o jan olin mi sina wile awen anu seme

[Mako]

Perhaps this should go in musi rather than here, but I do have some translation questions. This is a translation of a song I learned at Carleton '94-'99, called "Darling, won't you wait?"

o jan olin mi sina wile awen anu seme.
sina wile awen anu seme.
mi wile tawa ma ante
sina wile awen anu seme.
sina wile awen anu seme.
mi wile tawa tomo la mi awen

o jan olin mi
ona li toki e ni:
ona tan mi mute li wile moli
o jan olin mi
toki pona li pona ala

olin ante li kama la
kama la
e toki tawa sina e ni:
mi ken ala.
o jan olin mi, sina wile awen anu seme.
sina wile awen anu seme.
sina wile awen tawa mi anu seme.

ma ante: the words are "far away", but I'm sure the song is about Vietnam.
mi wile tawa tomo la mi awen: "till I come back home to stay". Can 'tomo' be used as 'home' not just building? Do I need a word for 'back'?
ona tan mi mute li wile moli: "some of us, they say, are bound to die". Not sure about "some"
toki pona li pona ala: "it's so hard to say goodbye" - I have no idea of how to say this
e toki tawa sina e ni: "simply say that you're not free" - simple is implicit in Toki Pona, but I'm not sure about "ken ala" for 'free" in the sense of "mi jo e jan olin".

[janMato]

[Mako]

Here are the toki sin for the song.

jan olin o
sina wile awen anu seme
sina wile awen anu seme
mi wile tawa ma ante
sina wile awen anu seme
sina wile awen anu seme
mi tawa tomo la mi wile awen

jan olin ante li kama la
kama la
o toki e ni: mi ken ala.
jan olin ante li kama la
kama la
jan olin o
sina wile awen anu seme tawa mi

jan olin mi o
ona li toki e ni: ona mute tan mi li wile moli
jan olin mi o
toki pana li pilin ike mute tawa mi

(yes, I should have looked up "goodbye" before typing this)

Darling,
won't you wait,
won't you wait,
for I must go far away.
Darling,
won't you wait,
won't you wait,
'Til I come back home to stay.

Should another love come along,
Come along,
Simply say that you're not free;
Should another love come along,
Come along,
Darling,
Won't you wait for me?

O my love,
Some of us, they say, are bound to die,
O my love,
How I hate to say good-bye.

[jan Ote]

[janKipo]

Not at all literal:
jan olin mi o
o sina li awen
o sina li awen
tan ni la mi wile lawa tawa weka mute
jan olin mi o
o sina awen
o sina awen
tawa tenpo ni: mi tawa tomo tawa awen.

olin ante li kama la
kam la
o toki e ni: sina li ken ala.
olin ante li kama la
kama la
jan olin mi o
o sina awen tawa mi.

olin mi o.
ona li toki e ni: mute lili pi mi mute li kama lon moli.
olin mi o.
mi pilin ike tan ni: mi toki e nimi 'mi tawa'.

Weird decisions defended ad hoc but modified in the face of severe criticism.

[jan Ote]

[janMato]

[jan Ote]

[janMato]

[jan Ote]