Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
sich die Seele aus dem Leib spielen
English translation:
play their hearts out
German term
sich die Seele aus dem Leib spielen
Diese (Stärke) äußert sich in einem Selbstbewusstsein, welches man vor allem live auf der Bühne spürt, wenn sich YEN und ihre Bandkollegen "die Seele aus dem Leib spielen".
Dec 6, 2007 08:25: Steffen Walter changed "Term asked" from "die Seele aus dem Leib spielen" to "sich die Seele aus dem Leib spielen"
Dec 8, 2007 12:02: Francis Lee (X) changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other"
Non-PRO (1): Francis Lee (X)
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Proposed translations
United Kingdom
33 years of experience
Native in: English
Works in: Arabic to English, German to English
play their hearts out
| agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
21 mins
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| agree |
jccantrell
: My first thought, too, and I am in the USA.
22 mins
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| agree |
Gauri Shringarpure
22 mins
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| agree |
Allesklar
32 mins
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| agree |
Trudy Peters
1 hr
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| agree |
Paul Cohen
: also the US equivalent ;-)
2 hrs
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| agree |
Cilian O'Tuama
: give it all they've got - and I'm in Germany :-) //Naw, it's a bit late now
2 hrs
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I like yours too, Cilian, mine does sound sentimental in English for a cool rock band! Why don't you put your idea up for comment? I'll vote for it!
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| agree |
Richard Benham
: I'm in France, if that's relevant....
7 hrs
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| agree |
Birgit Mann
10 hrs
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| neutral |
Francis Lee (X)
: I dunno - isn't this potentially a bit corny/tame for a rock band's press release?
11 hrs
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| neutral |
Hilary Davies Shelby
: it IS normally the equivalent, but Francis is right - it would be more suitable for a school orchestra than a rock band...
15 hrs
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| agree |
jerrie
: Give it all they've got - nice one Cilian!
15 hrs
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Germany
Experienced, strong technical background
Native in: German 
Works in: Dutch to German, English to German, Flemish to German
to play their asses off
| neutral |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: could be a little too offensive to some
17 mins
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Yes, that's what I thought. Thanks
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| neutral |
Gauri Shringarpure
: agree w/ingeborg. Besides, why go so far off from the Seele? :-|
18 mins
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Thank you!
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| neutral |
Allesklar
: Klingt etwas zu krampfhaft cool, wenn's von jemandem über 16 kommt.
27 mins
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Naja...
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| neutral |
Richard Benham
: Definitely US (in UK and Australia, an "ass" is a donkey, and your rear end is your "arse"), and a long way, as has been said, from "Seele", and a bit rude. What is "under musicians"? The stage floor?
7 hrs
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Should have been "amongst musicians", I'm sorry.
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rock the house / play their socks off / let rip / set the house on fire/ablaze
Here's one of many examples:
"Still, the band were up for a laugh, took it all in their stride, and played their socks off."
http://polytechnic.co.uk/tags/music?page=1
Plus "played their hearts out" might sound a bit corny for a rock band.
I do a lot of this kind of work and am always wary of the difference in tonality between the German and English scenes.
The fact that the German phrase is in quotes is a classic case, i.e. using a cheesy old phrase (like "die Seele baumlen lassen").
I'd go for the above or some variant on the "played their X off" ...
And as it's a press release, there's no need to stick to the German. It's the mood that counts! Hence my afterthought: "set the house on fire/ablaze"
"Maxwell slipped his "mellow smooth" to the crowd at Radio City Thursday night, July 31, 1997, turning the place into a river of cool, while somehow managing to set the house on fire"
http://www.nyrock.com/maxwell.asp
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Note added at 11 hrs (2007-12-06 08:04:11 GMT)
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- strut their stuff (you can even put that one in quotes!)
- raised the roof
Google any of these + music + concert, and you'll see they're all common terms in the biz ...
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Note added at 11 hrs (2007-12-06 08:05:03 GMT)
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Cilian's "give it all they've got" is also a good option.
| agree |
Kieran McCann
: tend to agree that the German phrase is more neutral/objective and less emotional/twee than 'play their hearts out' in English, unless the band are all five-year olds of course
3 hrs
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| agree |
Hilary Davies Shelby
: i would have said "raised the roof", but am I showing my age here??// Might be a bit close to "get your rocks off"?
3 hrs
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How about "play their rocks off"? It does get a Google hit, after all.
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| agree |
Veronika Neuhold
: age and sex seem to matter here: for young girls, i wouldn't use "socks"...
14 hrs
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Austria
We Make Words Work for You
Native in: German (Variant: Austrian)
Works in: English to German, Spanish to German, German to English
"take back the night"
In your context, you might consider enclosing this phrase in commas.
Discussion