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At long last, this blog is CLOSED! But fear not, I haven't given up the translation hobby. You can now find all my translations - past, present, and future - at Taiji Project. Yes, it's a Livejournal address. Why? Many reasons. It offers tags and all sorts of other options for easy organization, my archives will be visible again (I loved this template, but it didn't show archives ><), it can be friended, Blogger started to suck, I'm too lazy to learn the coding necessary to run a REAL website, and several other reasons. Anyway, head on over, update your bookmarks, and if you're a Livejournal user, feel free to friend Taiji Project. I won't delete this old blog (not for a loooooong time anyway, if ever), but it will no longer be updated. See you at LJ! posted by Becky at 4:12 PM (0) comments Finally! I finished another Miyavi translation! This time it's Kekkonshiki no Uta. Another masterpiece by the king of dorks - catchy, a lot of humor, but buried behind the laughter in each verse is a smattering of bitterness and hurt. Come on, we all know how he feels. A note before we get to the lyrics: in some lines, Miyavi inserted a Japanese character that basically translates to "lol" or *laughs* in English. They only appear in the written lyrics, not in the sung version, but the song really wouldn't feel complete without them. Remember that concealed bitterness and hurt? You'll see what I mean. I'm leaving it out of the romaji though, simply because it's one of those things in Japanese that's meant to be experienced, not read aloud - and I can't just put the kanji because Blogger sucks that way. So it'll only be in the English version; sorry. So without further ado, enjoy some Miyavi! MIYAVI - KEKKONSHIKI NO UTA (THE WEDDING SONG) Omedetou, kimi ni okuru tabidachi no uta wa Arigatou, aishita kimi e no owakare no uta sa. Moshi kondo umarekawatte mo Chansu wa kuru ka na... nante Hanamuko-kun, sono toki made shoubu wa oazuke sa. Toki ni wa surechigau koto mo aru darou, Kenka suru yoru mo sorya kuru darou. Sore demo futari issho ni ireba Samishiku wa nai deshou? nee Omedetou, kimi ni okuru tabidachi no uta sa. Arigatou, tomo ni sugoshita takusan no omoide yo. Sorya kirei ni kimatteru deshou, Boku no horeta hito da mono. Oniai na no ga shaku ni sawaru kedo... Honto, kirei da yo. Kimi to no tanoshikatta omoide mo, Kenka bakari shita nigai omoide mo, Ima de wa kirei na sepia iro. Namida ni ukabete sotto sayonara shiyou. Mou tsutaeru koto wa dekinaku natchatta kedo, Ima mo mune no oku ni shimatte aru yo. Ano toki ienakatta I love you. Itsu no hi mo wasurenaide, Deatta hi no koto. Kenka shita nara, Omoidashite hatsu deito no koto. Mou ichido iu yo, omedetou. Virgin road Sono saki ni tsuzuku michinori wa, Wedding march futari ayumu no sa. Nakayoku kenka shite "Douzo oshiawase ni" ...uwaki shinai you ni. PS: Itsuka umareru kimi no beibii ni yoroshiku ittoite okure. Kuregure mo "ojisan" to wa yobasenai you ni. In English: The song of congratulations I send to you as you begin your journey Is a song of parting to say thank you to you whom I loved. If I could be born again, I bet I would have my chance... just kidding (laughs) Until that day, bridegroom, I'll take a rain check on our duel. There will probably be times when you disagree, And some nights you'll probably fight. But as long as you're together You'll never be lonely, right? Right? Congratulations, this is the song I send to you. Thanks for all the memories we had together. Of course you look beautiful, You're the one I fell in love with, you know (laughs) It irritates me how well that suits you, but... Really, you look beautiful. All the happy memories I had with you, And the painful memories where all we did was fight, Now they're all a lovely sepia color. I'll quietly bid you farewell with my tears. I won't have a chance to say it anymore, but It's still locked away deep in my heart. What I couldn't tell you before - I love you. No matter what, never forget The day we first met. If you two ever fight, Just remember our first date (laughs) I'll say it just one more time, congratulations. Virgin road The way before you now Is the wedding march you will take together. Have fights on good terms "I hope you'll be happy" ...and hope he won't cheat on you (laughs) PS: Give my regards to the baby you'll have someday. And you'd better not let him call me "uncle". No footnotes. This one was cake, and I actually like how it turned out. Thanks, MYV! (disclaimer: this song belongs to Miyavi, not me. I only take credit for the romaji and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 3:45 AM (0) comments Well, I decided to continue with the masochism and attempt another Miyavi song. I had been tinkering with this one for a while already, and finally decided to go ahead and post what I have. This time it's Aho Matsuri, from his most recent album Miyavizm. I think the main reason I like this song so much is that it really captures that whole Japanese festival feel, utilizing some instruments and sound effects commonly heard in traditional festivals and Noh plays and the like... but in an inventive, rock-styled way. Totally characteristic of Miyavi. One thing I've been debating for a while is whether to translate the title as the nice realistic sounding "Festival of Fools" or a less... formal-sounding "Festival of Idiots." Finally decided the latter was more Miyavi-like, so I went with that. Also, a more accurate romanization of "aho" is actually "ahou," and the kanji reflects the more correct version, but "aho" is what he actually sings (and is essentially the same anyway, just more colloquial), so I'll be using that in my romaji. And yes, Miyavi likes to use actual punctuation in his lyrics, so I kept that for effect. >> Anyway, enjoy... MIYAVI - AHO MATSURI (FESTIVAL OF IDIOTS) Odoru aho ni sawagu aho, onaji aho nara kowarenya sonson Kireru aho mo guchiru "do" aho mo, douse aho nara warawanya sonson Soko ni aho, koko ni aho, asoko ni aho, doko ni demo aho. "Wataru seken wa aho bakari!!" Hajiketai no nara kocchi e koi yo, kara yaburitai no nara oide yo lady. Yo ga akeru made odoriakasou ze, soshite kyou mo mata omatsuri sawagi. Warau aho, okoru aho, kanashimu aho, yorokobu aho. "Baka tte iu yatsu ga baka nan da!!" Utau aho ni sakebu aho, onaji aho doushi tomo ni yume minya sonson. Sochira no aho mo dochira no aho mo, aho wa aho rashiku ikiranya sonson. Hazukashigattenaide kocchi muite yo, tamerattenaide kao agena yo lady. Yo ga akeru mae ni hashiridasanakya, hora kyou mo mata aho no matsuri. In English: Dancing idiots and rowdy idiots, if you're an idiot either way, you might as well break down. [1] Raging mad idiots and the dumbest of grumbling idiots, if you're an idiot anyway, you might as well laugh. [2] Idiots there, idiots here, idiots over there, idiots everywhere. "The whole world is nothing but idiots!!" If you wanna burst out just come this way, if you wanna break your shell then get over here, lady. Let's dance till the break of dawn, and today again we'll go crazy at the festival. Laughing idiots, angry idiots, sad idiots, happy idiots. "Whoever calls us idiots is an idiot!!" Singing idiots and shouting idiots, if we're all idiots, we might as well dream together. Idiots there and idiots everywhere, idiots might as well live like idiots. Don't be shy, look this way - don't hesitate, lift your face, lady. Gotta start running before the sun comes up - look, today again it's the Festival of Idiots. Some footnotes... [1] This line (and a few similar lines later in the song) seems to be a take-off on