A Musical Interlude

[Buff]

I have translated into rough Latin an extensive fragment of a much longer popular song. While providing a literal interlinear translation back into English for the benefit of Latin-less readers, I have, regrettably, made no attempt at rhyme or meter; alert readers will also notice that by avoiding translating the entire song, I have not only allowed myself more time for other work, but I have also neatly skipped several lines in the second half which are not easily susceptible to translation.

I welcome constructive comments on the Latinity.

And I have a ChatRoom Romeo shirt for the first person who guesses the artist and song corectly:

De clunibus magnis amandis oratio
Mixaloti equitis

mehercle!
(By Hercules!)

Rebecca, ecce! tantae clunes isti sunt!
(Rebecca, behold! Such large buttocks she has!)

amica esse videtur istorum hominum rhythmicorum.
(She appears to be a girlfriend of one of those rhythmic-oration people.)
sed, ut scis,

(But, as you know)
quis homines huiusmodi intellegere potest?

(Who can understand persons of this sort?)
colloquuntur equidem cum ista eo tantum, quod scortum perfectum esse videtur.

(Verily, they converse with her for this reason only, namely, that she appears to be a complete whore.)

clunes, aio, maiores esse!
(Her buttocks, I say, are rather large!)

nec possum credere quam rotondae sint.
(Nor am I able to believe how round they are.)

en! quam exstant! nonne piget te earum?
(Lo! How they stand forth! Do they not disgust you?)

ecce mulier Aethiops!
(Behold the black woman!)

magnae clunes mihi placent, nec possum de hac re mentiri.
(Large buttocks are pleasing to me, nor am I able to lie concerning this matter.)

quis enim, consortes mei, non fateatur,
(For who, colleagues, would not admit,)

cum puella incedit minore medio corpore
(Whenever a girl comes by with a rather small middle part of the body)

sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos
(Beneath which is an obvious spherical mass, that it inflames the spirits)

virtute praestare ut velitis, notantes bracas eius
(So that you want to be conspicuous for manly virtue, noticing her breeches)

clunibus profunde fartas(*1) esse
(Have been deeply stuffed with buttock?)

a! captus sum, nec desinere intueri possum.
(Alas! I am captured, nor am I able to desist from gazing.)

o dominola mea, volo tecum congredi
(My dear lady, I want to come together with you)

pingereque picturam tui.
(And make a picture of you.)

familiares mei me monebant
(My companions were trying to warn me)

sed clunes istae libidinem in me concitant.
(But those buttocks of yours arouse lust in me.)

o! cutis rugosa glabraque! (*2)
(O skin wrinkled and smooth!)

dixistine te in meum vehiculum intrare velle?
(Did you say you wish to enter my vehicle?)

in arbitrio tuo totus veni
(I am entirely at your disposal)

quia non es mediocris adsecula.
(Because you are not an average hanger-on.)

vidi illam saltantem.(*3)
(I have seen her dancing.)

obliviscere igitur blanditiarum! (*3a)
(Forget, therefore, about blandishments!)

tantus sudor! tantus umor!
(Such sweat! Such moisture!)

vehor quasi in curru quadrigarum! (*4)
(I am borne along as if by a four-horse chariot!)

taedet me in diurnis legendi
(I am tired of reading in the gazettes)

planas clunes gratiores iudicari.
(That flat buttocks are judged more pleasing.)

rogate quoslibet Aethiopes: responsum erit
(Ask any black men you wish: the answer will be)

se libentius expletiores (*5) anteponere.
(Rather that they prefer fuller ones.)

o consortes (quid est?) o consortes (quid est?)
(O colleagues [What is it?] O colleagues [What is it?])

habent amicae vestrae magnas clunes? (certe habent!)
(Do your girlfriends have large buttocks? [They certainly have!])

hortamini igitur ut eas quatiant (ut quatiant!)
(Encourage them therefore to shake them! [To shake them!])

ut quatiant! (ut quatiant!)
(To shake them! [To shake them!)

ut quatiant illas clunes sanas!
(To shake those healthy buttocks!)

domina mea exstat a tergo! (*6)
(My mistress stands out behind!)

[Etc.]

