The funny mistranslations the funny Japanese
Use to fill cd brochures appeal in the west
To the music lover's sense of the surreal
For example: "You trade our fear for euphoria"
From my song 'King Solomon's Song and Mine'
In Japan emerged a much more sinister line:
"You trade our veal for your foamy eye"
Huh-huh, that k**s me
But some mistranslations are not so funny
When the U.S. ultimatum came at the end of World War II
The Japanese said: "We need some more time to consider what to do"
But Truman, who already knew what weapon he planned to use
Got the message, loud and clear, as: "We refuse!"
My friend Fumiko's mother was at school
She'd had the luck to break some rule
And got punished, banished to the cellar
She emerged to find her hometown, Hiroshima, vanished