a similar quote that's apparently fairly common in respect to Japanese festivals, particularly the Awa-Odori in Koshigaya: "Odoru ahou ni miru ahou, onaji ahou nara, odoranya sonson," which translates roughly to "Fools dancing and fools watching, if you are a fool either way, you might as well dance." [2] Thanks Cyclo for explaining the bracketed "do" thing for me! As it turns out, "do" as a prefix sort of stresses the word it precedes, so a "do"-aho is not just an idiot, but a REALLY BIG idiot. Well, this one was a lot more fun than the last Miyavi song I did. Came out a lot better too. *pleased* And you know, as I listen more closely to Miyavi's songs in recent days/weeks, I notice that a lot of them have some pretty serious lyrics. Some of them are even full of social/political commentary. You'd just never expect it since they're all so fun and catchy and upbeat. Even this one, despite the catchy and creative overall sound, has that whole "I'm surrounded by idiots, pleeeease get me out of here before they strike again today" feeling. Haven't we all felt that way on occasion? (disclaimer: this song belongs to Miyavi, not me. I only take credit for the romaji and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 11:51 PM (2) comments Ok, dangit. I'm SO tired of the complete non-existence of Miyavi translations out there. It's gotta stop. >> Unfortunately I've read enough of his lyrics in kanji and romaji to know why that is the case... the man is next to impossible to make sense of to most of us baka-gaijin. However, I am totally and utterly taken by his (sort of) new single, Senor Senora Senorita. I really think this one will go down in history, so to speak, right alongside good ol' Miyavi classics like Pop is Dead, Shinde mo Boogie Woogie, Jibun Kakumei, Girls Be Ambitious, and... nearly everything else he's released, really. It's fun and catchy and just impossibly unique, with its heavy Latin/salsa influence and Miyavi's own incomparable twists. The man is a marvel among dorks. I couldn't help it. I HAD to try to translate this. The romaji was easy enough... now I suppose it's just a matter of making the English translation sound true to his lyrical style, which in this case is a cross between Miyavi and some cheesy seductive rumba-dancing Latino... *cracks knuckles* Oh, I feel I should make a few things clear before I start. Firstly, in pretty much every instance of a Spanish or French or any non-Japanese language word in this song, in the written lyrics Miyavi actually writes the Japanese translation of the word and then adds a parenthetical note after it giving the kana spelling of the foreign word. The latter is always what appears in the sung version, so I'm not even going to bother including his Japanese translations and junk. It all means the same. >> MIYAVI - SENOR SENORA SENORITA Shall we dance? 1, 2, step... step by step Nani o kakusou senorita, watashi koso ga ikichi mo shitataru ii otoko Onozomi to araba hone no zui to made gojiman no kiba o meshiagare Aa... tsuki ni terasare aojiroku hikaru kubisuji ni sotto chikai no kisu o Demo naze darou, mune no oku dokoka konna ni mo itamu no wa... "Kimi o aishite shimatta mitai nan da" 1, 2, step... step by step Odorimasen ka bonita, te o tori koshi karamasete un deux trois Kuchibiru furesou na kyori de fui ni sasayaku kotoba wa "te amore" Aa... kono mune ni saita jounetsu no bara wa sono toge de kokoro shimetsukeru Soshite boku wa kimi o omou tabi chi no namida o (nagasu n da.) [1] Kanawanai koi naraba isso kowashite shimae, to Negatte shimau no wa ikenai koto deshou ka? Boku ga boku ja nakya donna ni yokattarou? Kimi o kizutsukeru koto nado naku aiseru no ni... 1, 2, step... step by step Toki no aizu de futari wa rendezvous, mata asa ga kite hanarebanare Aa... aishita kimi ni sae chikazukenai boku wa aware na mosquito sa. "Dakishimetai, dakishimerarenai..." no wa, kowashite shimaisou dakara Kawariyuku kono karada, tatoe hikarabiyou to mo Douka kono koi ga tsumi to natte shimau mae ni Todokanai kisu naraba, minoranai love story naraba Semete yume no naka, dakishimesasete okure Omoeba omou hodo, chikazuite wa hanareteiku... tsuki to taiyou no you ni [1] In the sung version this line just ends with "Chi no namida o..." But he actually finishes the sentence in the written lyrics. In English (maybe T_T)... Shall we dance? 1, 2, step... step by step What is there to hide, senorita? I am the good man whose very lifeblood trickles down [1] If you so desire, sink in your proud fangs to the bone [2] Ah... in the pale light of the moon I softly kiss your nape in oath [3] But why does it hurt so much somewhere in the depths of my heart... "I guess I fell in love with you" 1, 2, step... step by step Shall we dance, bonita? Take my hand and move your hips with mine - un, deux, trois With our lips so close they almost touch, the suddenly whispered words are "Te amore" Ah... the rose of passion that bloomed in my breast presses its thorns into my heart And whenever I think of you, I shed tears of blood If this love cannot be, might as well just destroy it Is it wrong to feel that way? If I were not me, would I be good enough? Even though I could love you without ever hurting you... 1, 2, step... step by step When the time comes we rendezvous, and when the dawn comes again we part Ah... I'm just a pathetic mosquito that can't even get close to you, who I loved "I want to hold you, I can't hold you..." because I'm afraid I might break you Even if this ever-changing body completely dries up No matter what, before this love becomes a sin If my kiss never reaches you, if this love story can never be Please, if only in my dreams, let me hold you close The more I think of you, the closer we are the farther apart we become... like the moon and sun ...Argh. [1] While he sings "ii otoko (good man)", the kanji here gives the word for "vampire." O_o Not sure where he got the correlation there... maybe he's trying to conceal being a vampire with an innocent "I'm a good guy *nodnod*" kinda thing? [2] As in, her fangs are her pride. I guess. Also, I'm familiar with "meshiagare" - it's like "help yourself (to eat/drink something)" - but "kiba o meshiagare," structurally, sounds like it should be "eat your fangs." >_o I'm assuming there's another meaning there... something like "eat WITH your fangs," which is what I went with. *sigh* [3] Not really a footnote... but I wanted to express my befuddlement over the fact that he spelled out "Aa" in the most ridiculously complicated way possible. With KANJI. It's a bloody sound effect with no actual meaning, exactly the same as our English "Ah," and he writes it in KANJI. WTF? Anyway... And this is why people don't translate Miyavi's songs. =_= I'll probably never feel satisfied with this, but I had to try it... be warned, I will probably come back to this MANY times over the course of the future to make little changes... (disclaimer: this song belongs to Miyavi, not me. I only take credit for the romaji and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:39 AM (4) comments Sorry for putting off the fifth and final (for now) Suicide Ali translation for so long. There's just one word in it that throws me off, and I don't know why I haven't emailed them to ask about it yet. Too much other stuff cluttering my brain, I guess. But now I'm going to go back to the opposite extreme and try something I haven't done in 2 or 3 years: Matsu Takako translations. I've been wanting to pick up on her lyrics again for a very long time now, and tonight some random stimulus finally poked me into the mindset to start. Specifically I