Klar

Jan Delay

English translation

Album:

Mercedes Dance

Original lyrics

German

Translation

English

Klar

Clear

Yah, I say, Jan Delay, Yo, what’s up dude?

Damned cool ‘cause he’s a hanseat ¹

The boss styler, (aha) the headliner (aha),

Who says thanks with the tunes he’s got

(Yes, you didn’t)

get this great beat for so long

This shit rocks like Stevie Ray Vaughan ²

The time was ripe, for new styles -

(and you’re)

blown away like Berlin and Bonn

(Refrain:)

And I have come here with my (band)

‘Cause I heard the people here are (loud)

Who’d like radical music that (rocks)

And who are wanting our phenomenal (sound)

So whoever wants to party say (Hey!)

And whoever wants to rock say (Ho!)

You’re most certainly right with Jan (Delay)

We’re getting this party started °

And it goes like so…

We’re gonna make it clear

(I say,) we’ll solve this problem here

Oh, yeah!

And I say, oh yeah!

(I say,) we’ll make it so clear

We’ll solve this problem here (yeah!)

Aya yj-yau,

I’m half b- boy and half Boheme ³

I rock in Lacoste and Ralph Lauren

And I’m always fresh (aha),

without stains (aha)

This shit needs to shine like halogen

You never see me in a filthy shirt

I’d rather do a track with Bjoerk

The McDaddy (aha),

in Fred Perry (aha)

and the rest ‘the losers will be left in the dirt °°

(Refrain:)

And I have come here with my (band)

‘Cause I heard the people here are (loud)

Who’d like radical music that (rocks)

And who are wanting our phenomenal (sound)

So whoever wants to party say (Hey!)

And whoever wants to rock say (Ho!)

You’re most certainly right with Jan (Delay)

We’re getting the party started

and it goes like so…

We’re gonna make it clear

(I say,) we’ll solve this problem here

Yeah, yeah!

And I say, oh yeah!

(I say,) we’ll make it so clear

So believe me here

(Believe me, baby,

believe me, yeah!)

Oh man, I say (oh ya)

We’ll make it so clear,

we’ll solve this problem here

(ohh, ohh, oohhhh, oo…

nana naaa naaaa)

Yah yaa

(I love)

the Alster and the Reeperbahn ⁴

(And hate) infomercials and the FBI⁵

(Yes, I) like whole cars, (and) old Europa ⁶

(And) people who support the PRO ⁷

And while you’re sitting in the bar to bitch

and moan about how shitty life really is

I sit transfixed

(And) write my text °°°

(And) go from one flash of genius to the next

(Refrain:)

(I say) and I have come here with my (band)

‘Cause I heard the people here are (loud)

Who’re looking for radical music that (rocks)

and who are wanting our phenomenal (sound)

So whoever wants to party say (Hey!)

And whoever wants to rock say (Ho!)

You’re most certainly right with Jan (Delay)

We’re getting the party started

and it goes like so…

We’ll make it so clear (oh yaa)

(I say,) We’ll solve this problem here

(yeahhI yeahha)

(We’ll make it so clear)

And I say, oh yeah!

(I say,) We’ll make it so clear (yeah)

So believe me now

(so believe me now)

Oh man I say, we’ll

Solve this problem now -

We’ll be bringing the house down *

(Bring the house down)

And I say, oh yeah!

We’re bringing the house down

‘Cause we’re with you now! **

Song details

Translation details

brightswan

submitted on 6 Jul 2011 - 13:25

Give a shoutout to brightswan

Author's comments:

„Wir machen das klar“ can mean so much, and the way the German text read to English-hearing ears didn’t do the song justice. I took the story and illustrated with more than one expression of “wir machen das klar” to create a progressive story; I hope I have done it justice. Enjoy!

¹ Hanseat = someone from Hamburg, but more so, the “first families” of northern Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseat

² Die Scheisse knallt wie im Libanon – it “bangs,” like in Lebanon.- which doesn’t translate well to English; therefore, I came up with my own simile. Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist, who really did rock!
³ B-boy (break-boy)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-boying
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemianism

⁴ Alster (tributary of the Elbe River in northern Germany) & The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district, a nightlife center.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reeperbahn

⁵ GZSZ = „Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten“ an prime time soap opera on German TV, but doesn’t apply to English speaking countries, so it was changed to infomercials; BKA = Bundeskriminalamt,(equivalent to the FBI).

⁶ Whole cars – a single piece of graffiti that covers the visible surface of a train car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_terminology

⁷ GEMA = Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungs-rechte—Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights, referred to in English as PRO (performance rights organizations)

Literal translations:
° Wir bringen den scheiss hier zum kochen – we’ll bring this shit to a boil
°° und unstyler werden weggeburnt – and the nonstylers will be burned away
°°° Ja da sitz ich hier (mit) stift und papier – yes, given that I sit here (with) pencil and paper
* To bring the house down – to deliver an excellent performance and excite the audience (wir machen das klar = wir rocken die Bude!)
** denn wir sind am Start Mann – because we’re at the start, man. However, this is street talk and means wir sind dabei – we’re with you.

Comments 2

magicmulder E

20 Aug 2021, 13:04

Good comment on the multiple meanings of "wir machen das klar", I somehow have always only considered the obvious one ("we're gonna rock/own this").

> I rock in Lacoste and Ralph Lauren

Funny enough, Jan Delay is using the very expression from English "to rock (fancy clothes)" = "to wear/use, to put on display", so you could translate it straight as "I'm rocking Lacoste and Ralph Lauren". Maybe you intended to convey a double meaning of "to rock", so you could also leave it as is.

> it “bangs,” like in Lebanon.- which doesn’t translate well to English

Or you could translate as "it's the bomb like ..." and use a metaphor similar to the original.

> so it was changed to infomercials

Or just use "soap opera".

magicmulder E

20 Aug 2021, 13:04

Excellent.