_______
(*1) Any apparent connection with flatulence, even in this context, is purely coincidental.
(*2) The original doesn't make much sense either. Is it a cellulite reference?
(*3) Or saltare?
(*3a) I can find no obvious Latin expression that implies "romantic courtship."
(*4) All right, how would you say "got it goin' like a Turbo 'Vette"? And what exactly is "goin' " here? I have chosen to understand that the unnamed woman's extraordinary callipygy has inspired a primal response in the narrator, rather than that she "has got it goin' on," i.e., that she "is all that" -- although the later lines (not included here) concerning Fonda's Honda and the speaker's anaconda can, ultimately, be invoked in support of either interpretation.
(*5) Or uberiores? Although that's perhaps better reserved for a different fetish.
(*6) This line is not as succinct as the original, to be sure.

[Nickatilynx]

I like Big butts and I cannot lie...Sir mix a lot

[Vick]

Buff
I am so disappointed

http://www.livejournal.com/users/quislibet/164084.html

Baby got Back




Edit - I'm disappointed because I thought you did the translation yourself
After all I reguard you as a man of letters



Last edited by Vick at Oct 13 2003, 04:28 PM

[Vick]

Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby got Back

Oh my god, becky
look at her butt
it is so big uhh
she looks like one of those rap guys girlfriends
but u know who understands those rap guys
they only talk 2 her becuz she looks like a total prostitute
ok i mean her butt...
its just so big
uhh i can't believe its just so round
its out there
gross
look
shes just so black

I like big butts and I cannot lie
u other brotherz can't deny
when a girl walks in with a itty, bitty, waist
and a round thing in ur face u get sprung
want to pull up tough
cuz u noticed that butt was stuck
beef to the jeans shes wearing
im hooked and I can't stop staring
oh baby I wanna get wit cha
and take ur pictcha
my homeboys tryed 2 warn me
but that butt u got makes me so horny
ooooooo rumple smooth skin
u say u wanna get my benz
well use me use me cuz u ain't that average groupie
I seen her dancin
to hell with romancing
she sweat
wet
shes got it going like a turbo jet
im tired of magazines
seenin flat butts are the thing
cuz the average black man ask him that
shes got 2 pack much back
so fellas
YAH!
fellas
YAH!
cuz ur girlfriends got the butt
HELL YAH!
shake it
yah
shake it
yah
shake that healthy butt
baby got back

baby got back

I like them round and big
and when Im throwing a gig
I just can't help myself
I'm acting like an animal
now here's my scandal
I wanna get u home and
uh
double up
uh uh
I ain't talking bout playboy
those silicon parts are made for toys
I want them real thick and juicy
so find that juicy double
mix-alot seem trouble
begging for a piece of that bubble
so Im looking at rock videos
knocking these bimbos
looking like hoes
u can those bimbos
I keep my women like flo-jo
a word to the thick soled sisterz
i wanna get wit cha
i won't cus or hit cha
i gotta be straight when I say
I wanna uh to the break of dawn
baby's got it going on
a lot of sims won't like this song
cuz thoses punks like to hit and quit it
and I'd ratehr stay and play
cuz I'm long and I'm strong
and I'm down to get this frick shit on
so ladies
YAH!
ladies
YAH!
so u wanna roll my mercedes
YAH!
so turn around
stick it out
even white boys got 2 shout
baby got back

baby got back

yah baby
when it comes to females
cosmo ain't got nothing to do with my selection
36
24
36
on if she's 5'3"

so ur girlfriend owns a honda
playing workout tapes by fonda
but fonda ain't got a motor on the back of her honda
my anacoda
don't got none unless u got buns hun
you can do side bends or sit-ups
but please don't use that butt
some brotherz wanna play that hard roll
and tell ya that the butt ain't gold
so they toss and leave it
and i pull up quick to retrieve it
so cosmo says ur fat
well i ain't down wit dat
cuz ur waist is small
and ur curves are kicking
and im thinking bout sticking
to the beanpole dames and the magazines
you ain't it miss thing
give me a sista
i can't resist her
red beans and rice didn't miss her
some knuckle head tried to dis
cuz those girls are on my list
he had game
but he chose to hit em
and I pull up quick to get wit him
so ladies if da butt is round
and u wanna triple xbo down
dial 1-900-mixalot
and kick dem nasty thoughts
baby got back

baby got back

little in the middle but u got much back