turned on my shuffled playlist of nearly 2000 mp3s and her song A Piece of Life was the first to come up. This was never one of my very favorite Matsu Takako songs, but I don't mean to sell it short - it's definitely one of her most beautiful and emotionally touching melodies. I do love it, it just never really stood out to me as much as some of her other songs. But I guess it touched me in the right spot today, so I decided it would be a good place to pick up with her translations again. So, enjoy. MATSU TAKAKO - A PIECE OF LIFE Dareka ga tsubuyaiteita kiseki wa okoru to Meguriau koto sore ga subete no mahou ne Mainichi me ga sameru to Anata no egao ga kyou mo Taenai you ni to inoru Donna ni donna ni kisetsu ga kagirinaku megutte mo Watashi wa watashi wa anata dake o aishitsuzukeru deshou Kizutsuketeta jibun o kirai ni nattari Iitai koto ga mune ni afureta mama dattari Kotoba ja wakariaezu Omoi ja mitomerarezu Miugokitorenaku natte mo Tsutaete tsutaete kokoro o taisetsu na ano hito ni Shinjite shinjite anata no koto o hitsuyou na hito ga iru Donna ni donna ni kisetsu ga kagirinaku megutte mo Watashi wa watashi wa anata dake o aishitsuzukeru deshou In English: When a miracle whispered by someone comes to pass And we find each other, that is the magic of it all, isn't it? Every day when I wake up I pray that your smile Will survive again today However, however the seasons may forever turn I know, I know that I will always love you Sometimes I hate myself for hurting you Sometimes the words I couldn't say still flood my heart Even if you don't understand it in words Even if you don't recognize it as a feeling Even if you're not moved at all [1] I will, I will pour out my heart to the one who means so much to me I will believe, I will believe in you - I need you [2] However, however the seasons may forever turn I know, I know that I will always love you Now I remember why I took a break from translating her songs... she has a way with words that makes them difficult to put into suitable English equivalents... not to mention they tend to hit pretty close to home with me... Anyway, a couple notes. [1] She used a form of a fairly complicated verb here - miugokitoreru - and I understand all the different components in there (it has 5 or 6, literally) except, like, one. So I basically just skipped that one, and hope it wasn't one that would've changed the entire meaning of the word. >>; Also, the translation I settled on was based upon the decision that "you" was the intended pronoun of this verse. "You" or "I" wasn't actually specified, but the former made more sense. [2] This whole line was put together sort of oddly. The last part especially - "hitsuyou na hito ga iru" literally means "there is someone that I need." But previously in the line she specifically says "you," so I only assume they're the same person... just not sure why she suddenly switched pronouns. So there we go... and I would say there's a high likelihood of more Matsu Takako appearing here in the very near future, so look forward to it. Or dread it, if she's not your cup of tea. Whatever. (disclaimer: this song belongs to Matsu Takako, not me. Romanization is by Cori (though I edited it in places) and was found at Cori's Jpop Lyrics Homepage. I only take credit for 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:21 AM (0) comments At last, I'm ready to post the 4th of 5 Suicide Ali translations. I wish I could finish the last one and get them all put up on our official fansite for the world to see (so to speak :p), but I swear that one word in Favorite Song does not exist and Goshi made it up. >___> So I guess I'll have to email them to ask about it... I hate to bug them about a single word... =_= grr. Aaaaaanyway, here is Chain Saw. It's about... being born. Make sense yet? It will soon... yeeeeeah, it's a messy one... but at least it's just a metaphor for something real that's messy anyway. >>; ANYWAY. Here is the song. Enjoy. SUICIDE ALI - CHAIN SAW Shikyuu de ataerareta kirabiyaka na chain saw Ishi o motomerareta saisho no sentaku Sono kagirinai jiyuu kuraitsukinagara Kudashita ketsubetsu atatakai hifu o saita Sakeme kara koboreru himei o shita de ukete Hikari no rasen o aogu seizon no jukusei Chi shibuki to Dareka no kanashimi no naka ni itsumo Boku wa iru The body which undulates. I am a chain saw. The fact which isn't changed. I am a chain saw. Ima mo nao tsuzuiteiru jinkaku no ketsujo Ano yabureteyuku kankaku o kesezu Chi shibuki to Dareka no nikushimi no naka ni itsumo Boku wa iru The body which undulates. I am a chain saw. The fact which isn't changed. I am a chain saw. In English: In the womb I was given a dazzling chain saw My first choice to make in search of my own will Clinging to that limitless freedom I bade farewell and dropped, tearing open warm flesh My screams pour from the opening I've torn out Looking up into a spiral of light, my existence has become ripe Within a fountain of blood And someone's sadness I am always in the middle The body which undulates. I am a chain saw. The fact which isn't changed. I am a chain saw. Still lacking my own personality I can't erase the feeling of being torn apart Within a fountain of blood And someone's hatred I am always in the middle The body which undulates. I am a chain saw. The fact which isn't changed. I am a chain saw. Gonna forego footnotes, just because I want to call this one done and over with. There are a few places where I've been fighting with different wordings and such for ages now, and if I keep doing that I'll never be satisfied. So here. Take it. I wanna be done with something. >.> (disclaimer: this song belongs to Suicide Ali, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:32 AM (0) comments Yes, another one! I'm on a roll tonight :D Here we go - Suicide Ali translation #3, Kaze no Slave. Again, a few parts of this one gave me headaches, but at least the title's about as simple as can be to translate. >> << I like this one... it has a pretty catchy melody, and its lyrics are quite deep and contemplative. It's also the only one of their as-yet-available five songs that's about something besides being hanged or mutilated. :P So here you go! SUICIDE ALI - KAZE NO SLAVE (SLAVE TO THE WIND) Ju wa boku ni sasayaku Hikari no nai asa ni "Kimi no omoide to hikikae ni kaze o ageru" Akai renga michi o koereba slave... Toki wa nagareru Nani yori mo reikoku ni Keshite shimau darou Mokuteki mo nai boku nante Akai renga michi o koereba slave... Kaze no dorei ni natta tte Boku wa boku shika dekinai kara Soba ni ite kureru hitotachi o Toriaezu kanashimasenai you ni arukou Sei to mune no awai Konna ni mo chiisai no ni Naze mayou no darou Te ni torenu fuan kakaete (Akai renga michi o koeteyuku slave...) [1] Kaze no dorei ni natta tte Boku wa boku shika dekinai kara Soba ni ite kureru hitotachi no Yowasa o yasashiku tsutsumeru you ni Sonna ni sonna ni Kaikaburanaide Konna ni konna ni... Akai renga michi o koereba.... Mamoritai no Tada jibun o mamoritai no Konna kudaranai boku de mo Mamoritai no Ju ni boku wa sasayaku Kumori no nai asa ni Keshite shimau darou Mokuteki mo nai boku nante Akai renga michi (no mannaka de) [2] brave.... Footnotes: [1] This line actually is not written in the kanji lyrics; Goshi only sings it. [2] Same with the stuff in parentheses here. The original lyrics say "...o koereba," but he sings "...no mannaka de" instead. And in English: The trees whisper to me In the lightless morning "We will give you the wind in exchange for your memories" If I cross the red brick road slave... Time goes on More cruelly than anything Perhaps I'll erase it