This is a fun site - translations of High School the Musical in Spanish. But what’s more interesting to me is the preface that describes the translations…

Welcome to Breaking Free, a humble site for fans of the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical who are either Hispanic or studying Spanish in school. After hours of strategic paraphrases, syntactical experimentation, revisions, and verbal debugging, I am pleased to present a complete collection of all the songs from the movie translated into Spanish.

What makes these Spanish lyrics useful is that I did not translate the songs literally. The translations here are pro canendo (Latin: “for singing”) translations. Each one remains as faithful as possible to the meaning of the original lyrics while expressing that meaning in words that fit the rhythm and melody of the song. While some specific meaning is sacrificed, the loss is minimal and well worth the preservation of the musical quality.

Translation is not a static job. A good translation is not about a literal word for word English to Spanish change. You need to take into account context, subject and purpose. In this case, the purpose is to have singable and possibly rhyming / musical lyrics. Read more and enjoy the music.

I just came across this 10+ year old interview that Madonna had when she was filming Evita in Budapest. Apparently Madonna sat down with a Hungarian reporter, and the reporter’s questions were posed in Hungarian, then translated into English for Madonna, whose replies were then translated back into Hungarian for the paper’s exclusive. Shortly thereafter, at the request of USA Today, Madonna’s comments were then retranslated from Hungarian back into English for the benefit of that paper’s readers. The results are humorous to say the least.

A few highlights:

Blikk: Madonna, Budapest says hello with arms that are spread-eagled. Did you have a visit here that was agreeable? Are you in good odor? You are the biggest fan of our young people who hear your musical productions and like to move their bodies in response.

Madonna: Thank you for saying these compliments [holds up hands]. Please stop with taking sensationalist photographs until I have removed my garments for all to see [laughs]. This is a joke I have made.

Blikk: Madonna, let’s cut toward the hunt: Are you a bold hussy-woman that feasts on men who are tops?

Madonna: Yes, yes, this is certainly something that brings to the surface my longings. In America it is not considered to be mentally ill when a woman advances on her prey in a discotheque setting with hardy cocktails present. And there is a more normal attitude toward leather play-toys that also makes my day.

Blikk: Is this how you met Carlos, your love-servant who is reputed? Did you know he was heaven-sent right off the stick? Or were you dating many other people in your bed at the same time?

Madonna: No, he was the only one I was dating in my bed then, so it is a scientific fact that the baby was made in my womb using him. But as regards these questions, enough! I am a woman and not a test-mouse! Carlos is an everyday person who is in the orbit of a star who is being muscle-trained by him, not a sex machine.

Read the entire interview.