Talk:Violon Sneha

Translation of the lyrics

I believe the lyrics of this song would be interesting to have on Wikipedia as they are hard to find anywhere else. There are at least two versions online and the original version recorded by Sisamouth is nowhere to be found. I opted for the cover by Song Senghorn today the most popular. A translation would also be useful as I have not been able to find one yet. Here is my own personal one. Poetry is not easy to translate, what's more Khmer poetry. I opted for a translation that was most meaningful in English.

I. វីយូឡុងស្នេហាយប់ស្ងាត់កណ្តាលរាត្រី ចិត្តអូនអាល័យ នឹកប្រុសចរណៃ គ្រប់ពេលវេលា វង់ភក្រ្ត័ក្រឡង់ដូចជាតួអង្គទេវតា នេះជាសញ្ញាដែលអូនប្រាថ្នាក្នុងជាតិនេះ។ (Here I added "ជា" តួអង្គទេវតា)។

1. Violin of love, The night is quiet, it is midnight, my heart is is bound to yours I miss my lover all the time. Your round face like an angel is the sign I long for in this life !

II. អធ្រាត សែនស្ងាត់ជ្រងំ វីយូឡុងបំពេរ សូរសៀង សព្ទសំនៀងស្នេហ៍ ប្រែពីសៅហ្មង យប់កាន់តែជ្រៅ ចម្រៀងរៀបរាប់ស្នេហ៍ស្នង ចង់ជួបសាសង អូននឹងប្រុសបង ថ្មីម្តងទៀត។ .

2. The midnight is so silent, the violon sings a lullaby, the loudly sound of love, turns me away from sadness. The night gets deeper, sing the song of love, I want to meet again, you and me, so we may to talk once more.

III. យី.. ម្តេចបាត់យូរម៉្លេះ មានរឿងហេតុអ្វី វីយូឡុង សូមច្រៀងជាថ្មី អោយស្បើយសៅហ្មង យប់កាន់តែជ្រៅ ចម្រៀង រៀបរាប់ស្នេហ៍ស្នងផ្ញើជូនប្រុសបងថ្ងៃក្រោយសាសង ថ្មីម្តងទៀត។

3. Oh! You have been gone for so long, what has happened? If only the violin would sing again to overcome the sadness. As the night gets deeper, here is a Love song I send to you. Tomorrow, let's talk once more.

Willuconquer (talk) 05:59, 24 March 2020 (UTC)

There are a number of problems with the idea of including song lyrics in a Wikipedia article.

• First and foremost is the copyright issue. This song is likely protected by copyright laws. (I know copyright issues regarding Sin Sisamouth's songs have been controversial, but as early as 2014, Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol began awarding legal copyright of his works to Sisamouth's heirs.) That includes lyrics. Being covered during the modern era makes it even more likely to be copyrighted.
• Secondly, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a lyrics repository: see Wikipedia:NOTLYRICS and Wikipedia:Lyrics and poetry for more discussion about that. Just because a lyric is "hard to find anywhere else" is not a reason to include it here. That would make Wikipedia a Primary Source, which is not what an encyclopedia is. There are other websites on the web for that; try a sister project such as wikisource.org or any number of other commercial sites.
• Thirdly, per WP:NOTLYRICS, Wikipedia "treats creative works in an encyclopedic manner, discussing the development, design, reception, significance, and influence of works in addition to concise summaries of those works". Quotations should only be used to facilitate academic discussion of the significance of the song.
• Fourthly, even if all of the above criteria were met for any particular lyric, a translation would have to be sourced to a reliable source. Barring that, a word-for-word translation might be acceptable. Personal creative translations are original research, not verifiable and not encyclopedic. This is all moot, though, unless the lyrics themselves have encyclopedic value.

I sympathize with your efforts. You'll likely find no bigger proponent of Cambodian history and culture, especially its language, music and poetry, than me here on enWP. Cambodian culture is relatively little known and deserves more study and appreciation. The popular music of artists such as Sin Sisamouth are a big part of the modern culture (I personally have thousands of songs on my hard drive and listen to many of them daily). However, an encyclopedia is rather narrow in scope and purpose and is just not the appropriate place for some things.--William Thweatt ^TalkContribs 18:20, 24 March 2020 (UTC)

Possible sources for expansion

The perennial problem with all Cambodian culture articles is the lack of reliable sources covering the topic, especially any that are available online and in English. Unfortunately, this article is no exception. I don't have time to do an exhaustive search or to translate or evaluate sources right now, but I found this source in Thai that might help. I'll also list any that I might find later so maybe somebody else can utilize them to improve this article or other similar ones.

• https://www.fungjaizine.com/article/guru/khmer a Thai magazine article briefly discussing the song and including a version sung by Thet Sombath in the style of Sin Sisamouth that is likely very faithful to the original.--William Thweatt ^TalkContribs 22:06, 24 March 2020 (UTC)

Tried my best to follow your advice. I saw you're looking to bring a group to Wikimania 2020 in Bangkok. I know a few people interested here in Cambodia. We should chat when you have time to see how we can help to improve the kh-wikipedia and projects related to the Khmer culture. Willuconquer (talk) 02:20, 25 March 2020 (UTC)