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El preso número nueve - Question

 

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  #11  
Old November 16, 2012, 02:36 PM
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  #12  
Old June 13, 2017, 08:35 AM
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El preso numero nueve
George Dalaras version makes sense.
you can find the lyrics he sings at <removed>
They are different from those posted by others.

Last edited by Tomisimo; June 13, 2017 at 08:50 AM. Reason: Removed link
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Old June 13, 2017, 08:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zvia View Post
El preso numero nueve
George Dalaras version makes sense.
you can find the lyrics he sings at <removed>
They are different from those posted by others.
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  #14  
Old June 15, 2017, 11:28 AM
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Quote:
Oh, by the way, original lyrics say "Al preso número nueve ya lo van a confesar", which makes much more sense.
Hola amigos, apenas leí la pregunta de este hilo, me pareció raro el artículo 'EL' y me puse a buscar con Google la canción. En ninguna pagina que encontré aparece el artículo 'AL'. Menos mal que Angélica lo logró y dió sentido a la frase.

Encontré la traducción en italiano, que cambia a versión:
Quote:
Il prigioniero numero nove non verrà fatto confessare
El prisionero número nueve no recibirá el sacramento de la confesión porque no se ha arrepentido de lo que hizo.
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  #15  
Old June 15, 2017, 01:28 PM
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@Pino: Es una canción que se escuchaba mucho entre gente a la que frecuentaba cuando era joven.
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  #16  
Old July 10, 2017, 08:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar View Post
He's the one confessing, but to a priest, not the police, as he has already been condemned to death.
This "they" is just some impersonal formula used colloquially.

Oh, by the way, original lyrics say "Al preso número nueve ya lo van a confesar", which makes much more sense.
Also -- I'm coming into this discussion late, so excuse me if this has been answered already -- but the sense I get is that he will be confessed BY these other people (police, the priest). I know that in English, the idea of absolution is almost always passive, as in "I was absolved of all my sins." My literal translation here might be something along the lines of, "They are going to confess him," and my not-so-literal translation would be closer to, "They are taking him to confession."
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Old July 10, 2017, 02:16 PM
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@Henry: "Confesar a alguien" is used only in the sense that a Catholic priest will hear someone's sins (there is also a figurative use of this formula, but here, it's not the case).
When the police hears a confession, or when someone avows something to someone else, then the subject confessing is clear.
- María me confesó que está enamorada de Pedro.
- Te confieso que me gustan mucho los chocolates.
- El ladrón no quiere confesar que mató al dueño de la tienda.
- Police detective talking: "¿Vas a confesar de una vez?"


The whole stanza of this song goes like this:

Al preso número nueve, ya lo van a confesar
Está encerrado en su celda con el cura del penal.
Y antes del amanecer la vida le han de quitar
Porque mató a su mujer y a un amigo desleal.

The "they" from "ya lo van a confesar" is, more than a subject, an impersonal form, a generalization, that somehow conveys that when anyone is in jail, and will confess to a priest, it's because they will be executed next.
As far as I know, the verb works the same way in English; for example in "the priest confessed the criminal", so your first proposal would work alright if the next line wouldn't say who will hear his sins. Probably a better translation would be something similar to: "the prisoner is going to be confessed". The passive voice in Spanish is not heard as often as in English, but we do use plenty of impersonal forms, whose equivalent in English is commonly the passive voice.
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