all Even one so meaningless as me If I cross the red brick road slave... I've become slave to the wind Only I can be me So I will walk on, seeking above all To never hurt those who stay by my side Though I am so slight in stature and heart And so small Why do I lose my way Carrying anxiety that I can't grasp in my hands? (I will cross the red brick road slave...) I've become slave to the wind Only I can be me So I will seek above all To gently embrace the weakness of those who stay by my side Don't think so highly of me I am so... so... If I cross the red brick road.... I want to protect myself I just want to protect myself Even though I am so worthless I want to protect myself I whisper to the trees In the cloudless morning Perhaps I'll erase it all Even one so meaningless as me In the middle of the red brick road brave... Again, no footnotes - except, again, the part in parentheses is only sung, not written in the original lyrics. And I just translated that last verse directly from the sung version and romaji, not from the kanji, and left out those annoying parentheses. I doubt anyone will notice anyway; I just thought I'd mention it. >> (disclaimer: this song belongs to Suicide Ali, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:33 AM (0) comments And it is time for the second of five Suicide Ali translations. :D This time we have Ko o Egaku Yamai, which is about... death by hanging. Again. O.o It has a really cool sound though, especially the haunting, plinky instrumentation in the intro. As for the title, it was kinda hard to put into English... once again it's one of those things that's better understood as a concept than words. "Ko o egaku" means to draw/trace/follow the path of an arc, and "yamai" is like, disease... and the song is about the things that go through one's mind as one is hanging by a rope around one's neck and helplessly swaying back and forth. I'm pretty sure that swaying motion is what the "arcing" part represents. Hopefully that gives you a more clear understanding of the title. Anyway, here you go... enjoy! SUICIDE ALI - KO O EGAKU YAMAI (ARCING SYNDROME) Chinurareta te to shijima ni tsurareta karada Yurasu yurasu Deguchi no kieta usugurai hako no naka de Omou omou Kizukarezu... Awaku yuragu kono inochi o nagame Kako o furikaeru dake de Bokura wa itsumo nejireta shikai o mae ni Hitori hitori Kizukarezu... Awaku yuragu kono inochi o idaki Ayumu hodo yowaku naru Mukanjou na kabe ni (nando mo) tsume o tate Furioroshite mita kedo Nukedasenai Nani mo todokanai Nani mo kotaenai Tada owari dake ga mieru Tada owari dake ga mieru Boku wa iranai mono Motomerarenai mono Sasayaka ni yurete... yurete... In English: My blood-soaked hands and my hanged body Swinging, swinging Inside this dark box with no way out Thinking, thinking Never realizing... Gazing at this faintly wavering life I am merely looking back at the past The view before us is always warped Alone, alone Never realizing... Embracing this faintly wavering life I grow weaker the further I walk Clawing at the emotionless wall (over and over) I tried to let myself down, but I can't escape I can't reach anything I can't find the answer All I can see is the end All I can see is the end I am not needed I am not wanted I'm only swaying... swaying... Yay, another one out of the way! And no footnotes! :O But don't think that means this one was easy. >> As always, a couple parts had me sweating for a good while. Not the least of which being the title itself. But hey, it's done and I like how it came out. ^-^ (disclaimer: this song belongs to Suicide Ali, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 1:54 AM (0) comments The translations blog has a purpose again! *pose* So... a few months ago I was introduced to a brand new indie J-rock band called Suicide Ali. This happens to be the band that former BLOOD support guitarist, Yuu, went on to join this past summer. And they are... VERY intriguing. And VERY talented. And listening to the 5 songs they have uploaded on their official homepage, they do NOT sound like a band that had just come together mere months ago. They sound like they've been around for years... and yeah... did I mention I'm into this band? Anyway, as I said, they have 5 songs recorded and available for download on their homepage... and they also have lyrics up for all of them. So of course, I pounced all over the opportunity to translate them. >> A couple of them are probably gonna take a little more time... but one, at least, I'm finally ready to reveal. So here we have my first of 5 Suicide Ali translations - Ai Subeki Shikeidai. And if you think this one's a little... depressing, or even disturbing... just wait till I get to Favorite Song. Can we say clone of Collector? >.o But anyway... for starters, let me say "shikeidai" is an interesting word. It can represent any machine or structure used to enforce capital punishment, though I've even seen it translated as "death sentence" or "death row." But in this song, since the narrator is talking about being hanged, it refers to a hanging gallows. And I don't know any other name for a hanging gallows, so I apologize if that sounds awkward here. >> SUICIDE ALI - AI SUBEKI SHIKEIDAI (BELOVED GALLOWS) Ai Subeki Shikeidai Oh shikeidai yo kono kurai kimochi mo tsuresatte Yuugae ni muhannou na boku no kokoro o sarashite Miru mo mudan ni burasagatta Jibun no shitai o souzou shiteiru Dare ni mo uketomerarezu michibikezu Tada tada me o fusaideiru Riyuu naki bokura no tamashii wa Imada kanashimi o samayou Furuki hi no recorder o mimi ni oshitsukete Nani mo shiranai boku o urayanda Riyuu naki bokura no tamashii wa Nanika o motomete What are you thinking about in this world? Are you thinking about a future? What do you want to be? Where do you want to go? fucker!! Riyuu naki bokura no tamashii wa Imada monouge o yuku Riyuu naki bokura no tamashii no Fukai kanashimi o wakatte.... Koko ni aru kimochi sae shirazu Ienai nageki ni oboreteru Hitori de naita yoru kazoete Nanika o kowasu mae ni dare ka daite In English: Oh gallows, take away my misery Expose my heart as my stilled body glows in the sunset I am cruelly hanged Envisioning my own corpse Caught by no one, led nowhere Only... only... closing my eyes Our meaningless souls Still wander in sorrow The sound of an ancient recorder is forced into my ears They envied me, though I knew nothing [1] Our meaningless souls Are searching for something What are you thinking about in this world? Are you thinking about a future? What do you want to be? Where do you want to go? fucker!! Our meaningless souls Are still sad [2] Our meaningless souls' deep sorrow Now becomes clear.... Knowing nothing but what I feel right now I'm drowning in unspeakable agony Counting how many nights I cried alone Before I destroy something, let me embrace someone Footnotes... [1] I'm not sure exactly who he's saying envied him. Doesn't make sense for it to be the recorder. >> So I kinda took an educated guess. [2] This line drove me insane. I could not find a meaning for the word "monouge" anywhere, and I only found one or two translations of other songs that contained it, and they didn't really help. I don't see how a word containing two kanji meaning simply "thing (inanimate)" and "receive" could have anything to do with sadness, but that's what I got out of the hours and hours I spent trying to figure out that word. Blah. Anyway, there you have it. Hopefully I can get the rest of Suicide Ali's songs up here before too long... (disclaimer: this song belongs to Suicide Ali, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 have 4 years' worth