Grant Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hi Everybody, we're trying to translate the famous One Night In Bangkok to another language. Can you help us with the definition of the phrases of the lyrics: Bangkok, Oriental setting And the city don't know that the city is getting The creme de la creme of the chess world in a Show with everything but Yul Brynner Time flies -- doesn't seem a minute Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it All change -- don't you know that when you Play at this level there's no ordinary venue It's Iceland -- or the Philippines -- or Hastings -- or -- or this place! One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister And if you're lucky then the god's a she I can feel an angel sliding up to me One town's very like another When your head's down over your pieces, brother It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity To be looking at the board, not looking at the city Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town -- Tea, girls, warm and sweet Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist Whose every move's among the purest I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble Not much between despair and ecstasy One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble Can't be too careful with your company I can feel the devil walking next to me Siam's gonna be the witness To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness This grips me more than would a Muddy old river or reclining Buddha And thank God I'm only watching the game -- controlling it -- I don't see you guys rating The kind of mate I'm contemplating I'd let you watch, I would invite you But the queens we use would not excite you So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage parlours -- One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister A little flesh, a little history I can feel an angel sliding up to me One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble Not much between despair and ecstasy One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble Can't be too careful with your company I can feel the devil walking next to me __________________ For example I understand what the "world is oysters" mean but most of the phrases still unintelligible for me. I know what is the "cloister" mean but I can't understand what the author mean using this word in this song. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukrules Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Most of it is complete nonsense and only present because it rhymes using the couplet 'system'. One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister And if you're lucky then the god's a she You may notice that lines 1 and 3 above have 11 syllables each and lines 2 and 4 have 10 syllables each, which is often used in this rhyming style. It's basic crap as far as I'm concerned. So in answer to your question, the 'author' only used the word cloister because it has two syllables and rhymes with the word cloister, nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonobo Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 THe song is actually from the musical "Chess." It is mostly about the lead character going to Bangkok for a chess tournament and saying he is not there for the bars nor temples, but for the tournament. Of course, the writer wanted to get rhymes. This is a musical, after all, and there are certain expectations of them. but the words do have meanings. One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster You can get anything you want in Bangkok The bars are temples but the pearls aren't free People go to flock to the bar, treating them like the end all, but the pearls, from the oster line above, in this case, are bargirls and boys, and you have to pay for them. You'll find a god in every golden cloister. Cloister here refers to each bar, each small shrine, playing on the number of shrines and bars. Once again, transposing religion with the nightlife. Nuns stay in cloisters, bargirls in their own kind of cloister. And if you're lucky then the god's a she. Once again, criticizing the men who come and just go to the bars, who "Worship" the bargirls. And some men may be "worshiping" a ladyboy unbeknownst to them. The entire song is built around these kinds of observations, and pretty much every line has meaning. What I find ironic is that the song is played in just about every bar around when it is really a scathing denouncement on the bar scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter991 Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Song Meanings is a website that attempts to give you the answer. Click here for your song's lyrics and reader understanding of what it's all about. Bonobo is right on the money. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuestHouse Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 ukrules' line of reason would cast the whole of the world's poetry and lyric writing into the trash can. Tim Rice made a fortune, entertained huge numbers of people with his lyrics and almost certainly had a great life on the proceeds. One man's crap is a lot of other people's gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jts-khorat Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 (edited) But the queens we use would not excite you sounds very much like wild ladyboy parties in a suite at The Oriental. But maybe I am not deep enough to get the 'real' meaning :-) That aside, this song that summed up in total what Thailand was all about as I came here a long time ago: exotic, mysterious, and even the most mundane occasions could end in an unforgettable adventure. But alas, I have never stayed at The Oriental. I remember it still being played multiple times every single evening I went out somewhere, even though I came here in 1997. Only while reading here I actually found out this song is part of a musical, by the same guys who wrote Jesus Christ Superstar and songs for ABBA. Not small names in any case. Edited April 17, 2010 by jts-khorat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukrules Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 ukrules' line of reason would cast the whole of the world's poetry and lyric writing into the trash can. Where much of it belongs. Of course there's some very good stuff out there amongst the rest of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 It is mostly about the lead character going to Bangkok for a chess tournament and saying he is not there for the bars nor temples, but for the tournament. Another liar. He probably posts on Thai Visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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