I Leave it to the Plane Engine (John Denver)

Language: Russian

There's a puzzle sort of feeling to Babelfishing that I didn't expect when I started this. By which I mean, it's been a while since I came up with a phrasing that made me laugh out loud or anything, and by now Babelfish isn't doing anything with the Russian that can surprise me.

But getting a pile of gibberish dumped in your lap and then trying to sort it into something coherent has the same sort of feel to it that a crossword puzzle, or a Sudoku, has: you know there's a solution out there somewhere, and it's only a matter of time until you find it, but between now and then there are hundreds of tiny little decisions to be made, internal logics to follow, and so on.

Because of this, I have very little objectivity about which of these are good or bad or amusing or whatever. I don't think this one worked that well: maybe Babelfish didn't give me enough strangeness to work with, or maybe I didn't do enough to change it. But in the hopes that there may be other schools of thought on the matter. . . .

-Jessi

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All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go,
your door cost me here. I hate you to oversleep: a goodbye opinion.
But by dawn, it breaks, the previous morn will be there.
A taxi awaits, it blows its horn. It's narrower than I am, thus more lonesome.
I could begin to cry.

So kiss me and smile for me, say that you await me,
hold me so you'll prevent me from going.
I leave it to the plane engine, don't know when I'll be back again.
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

There are many times I have pushed you downward;
therefore, many times I played all around,
I'll say now they won't intend anything to you.
Each place, where I am, I'll think of you; each song I sing, I ripen for you;
When I come back, I will bear your engagement ring.

So kiss me and smile for me, say that you await me,
hold me so you'll prevent me from going.
I leave it to the plane engine, don't know when I'll be back again.
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

You came to leave now. One more time than time prevented me from kissing you,
then it's, "Close your eyes, I'm located on my road."
Dream about the days to arrive, so when I leave I won't be leaving alone.
About the time, it's what I say:
I leave it to the plane engine, don't know when I'll be back again.
I leave it to the plane engine, don't know when I'll be back again.