of college to pay off. T_T) posted by Becky at 1:30 PM (0) comments WHY THE HECK IS THERE A MASSIVE BREAK IN BETWEEN THE TITLE AND CONTENT OF MY MOST RECENT POST??! >_< *kicks Blogger* [edit: never mind... YAY NEW TEMPLATE! *sticks tongue out at Blogger*] posted by Becky at 2:07 AM (0) comments Also, I've ditched Enetation comment hosting *kicks it* and enabled Blogger-hosted comments. So you can comment here again, and because Blogger sends notification emails, I'll actually read them within hours. :D However, comments apparently aren't enabled on some of the older posts here, so if you want to say anything about those, just email me or something. ^^; That's all. Onward to Emergence of Silence I send thee! posted by Becky at 11:06 AM (0) comments Ok, I'm cheating. Recently I became infatuated with Emergence of Silence by Schwarz Stein... but it's already been translated. However, the one translation I found was... well, not great. Some kanji were translated too literally or just plain wrong, chopping up the hauntingly erotic flow of the song... and in some places entire lines were left out. >_o Sooooo I couldn't resist attempting my own translation of this beauty. It may not necessarily be that much more correct than the original, but if you'll pardon my snoot, I do think it's better. >> So enjoy... and do check this song out! Catch me on one of my IM programs and I'll gladly send it to you... or any other song to be found in this blog, for that matter. Except the BLOOD ones. You have to buy those. >> << Anyway, here we go. SCHWARZ STEIN - EMERGENCE OF SILENCE Koboreochiru yoru no shizuku o namete Shizuka ni kuruidasu nibiiro no haguruma Tsume no saki made biyaku o hitashi [1] Jama na yubiwa o karameotoshite Ima hisoyaka ni fukashihajimeru Barairo ni fuchidotta haitoku Fukaku yoru e ochiteyuku no Shita o tokashite Nijimu shikai "kanashii kyori" o Tsuki ga terashita Maru de yume kara mezameru you ni Totsuzen ni mitsugetsu wa owari Moroi chikai o yakitsukushinagara Yuruyaka ni aketeyuku yoiyami Fukaku yoru e ochiteyuku no Shita o tokashite Nijimu shikai "kanashii kyori" o Tsuki ga terashita Toki o kizamu hari o tomete Zutto kono mama Nureta hada ni Awai kaori dake ga nokotta [1] While the kanji "ato" is written in the lyrics, the vocalist sings "saki." The two words can have the same meaning... but I don't think the "ato" used in the kanji carries the intended meaning of the sung "saki." Not sure. O_o But anyway, yeah. In English: Taste the overflowing drops of the night Silently, a dark grey gear begins to madly spin Soaked to the fingernails in an aphrodisiac Imprisoning the ring that stands in the way Now, rose-tinted immorality secretly begins to hatch Falling deeply into the night Dissolving the tongue [1] Through blurred vision, the moon shone on this "sad distance" Like awakening from a dream Suddenly the honeymoon ends While burning away the fragile vows Gently the dusk gives way to dawn [2] Falling deeply into the night Dissolving the tongue Through blurred vision, the moon shone on this "sad distance" Stop the needles that keep the pace of time [3] Just like this, forever On dampened skin Only a faint scent was left behind Good stuff, no? o.o A general note first... it was hard, but I resisted using any pronouns (I, you, my, your, our, their, etc) in this one. The Japanese lyrics are very vague in that way... there is no indication anywhere as to who is telling this story or what role or POV they have in it. Everything might refer to the narrator, the lover, both, or even an entirely different couple (kinda like Gekka no Yasoukyoku by Malice Mizer, where the narrator is watching over a couple sharing their last night together). So since the original lyrics didn't differentiate, I didn't either. You can fill in the blanks yourself. Anyway, other footnotes... [1] Yes, that's what it says. Dissolve the tongue. >.x Whose tongue and how, I am not sure... [2] The wording here confused me a little. The noun used is clearly dusk/twilight, but the verb it's coupled with means to open, dawn, or break (as in "the day breaks"). So this miiiiight be a weird way to say that dusk is just setting in - or twilight is dawning? O_o But I assumed that since the song seemed to take place in the nighttime up to this verse, it was probably about time for morning to roll around... ^^;; so yeah. [3] As in the needles of a clock. Probably obvious, but I thought I'd clarify anyway. ...My, but I love this song. *_* (disclaimer: this song belongs to the no-longer-existing Schwarz Stein, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and translation, which are actually just improved versions of those found at New Vogue Child. 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 not a student anymore, but I'm still poor. T_T) posted by Becky at 1:03 AM (0) comments More BLOOD translation news, I suppose... I've known this for a few weeks, but since Kiwamu finally made the official announcement (sort of), I'm making my own version of the announcement here for all my dear readers. The 1st and 2nd period albums that BLOOD released last year have sold out, or are about to, so Kiwamu decided to re-release them as deluxe versions. The 1st period re-release will be similar to 1st Period BEST, except it will include Collector, Tsuioku (piano version), and Mebious' Loop, and some of the demo tracks from the BEST album will be left out. The 2nd period re-release, similarly, will have the same tracks as the European version of their self-titled 2nd period album, along with a few additional demo type tracks. So basically, between the 2 original albums and these 2 re-releases, the lyrics to every 1st and 2nd period song that BLOOD ever permitted the printing of lyrics for (and then some ^^) will be easily available. In English. Because as his official translator, Kiwamu has granted me the duty of providing the translations for ALL these songs, to be printed in the booklets of the re-releases. He is aware that, though pretty much all of these songs have translations up on fansites already, not all of them are by me (Blood and Heaven for example). I made sure he knew that. >.> And he does still have Lauren's translations, which were the ones we saw printed in the European version albums released last summer. However, he feels it'd be simpler to include only my name in the lyrics booklets for the re-releases, rather than crediting 3 or 4 different people... so he asked me to send him all of them (and to check my versions against Lauren's since she knows Japanese better than me but isn't working for him anymore >>). Soooo basically, in the coming few months, every single song BLOOD has ever released from all three periods, except a small handful of demos, will have official translations by me. And I'm guessing this trend will continue for as long as I'm their translator, so any foreseeable 3rd period releases will probably also go the same way. Kinda sad that those older translations floating around by Krystal and Tsukiori and Mad Eddy and all those others who posted them won't get as much credit anymore, though... So all this means it's very unlikely that I'll ever be updating this site with BLOOD lyrics again. However, if the post below this one is any indication, I will go on translating other random Japanese songs. In fact, I have one by Okuda Tamio and one by Moriyama Naotarou sitting here on Blogger's servers as incomplete drafts waiting for me to get past some major roadblocks and post them as finished. So this blog may not be updated as frequently as it used to be... but it's not dead just yet. ^^ That's my