|
*Edited March 29* I have a little time to kill on this fine Saturday evening *ahem*, so I'm about to try BLOOD romanization #3. Be warned, however, that I do not know when I'll be able to translate it. I have midterms next week, not to mention at least three meetings to arrange with various faculty and counselors, and I won't have a lot of free time until, like, after Wednesday. But anyway, we'll see. I'm romanizing Byakuya tonight. First track on their first mini-CD, and it's a very nice listen and a good intro for the rest of the album. Upbeat, but not too driven; smooth, but not too tame. The title basically means 'white night', which, near as I can guess, relates to an Arctic night, where the sun never sets and the snow illuminates even the night atmosphere. Or maybe it's just an antithesis type thing. Nights aren't generally white, after all, ne? Anywho... as always, enjoy. BLOOD - BYAKUYA (WHITE NIGHT) Byakuya no kaze wa kokoro no naka no shiroi sekai o sotto fukinukeru Haruka na sora no hikari no naka de tobenai hane de kazarareta kokoro kakae Mabushii hizashi no naka de boku wa... Koboreta hikari o atsumete... Mado no mukou kimi no kage wa nai... Dore dake sakende mite mo todokanai... Yozora no shita de tsuki no hikari o abi hoshi ni kakaru negai o kanaeyou Ashimoto ni saku ichirin no hana o kirei na kimi no nakigara ni sasageyou Mezame o shiru koto mo naku kimi wa... Shizuka ni nemuri no naka ochite yuku... Mado no mukou kimi no kage wa nai Dore dake sakende mite mo *Ima mo kawaita namida ni utsuru tsuki wa mushoku no ame ni utare sotto me o toji Futo omoidashita ano koro no koe ga tooku kikoeteta Mabushii hizashi no naka de boku wa... Koboreta hikari o atsumete... Towa ni mezame o shiru koto mo naku kimi wa... [1] Shizuka ni nemuri no naka ochite yuku... Mado no mukou kimi no kage wa nai Dore dake sakende mite mo *(repeat) Kimi dake o itsu made mo hanasanai... Once again, I've romanized this according to what's sung, not just what's in the lyrics sleeve. Very few differences this time though, thankfully... a mora here, a repeated stanza there... only one thing threw me, hence one footnote. [1] For the longest time I couldn't figure out what Takeshi says right before this line starts in the lyrics sheet. Finally I figured it out: he says "towa ni". Durr. Now I feel like an idiot. >.> Aaand... I seem to have another hour or so, which might be long enough to work out a translation. And I really want to see this thing translated, even if the end result sucks. >_> So let's roll, eh? The wind on this white night blows softly through the white world in my soul Carrying along my heart, decorated with flightless wings, in the light of the distant sky [1] In the brilliant sunlight... I collect the scattered rays... Beyond the window, your shadow is gone... No matter now much I cry out, my voice doesn't reach... Beneath the night sky, bathed in moonlight, I'll grant the wish you send up to the stars [2] I'll offer the single flower that blooms in my footsteps to your beautiful, dead body Never to awake again... You'll fall into silent sleep... [3] Beyond the window, your shadow is gone No matter how much I cry out *Even now, as colorless rain struck the moon reflected in these dried tears, when I closed my eyes, I suddenly recalled the voice I heard from afar, way back then In the brilliant sunlight... I collect the scattered rays... Never, ever to awake again... [4] You'll fall into silent sleep... Beyond the window, your shadow is gone No matter how much I cry out *(repeat) It's only you that I'll never let go of... ...wow. And I thought I liked this song BEFORE translating it. *heart* Mixed feelings about my results though... pretty much every word and structure in this song was easy to translate accurately... but now that I'm acquainted with it, I feel like there's just too much depth in the Japanese lyrics to carry into a successful English interpretation. I mean, the imagery here is beautiful enough... but I guess you'd have to know Japanese somewhat well to see what makes it different from other songs. Just... slightly different inflictions and choices of words and stuff, that give it the feeling of recalling a long lost, treasured memory in the most poetic possible fashion, and dedicating it to the person at the center of that memory. I can't describe it. And I don't think I did it justice. But at least I know I stayed fairly accurate. *sigh* Footnotes... [1] One must be careful not to read this verse too literally. "Kokoro," which appears in both lines, can mean heart, soul/spirit, or mind, but most commonly it refers to the heart as the center of the spirit (as opposed to the heart that pumps blood to your body and appendages). I called it a soul in the first line and a heart in the second, merely to avoid saying "the wind in my heart carries my heart along." Just think of it however it makes the most sense to you. My translation is merely a guideline, not a holy scripture. [2] This is another spot where the common lack of pronoun use in Japanese tripped me up. I think I picked the interpretation that makes the most sense. I hope I did. But I thought it deserved a footnote because it sounds funny to me. [3] Same as above, pretty much. Either I will never see you awaken again once you fall asleep, or you'll never see an awakening again once you fall asleep. I tried to compromise, but it may have come across as more of a copout... ><; [4] Again, Takeshi throws in the phrase "towa ni" at the beginning of this verse, which just means eternally, perpetually, etc. It can also mean immortally, which creates a really cool possible implication about immortal sleep, or spending your immortality sleeping, or something. Anyway, I think the basic idea was just to emphasize the "never" thing, so I just changed "never" to "never ever" in my translation. There, done for now. Man, I still can't get over these lyrics. Like Sakura, the imagery and poetic feel were just impossible to carry over into the translation... all I could do was provide a guideline and some advice for the listener to use as an aid to forming his/her own interpretation. I need to somehow find every BLOOD song in existence and find out if all their music is this amazing. If so, dangit, I've got a new obsession. All musicians could learn from these guys, says I! (disclaimer: this song belongs to BLOOD, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and the translation. I'm just a fangirl trying to make J-music a little more accessible to Americans. No copyright infringement is intended. Please don't sue me, I'm a poor college student. T_T) posted by Becky at 8:39 PM
Comments:
Post a Comment
|
|
about me__++
name// Becky Cottrill birthdate// 6.23.1982 location// Ohio, USA interests// J-music, J-drama, Japanese language, visual kei, fluffy things... upcoming// refer to Taiji Project! | |
|
I'm always finding Japanese songs that I adore, but can't find English translations for. So I've made a hobby of translating such songs, and this is where I put them. Can't find the song you want? Send me the lyrics (kanji if possible, but romaji will do) and I'll see what I can do. But no promises, as I'm not exactly the most fluent Japanese speaker around. Also, PLEASE don't display any of these lyrics elsewhere unless you credit me. Just my name and a link back here would be great. Thanks!
| |