Translated French Ballads
Dalena sings Vietnamese pretty damn good for white girl. Her other talent is English translation, in which she tends to stay faithful to the original context as much as she could without losing the natural flow. Oh My Sweet Love, a fantastic collaboration with Don Ho, showcases some of her finest takes on Christophe’s and Art Sullivan’s ballads. The opening “Hand In Hand” (“Main Dans La Main”) and title track, “Oh! Mon Amour,” once again proved Don Ho’s ability to connect with his female counterpart. They merged together like one and one still one. But then again Dalena’s nostalgia rendition of “Day of Winter” (“Tombe La Neige”) shows that even sweet love turns cold, and the only thing that is still fresh is memory:
I watch the snowfalls
It brings memories of you.
Our days of winter
Were the happiest we knew
Days we spent together
I thought we have forever
Fireside kisses linger
Sparkling promise on my finger
Now I sit and watch the snow
I have nowhere else to go
While cold and lonely seeming
I found happiness in dreaming.