announcement. Yeeeeah... I guess I've been BLOOD's one official translator for a couple months now. And with all the promotion they're doing for the Mexico tour in May (he asked me if I'd go there >_x *ahem*), as well as continued promotions in Europe, I'm doing looooootts more than just the members' corners every week. I'm actually busy on a regular basis now. o.o For example, right now I should be putting together the rest of these 18 sets of lyrics for the two re-releases... yes, 18 songs... that's counting the ones that are already translated but need editing, but not counting the ones that have no lyrics. Or the ones he won't release lyrics for. Yes, Kiwamu is unable to print lyrics for certain songs due to "circumstances of the artist"... even though the song was ENTIRELY written by him. *snort* But I love my job. :D Even if it pays in merchandise instead of money. >> posted by Becky at 1:33 AM (0) comments I'm back already. O.o And I happened to develop interest in this one J-rock song that I've had for a while, but didn't really think much of until I found the romaji and kanji lyrics recently. Now I'm all amused by it and wanting to see it translated. But I put it off because it's a fairly popular song by an extremely popular artist, and it's been around for several years, so I was sure SOMEone would've translated it by now. But I have dug everywhere I know to dig and I can't find a translation, so I decided to go for it. If someone else beat me to it already, I'll just take it down. *shrug* Anyway... the song is Breeding by the late hide. Had no idea what was going on in it until I found the kanji, and once I did, I was all amused and intrigued and wanting to translate it. But I've been through that already. So here are the lyrics. :P HIDE - BREEDING Zukai no naka tobimawaru Yoku nita kao nihiki no mushi wa Majiriawazu wakariaezu Boku ga tsujitsuma awasu Aka to ieba kiiro to iiharu mushi Migi to ieba higashi o sasu mushi Taekirezu warikirezu Boku wa uso o tsukidasu Egao dake ja watatte yukezu ni oni no ko ni naru Toge o kazasha itoshii omoi mo chidarake ni naru Dore dake nihiki kainarashite mo Mizu to abura heikousen wa tsuzuku Kimagure ni arawarete wa Kawarugawaru sasayaku "Ano ko ii naa... kowashite shimae" "Kizutsuku dake sa akiramechainasai" Sono koe ga kawarugawaru Atama no naka sakebu Kono karada de nihiki no mushikera sodateteiru Honto wa boku kawareteiru no ka? Breed you treat me. Mushitachi to aruite yukou Breed you treat me. Onitachi o kawashinagara Breed you treat me. Kono michi o aruite yukou Breed you treat me. Mushitashi ga kiereba boku mo kieru Hey master!! We've been inside you! Hey master!! Don't fuck with us! Hey busters!! You've been inside me! Hey busters!! Don't fuck with me! Dore dake nihiki kainarashite mo Mizu to abura heikousen wa tsuzuku Kimagure ni arawarete wa Kawarugawaru sasayaku Zukai no naka tobimawaru Boku ni niteru nihiki no mushi ga Sasayakeba sakaraezu Boku wa kawareteiru no ka? Breed you treat me. Mushitachi to aruite yukou Breed you treat me. Onitachi o kawashinagara Breed you treat me. Kono michi o aruite yukou Breed you treat me. Mushitashi ga kiereba boku mo kieru Hey master!! We've been inside you! Hey master!! Don't fuck with us! Hey busters!! You've been inside me! Hey busters!! Don't fuck with me! In English: In my skull, flying around With well matched faces, are two insects I don't mix with them, I don't understand them But I am consistent with them If I say red, the bugs insist on yellow If I say right, the bugs point east It's unbearable, we're indivisible I begin to spew lies [1] Unable to cross over with just a smile, I become a demon child Holding up the thorns, even beloved memories become all bloody [2] No matter how I try to tame the two insects It's water and oil, parallel lines that run on forever Appearing unpredictably They whisper in turn "That kid is great... break him down" "It'll only hurt you - just give up" [3] Those voices, in turn, Call out in my head Those two bugs are growing up inside my body Am I the one who's really being raised? Breed you treat me. I'll go on walking with the insects Breed you treat me. Destroying demons on the way Breed you treat me. We'll go on walking down this road Breed you treat me. If the insects disappear, I'll disappear too Hey master!! We've been inside you! Hey master!! Don't fuck with us! Hey busters!! You've been inside me! Hey busters!! Don't fuck with me! No matter how I try to tame the two insects It's water and oil, parallel lines that run on forever Appearing unpredictably They whisper in turn In my skull, flying around Well matched with me, are two insects When they whisper, I cannot defy them Am I being raised? Breed you treat me. I'll go on walking with the insects Breed you treat me. Destroying demons on the way Breed you treat me. We'll go on walking down this road Breed you treat me. If the insects disappear, I'll disappear too Hey master!! We've been inside you! Hey master!! Don't fuck with us! Hey busters!! You've been inside me! Hey busters!! Don't fuck with me! Well, that was... entertaining. :P And considerably easier than certain other hide songs I've come across... though it did have its spots. >.> So, footnotes... [1] This isn't really a footnote so much as an interesting wordplay I wanted to point out. He used a phrase that means to tell a lie with kanji overlapping a phrase that means to throw up or vomit. Hence the 'spewing lies' word choice. [2] I couldn't figure out what he meant with the word "kazasha." >_x I assumed it was some weird non-standard form of the verb kazasu, to hold/raise [something] up. Just a guess... likely wrong. [3] Once again thwarted by "kizutsuku dake." I've seen that exact same line translated in so many ways, and have seen and formulated so many theories on what that pattern might actually mean, but still I can NEVER get it to come out right. >_> Bleh... So I suppose that's it. I've translated hide. And I still need to figure out why the heck translations of his songs are so rare when he's like, one of the most loved J-rock people ever. *shrug* (disclaimer: this song belongs to hide and whoever took the rights to his music after he died... not to me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 not a student anymore, but I'm still poor. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:10 AM (0) comments *Edited Jan. 22* Change of plans! :D I just got home from Ohayocon, and while there I managed to find a copy of BLOOD's Morphine/Collector single at the Jpophouse booth. So at last I have the lyrics to Collector, the one BLOOD song that has no translation floating around on the net anywhere, including this blog until now. ^___^ *isn't saying a word about Tsuioku >>* My favorite part of Collector is the bass line during the regular verses. Wow. *_* Kaede is now easily among the most talented bassists I've ever heard. Anyway, other than that... it's an upbeat song, fairly rough and driving in some places but smooth in others. And I have no prior knowledge of the lyrics as I haven't listened to it as many times as BLOOD's other songs, and when I do listen to it I tend to sort of tune out everything but the bass line... cause wow... *has a thing for bass* But yeah... so I'm interested in seeing what's going on in this one. So here we go: BLOOD - COLLECTOR Ishiki no nai anata ni watashi wa ima naifu o tsukitateta Afurederu makka na ekitai abi kairaku kanjite Shiroi beddo akai chi de motto akaku somete Watashi wa anata o mite emi o ukabete tanoshisou ni Horumarin ni tsukerareta anata wa mou watashi no shoyuubutsu Kawaru koto no nai sugata