom i nat?" meaning "are you slow tonight?"
- "Kylling med soft ice" meaning "chicken with soft ice" from "Killing me softly".
Also from Denmark, artist Benny Vigan Madsen has made a number of "illustrated" soramimi clips of national anthems, most popular among which the Red Army Choir's version of the USSR anthem, where the final line "Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot" (It leads us to the triumph of Communism) becomes "Pasta med sprut. Nå, kunne vi sparke en røv?" (Pasta with booze. So could we kick an ass?)
Other examples
A number of internet videos exploit soramimi for Carmina BuranaCarmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
, juxtaposing the music with images appropriate to the supposed lyrics, for example showing four cans of tuna for "O Fortuna"
In Mandarin Chinese, there is a joke based on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" which goes:
- 哪一個偶像最喜歡說“筆勒”?
- nǎyígè ǒuxiàng zuì xǐhuān shuō "bǐlēi"?
- Which idol most likes to say "got a pen?" (literal)
- Which Pop Star always asks for a pen? (translated)
- Answer: Michael Jackson. "Beat it!" sounds like "got a pen?"
In Israel, soramimi flash clips of the song Dragostea din tei
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...
known as 'Dori Met' (דורי מת, Dori is dead) is very popular. The clips includes the misheard nonsensical lyrics (the first song is heard as 'Dori is dead, if you shoot him, Nadav Adler, amen to him...', the second as 'Maya she, Maya he, Maya ha, Maya haha! [...] Felix in a bill, sleep, sleep, hey!') and matching visual representations: in the first song, a boy named Dori is killed; on the second, pictures of Maya Buskila are shown with beards or with clown make-up, etc.
In Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, the children's song "Pula Pula", by Brazilian singer Aline Barros became a sensation, getting airplay on major radios and spawning several YouTube parody videos with Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
soramimi lyrics, as "pula" means "penis" in Romanian and it is heavily repeated in the chorus.
See also
- MondegreenMondegreenA mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song...
- where the lyrics are misheard within their original language. - AnimutationAnimutationAnimutation or fanimutation is a form of web-based computer animation, typically created in Adobe Flash and characterized by unpredictable montages of pop-culture images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers...
- where soramimis and mondegreens are given visuals for humorous effect. - Hatten är dinHatten är dinHatten är din , was a internet meme from 2000. It is a Flash animation featuring the music of Lebanese musician Azar Habib; the name of the song playing is "Habbeetik"...
- an InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
viral videoViral videoA viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
where the entire lyrics of a song were "translated" soramimically. - Homophonic translationHomophonic translationHomophonic translation renders a text in one language into a near-homophonic text in another language, usually with no attempt to preserve the original meaning of the text. In one homophonic translation, for example, English "sat on a wall" is rendered as French "s'étonne aux Halles" 'is...
- where a text in one language is translated into a near-homophonic text in another language, with no attempt to preserve the original meaning. - Phono-semantic matchingPhono-semantic matchingPhono-semantic matching is a linguistic term referring to camouflaged borrowing in which a foreign word is matched with a phonetically and semantically similar pre-existent native word/root....
(PSM), camouflaged borrowing in which a foreign expression is matched with a both phonetically and semantically similar pre-existent native items.