by
Anahid Hojjati
31-Aug-2009
I have been a fan of "Bob Dylan" for more than thirty years. I was introduced to his songs when taking English classes in Iran America society in Tehran in late 1970s. Our instructors used Dylan's songs possibly because he does not sing too fast so he maybe easier to understand for those who are learning the language. However, Dylan has his own style of singing and some of his words are hard to recognize. I have few of his songs on my iPod, one being"Just like a woman".
Last night, I attempted to translate this song to Farsi. This translation might have already been done by somebody somewhere before but since I am such a die-hard fan, it seemed something worthy to do. I translated few lines and there were some difficulties. For instance, what do I use for affectionate term "baby"? I chose to use "janan" (lover). Also what do I translate bows to? So I decided to just eliminate word bows and stay with ribbons. After few lines, I wanted to find out find what Dylan meant where he says in his song "Queen Mary"?
That is when my difficulties became much more. Internet had so many interpretations for this song and some of them were not so appealing. At one point in the song, Dylan says:"yes, I believe I "ll go see her again". In my case, yes, I believe I 'll read more about Dylan and this song before continuing with my translation of it. Some have even said that the song is about drugs. So here what you will see are only first few lines of this song which I have translated so far. I may continue with this project later on or not but I still love Bob Dylan's songs.
Translation of first few lines:
هیچکس دردی احساس نمی کند
امشب همانگونه که در باران ایستاده ام
همه می دانند
که جانان تازه جامه دارد
اما چندی است که می بینم
روبانهایش از تار گیسوانش افتاده اند
اما فتح می کند راستی مانند یک زن , آری فتح می کند
عشق می بازد راستی مانند یک زن , آری عشق می بازد
و آروزو می کند راستی مانند یک زن
ولی او می شکند راستی مانند یک دختر کوچک