ni sareta ima watashi ga shihaisha Karada saki atama otoshi motto motto chimidoro ni Watashi wa anata o mite emi o ukabete tanoshisou ni Ikutsu mo no bin ni tsumerareta anata o omoi Yorokobi michi afureta watashi no kokoro wa kuruihajimeteiru Kurutta watashi no nou mizukara hikisaite Kyouki ni michita kokoro Yoru no yami no you ni somaritsuzuketeiku Kurui hajimeteiru... Somaritsuzuketeiku... In English: I've pierced your unconscious body with a knife Bathing in the crimson fluid that pours out, I feel pleasure Staining the white bed with red blood I look upon you and smile joyfully You, soaked in formalin, are now my possession Now becoming a form that will never change, I am your master Body torn apart, head fallen, growing more and more bloodstained I look upon you and smile joyfully I think about you, packed away in so many bottles Pleased, full and overflowing, my heart has begun to go mad [1] Frantic, I tear apart my own brain My heart is filled with madness I'll go on staining it as dark as the night Frantic, I've begun... [2] I'll go on staining... O_o Niiiice messy song... also, blast Dai for always wording things weird! >.< [1 and 2] *takes breath* Ok... basically "kurui hajimeteiru" could potentially be read as one word or two. And Dai used different kanji for each occurrence of "hajimeteiru" here, and the kanji in [1] is more commonly used in compounds while the kanji in [2] is more often used alone. Hence I romanized them as "kuruihajimeteiru" and "kurui hajimeteiru" respectively, and translated them accordingly. And I could easily be wrong on both, because they both sound weird. >_< *shakes fist at Dai* Also, no, I'm not sure what it is he's staining in those last few verses. Himself? His little pet? The bed? Anyway... so that was a disturbing song. O.o And now that I know what Dai's actually saying in it I can tell that he's doing some really weird creepy things with his voice in it... it's like, all slimy sounding... *shivers and clings to Takeshi and Fu-ki* (EDIT: ok, my bad. I just found out that these lyrics were NOT written by Dai. They were written by... *deep breath*... Kaede! X_X;;; Whyyyy did it have to be the cute sweet lovable one??? *whimper*) (disclaimer: this song belongs to BLOOD, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 not a student anymore, but I'm still poor. T_T) posted by Becky at 7:16 PM (0) comments No lyrics today... just an announcement regarding the future of my BLOOD lyric translations... A couple posts ago I said that I would continue to translate BLOOD's lyrics as long as they did not keep up the habit of printing English translations in the original lyric sheets (thus beating me to the punch). Aaaand... I don't know how long the trend will continue, but for the next album at least (to be released next month), English translations WILL be included with the Japanese ones in the CD booklet. So, because BLOOD consumes much of my time and interest these days and I won't have their new material to put here, it may be a while before any new translations are posted in this blog. However, the official translations provided in the booklet will be done by me. So buy the album if you want to see the continuation of my translating hobby. ^_~ My translations will appear on 5 of the album's songs, including Blind and The Funeral for Humanity, both of which I will leave up here because this is kinda their birthplace and all. So expect edits. :P Heh, imagine that... just over a year ago when I started this blog, it never crossed my mind that somewhere down the road I'd be doing official translations. And as my "regular" readers should know, I'm gonna have a grand time trying to cough up English versions that aren't loaded with footnotes. XD So anyway, long story short, this blog MAY be going on hiatus for several months at least, unless I find some more non-BLOOD songs that need translating. May have to start actively seeking requests. There we go - if anyone has a J-pop, J-rock, or anime song they want translated, let me know. If I can't dig up the English, I'll pound it out and post it here for ya. That said, off I go to work on the official translations. Man, it feels weird saying that... posted by Becky at 3:25 PM (0) comments *Edited November 16* With the arrival at my doorstep of BLOOD's newest single, The Funeral for Humanity, comes a new romanization and translation by me. ^__^ Have to say, this song fits BLOOD's latest image pretty darn well... for the most part it's hard and driving (just as Fu-ki likes 'em :P), but there's also a definite gothic feel in the instrumentation, and we even get stormy sound effects (I love the thunder crash at the end). Much like Dir en Grey's "Macabre" era or Malice Mizer's "Gardenia" phase, I can see the current BLOOD songs, imagery, and costumes going down in the band's history as the "Funeral for Humanity" era. The Funeral for Humanity just defines all that BLOOD is right now. So here are the lyrics~ BLOOD - THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY Yurusarenai hazu no umiotosareta kaibutsu Hisokanaru gishiki wa kyouki to iu na no moto konya Sashidasu kami no te o furiharai maimodotta "DEATH" to "BORN" Anata ga tsukutta kono karada [1] Sonzai riyuu wa kurenakatta Mou ichido toki o modosetara Ano hi no mama towa ni nemurasete... [2] Umiotosareta kaibutsu... "DEATH" to "BORN" Anata ga tsukutta kono karada Sonzai riyuu wa kurenakatta Mou ichido toki o modosetara Ano hi no mama towa ni nemurasete... [1] Fu-ki sings "karada" instead of the written kanji, "nikutai." I think this is actually a pretty common replacement in lyrics, from what I've seen, but... eh. Both mean body, but "nikutai" has more of a sense of 'the flesh' (indicated by the "niku" part, which means meat or flesh). [2] Another common replacement (in BLOOD songs especially) - "eien" is written in the lyrics, but Fu-ki sings "towa" instead. Both mean eternity, basically. In English: Unforgivable, this monster that has been born Tonight, a secret ritual is born of madness Brushing off the hand of God that reached for me, I returned "DEATH" to "BORN" This body that you created Was not given a reason to live [1] If I can return to that time once more Let me sleep for eternity, as I was then... This monster that has been born... "DEATH" to "BORN" This body that you created Was not given a reason to live If I can return to that time once more Let me sleep for eternity, as I was then... Well, the classic vampire-esque poetry of the Japanese in this song did NOT want to carry over into English. But I tried, as usual. Hopefully I'll come back to it later and find ways to make it better, like I usually do... anyway, footnote... [1] If I didn't care about the original structure of the song, I would have reorganized these two lines into something more like "you didn't give this body you've created a reason to live." But that would be hard to separate into two lines as it is in Japanese, and I didn't want to change the original feel any more than I had to. Also, that word "tsukutta" just about drove me nuts. Sore mo kogo, Kiwamu-san? >_>;; (disclaimer: this song belongs to BLOOD, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 not a student anymore, but I'm still poor. T_T) posted by Becky at 2:32 PM (0) comments *Edited October 1* Some news: with the newly released BLOOD album, BLOOD: European ver., there is an insert which includes not only the lyrics to all the songs on the album, but also Kiwamu's (I assume... maybe Fu-ki's? he knows English) translations to all those songs. And since this album has pretty much the same tracks that BLOOD: