“There is conflict between the United States / And hundreds of thousands of kilometers.” That’s what happens to the Adele line, “There’s such a difference between us / And a million miles,” when you translate it through several different languages and then back into English using Google Translate as your only guide. And singer Malinda Kathleen Reese has done just that to over 30 different songs on her YouTube channel, resulting in weird, uncanny valley versions of familiar pop songs, which also reveal quite a bit about language. For instance, in that Adele line, the term “us” was clearly confused with “U.S.” at some point, leading to the incongruous mention of the United States in the final mistranslated version.
Reese is obviously aiming for comedy here, and likely keeps translating until she gets the most ridiculous results, but it works because she really commits to selling the nonsensical lines in her final videos. Her latest is a take on Frozen’s “For The First Time In Forever” (a.k.a. “For The First Term Of Office Indefinite”) in which she and guest performer Evynne Hollens give a perky Disney princess spin to lyrics like, “I do not know if I’m high or sparkling wine / But I’m from the Time Zone” (the mistranslated version of “Don’t know if I’m elated or gassy / But I’m somewhere in that zone”).
Those who enjoy the format can also check out Reese’s take on “Wrecking Ball” (a.k.a “Ball In The Sink”), “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (a.k.a. “The High Street Rainbow Somewhere”), and “Bad Blood” (a.k.a. “Poor Circulation”).