
Hlauptu (Run) - transcript/translation

This is a full transcript/translation of “Hlauptu” (Run), Hatari’s collab with CYBER. It’s a good, catchy song! It’s also extremely twisted and I love it. If you always wanted to hear a song about Klemens being chased by some kind of deranged serial killer who wants to dismember and stick knives in him, while he wants to be caught, this is the song for you.

If you’d like to see other Hatari material transcribed/translated, feel free to drop an ask in my askbox!
Icelandic transcript

CYBER:

Hlauptu, hlauptu hraðar

Hlauptu, hlauptu burt

Hlauptu, hlauptu frá mér

Hlauptu, hlauptu, annars mun ég ná þér

Ekki reyna að fara frá mér

Farðu frá mér

Ég vil halda í höndina á þér

En svo taka höndina af þér, elskan


Hlauptu, hlauptu hægar

Hlauptu, farðu burt

Hlauptu, hlauptu, nær mér

Hlauptu, hlauptu, mun ærast ef ég næ þér

Dragðu andann djúpt og hlauptu

Ég vil vera með þér lengur

En svo henda þér í burtu, elskan


Skeri, skeri, skeri

Þú ert folald, ég er meri

Skeri, skeri, passaðu puttana, skeri

Blóð og bein í baðkeri, skeri, skeri

Fyrst ég segi og svo geri

og ég tek þig


KLEMENS:

Ég þrái, ég þrái

Ég þrái, þrái

að þú náir, þú náir

að ná mér, ná mér


CYBER:

Slakaðu, slakaðu ljúfur á

Ekkert liggur á, slakaðu á, ljúfur, ljúfur

Andaðu inn, út, inn, út

Stingum smá, beittur hnífur

Svart hár, svört augu, rautt sár, á!


Skeri, skeri, skeri

Skeri, skeri, skeri

Skeri, skeri, skeri


KLEMENS:

Ég þrái, ég þrái

Ég þrái, þrái

að þú náir, þú náir

að ná mér, ná mér

að ná mér


KLEMENS (MATTHÍAS):

Ég þrái, ég þrái (Hvert sem þú hleypur)

Ég þrái, þrái (er markleysan algjör)

að þú náir, þú náir (Vonbrigðin bíða)

að ná mér, ná mér (Endastöð hnífa)


MATTHÍAS:

Hvert sem þú hleypur

er markleysan algjör

Vonbrigðin bíða

Endastöð hnífa


English translation

CYBER:

Run, run faster

Run, run away

Run, run away from me

Run, run, or I’ll catch you

Don’t try to leave me

Leave me

I want to hold your hand

But then take it off, baby


Run, run slower

Run, go away

Run, run, closer

Run, run, will go mad if I catch you

Take a deep breath and run

I want to stay with you longer

But then throw you away, baby


Slicey, slicey, slicey

You’re a foal and I’m a mare

Slicey, slicey, watch your fingers, slicey

Blood and bones in a bathtub, slicey, slicey

First I say and then I do

and I take you


KLEMENS:

I long for, I long for

I long for, long for

you to manage, to manage

to catch me, catch me


CYBER:

Relax, relax, honey

There’s no rush, relax, honey, honey

Breathe in, out, in, out,

Little stabbing, a sharp knife

Black hair, black eyes, red cut, ouch!


Slicey, slicey, slicey

Slicey, slicey, slicey

Slicey, slicey, slicey


KLEMENS:

I long for, I long for

I long for, long for

you to manage, to manage

to catch me, catch me

to catch me


KLEMENS (MATTHÍAS):

I long for, I long for (Anywhere you run)

I long for, long for (the aimlessness is absolute)

you to manage, to manage (Disappointment awaits)

to catch me, catch me (The terminal of knives)


MATTHÍAS:

Anywhere you run

the aimlessness is absolute

Disappointment awaits

The terminal of knives


Translation notes

“Skeri” is effectively taking the word for “cut/slice”, skera, and turning it into a “sound effect”, something a child or very eccentric/unhinged person might say while cutting something or pretending to cut something. I think “slicey, slicey” just about captures that vibe.

Klemens’s verse has some wordplay in it: “að ná” is a verb that can both mean “to catch” and “to manage (to do something)”. So Ég þrái að þú náir already sounds like “I long for you to catch -” and then it adds að ná mér, using the same verb again, making you realize oh, no, the previous ná was actually the manage kind, but he still wants her to catch him. This may be a tell that Matthías wrote this verse: he did this exact kind of wordplay in one of his poems in 2014, too.

The “terminal of knives” is literally like the bus terminus kind of terminal. What’s that getting at? Uhh, I’m not entirely sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, I guess wherever he ends up, the knives are also going to end up there, in him, stabbing him to death. This is a cheerful happy song.
