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
