The old standard “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire,” for example:
I don’t want to set the world on fire,
I just want to start a flame in your heart.
Has this perhaps been rendered into…
Spanish?
Yo no quiero encendar el mundo…
…Corazón.
or German?
Ich will nicht die Welt an Feuer zu setzen…
or French?
Je ne veux pas incendier le monde…
Any information, please? I’d like to see these lyrics translated…
(Disclaimer - IANANative speaker of German - my knowledge of German is enough to get me through Kafka, Nina Hagen and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, not a casual conversation with a friend. I speak German like err… that one guy… err, oh, macht nichts.)
I think the German would be better if you said ich will die Welt in Brand nicht setzen. The zu is completely unnecessary in this case, the nicht should be right before the main verb and the difference between Brand and Feuer is pretty subtle - a Brand is (usually) destructive, and Feuer is (once again, usually) controlled and useful. A campfire would be a Feuer, but if that campfire got out of control and smoked the surrounding forest, it would be a Brand. Otherwise, the translation is right on.
Now, for the second given line, since it’s too early for me to search for the entire song - Ich will kein Flamm in dein Herz entfachen. Since in the mornings my German tends to be weird and rambly, I couldn’t think of the right words - this comes out as ‘I don’t want to ignite a flame in your heart’ - a bit too dry for a pop song, but otherwise correct, I think.
So, by my German,
ich will die Welt in Brand nicht setzen,
Ich will kein Flamm in dein Herz entfachen.
Danke, Lodrain… there’s only one problem…the accents on the second verse fall like this:
I just want to start a flame in your heart. (Maybe it can’t be rendered into German any other way…?)
Also, your German for the second line sounds like “I don’t want to start a flame in your heart.”