
Elisapie gets nostalgic with Inuktitut rendition of Heart of Glass
CBC
It turns out "heart of glass" is difficult to translate into Inuktitut, as Indigenous languages are more literal than metaphorical.
"You have to say 'the heart has become fragile.' That's how I was able to translate it," said Inuk singer/songwriter Elisapie.
This month the Montreal-based artist released Uummati Attanarsimat, an Inuktitut rendition of Blondie's Heart of Glass, which will be on her upcoming album in September.
Elisapie is from Salluit, a village in Nunavik, the Inuit region of northern Quebec. She said translating the song was personal to her.
"Elders know the melody but they were never able to really understand the lyrics because they don't speak English," she said.
"Knowing that they'll listen to this and have a whole new layer … for me is so exciting."
The single Heart of Glass was released in 1979, two years after Elisapie was born.
"Not long before [the] Blondie song came out, we were still pretty much nomads moving around, living in igloos and then of course the settlements around the '60s," she said.
For her the song is nostalgic and transports her back in time. She said revisiting the past through music is healing.
"One day this song came on in the small dance hall in a small town in Akulivik where we used to go visit family," she said.
"I remember just people gathering, jumping on the dance floor, just dancing away."
She's been singing since she was a little girl but growing up, Elisapie said she felt her prospects were limited. That was until she heard Inuk singer Susan Aglukark for the first time at about 14 years old, and she said it felt like the walls came down.
"That definitely was a huge impact in my life," she said.
LISTEN | Elisapie speaks to CBC Radio's Northwind:

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