International (the one I own) has, that means all the translations I did for that album have just been rendered null and void. Same goes for the newly released single BLIND: European ver. - I own the older, domestic version of the single. This means that the following songs translated by me and posted on this blog have been rendered null and void: Byakuya Oboro Prayer Heaven Sakura BLIND #01 ...and also Mitsu, the poem included in the BLIND single(s). I thought #01 would be safe, since a different version of it was included on the European version and it didn't have that English line, but having just received said European CD today, I see I was wrong. Soooo, those eight entries in this blog were ultimately a waste. XD S'all good. I had fun doing them, I learned a lot, and I was quite amused to see just how similar his versions were to mine. Between all of those songs, only a few minor points were different in anything beyond just word choice or sentence structure. That means I didn't screw them up too bad. :D My favorite was BLOOD's translation of my favorite line in Prayer: "Can your frozen wings no longer fly?" Cause my version, from months before, was "Can those frozen wings no longer fly?" And there were no words in the original line AT ALL for "no longer" or "anymore" or anything like that. We both picked the same figurative translation. I'd almost think he 'borrowed' my translation and just changed one word (which, by the way, was 'sono' - which more literally means those, not your XD). *snicker* So yeah... just thought I'd announce that. But fear not - unless BLOOD starts including English translations with ALL the albums they release from now on, I'll continue to translate their songs. And if they do end up doing that, there's still plenty of other J-music out there that could use translating. That said, continue scrolling down and enjoy my translation of 2nd period BLOOD's demo-only song, With You. ^_^v posted by Becky at 1:54 AM (0) comments *Last edited January 22* Thanks to -jade-, I now claim ownership of the two 2nd period BLOOD demo tapes, Kuroki Chi no Zensoukyoku and Hyakuoku no Hikari to Senoku no Kage. Roughly translated, respectively, Black Blood Prelude and Ten Billion Lights and One Hundred Billion Shadows. And they made my day. ^__^ Kuroki Chi has 3 tracks, first of which being a demo version of Byakuya. I've already translated that one, but I now know why the lyrics sheet says the last line of the song is "kimi dake o itsumademo hanasanai" - that's the demo version. The complete version, which I translated months ago, just says "kimi dake o hanasanai." Yeah, I like when things finally become clear. :P The other 2 tracks are a demo version of Sweetest Disease, which is in English, and a short instrumental track called Rebirth. Hyakuoku no Hikari also has 3 tracks - one is the demo version of Death Dies, which is in English, and another is Blame, a very interesting track which Kiwamu didn't give us lyrics for... once again, due to "circumstances of the artist." So that leaves me with one track to translate, and it's called With You. Kinda surprising song... the sound is a little more upbeat than the BLOOD stuff I'm used to, not just in terms of tempo but also in mood. It's almost cheerful. He even talks about a light of hope. O_o So yeah, it's different... fun to listen to though, and I look forward to figuring out how to sing along with it. :3 So here comes the romanization: BLOOD - WITH YOU Oozora ni maiagaru tori no you ni Futari no omoi wa hitotsu ni naru Ima wa tada sono egao mite itai dake dakara... Kasuka na toki ni mi o yudane hashiritsuzukete kita kiseki Tomadoi nayami kurushinde tsukamitotta good luck to my self Wazuka na kakuritsu no naka de omae to deaeta kiseki Shizuka ni kawasu kiss no ato yokome ni utsutta namida Kokoro no oku no mirai wa subete tozasarete iru wake ja nai! Koko kara hajimereba ii! kibou no hikari ga mieru sa Kono mune ni kizanda omoi no you ni Tada tsuyoku omae o dakishimetai... Omoi no mama kaze o kanji hikari no naka e with you... Kokoro no oku no mirai wa subete tozasareteru wake ja nai! Koko kara hajimereba ii! kibou no hikari ga mieru sa! Kono mune ni kizanda omoi no you ni... Tada tsuyoku omae o dakishimetai! Omoi no mama kaze o kanji hikari no naka e with you... Oozora ni maiagare tori no you ni Futari no omoi wa hitotsu ni nareru sa! kanjiaeru! Ima wa tada sono egao mite itai dake dakara... In English: Like a bird soaring into the heavens, Your feelings and mine will become one Because, right now, I only want to see your smiling face... In times of weakness, I committed my body to this path I've kept running along When I lost my way, felt worried, felt tormented, I took you by the hand [1] good luck to my self In the slightest of odds, the miracle by which I met you In the silence after we kissed, a sidelong glance reflected your tears [2] It's not as if the future in my innermost heart is completely closed! If only we could start here! I can see the light of hope Like these feelings carved into my heart I just want to hold you, so tight... With these thoughts unchanging, feeling the wind, into the light with you... It's not as if the future in my innermost heart is completely closed! If only we could start here! I can see the light of hope! Like these feelings carved into my heart... I just want to hold you, so tight! With these thoughts unchanging, feeling the wind, into the light with you... Soar into the heavens, like a bird Your feelings and mine will become one! you'll see! [3] Because, right now, I only want to see your smiling face... See?? It's optomistic! *snicker*... sorry, I'm fascinated. :P This really is a fun song, as you can probably tell from the lyrics. Which, as usual, were a pain to put into English. >_> Why can't Japanese be the universal language?? Anyway... [1] He doesn't actually say what he grabbed/took hold of. I had to assume. Also, I wanted to point out that in the Japanese, the first words of these three stanzas rhyme - kasuka, wazuka, shizuka. That's why I started those three lines with a prepositional phrase using 'in' - to keep that rhyming sense. [2] You know how sometimes you can see black/white contrasts and stuff more clearly out of the corners of your eyes instead of when looking directly at something, especially when it's dark? Something about rod and/or cone positions in the human eye... it's why you sometimes see whitish glows and stuff in the black of night out of the corners of your eyes, but when you look right toward the glow's source, all you see is black. Creepy. Anyway, I think that's the intended meaning of this verse - after a kiss exchanged, when their faces were still kind of sidelong to each other, he saw her tears glinting through the corners of his eyes. But looking right at her, he couldn't see them. I think. I could be wrong. But I like the sound of it. :P [3] Not entirely sure about this. I think 'kanjiaeru' means to come in contact or meet with with a feeling... but the 'aeru' part of it might mean both the people involved with do so at the same time. So I figure he's predicting that they'll both understand soon enough, hence "you'll see." I could be wrong. >.> And as usual, I won't call this a finished product just yet. I'm very likely to come back later and find something that bugs me. But anyway, there you have it. (disclaimer: this song belongs to BLOOD, not me. I only take credit for the romanization and 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 not a student anymore, but I'm still poor. T_T) posted by Becky at 5:08 PM (0) comments I'm bad. I need to be working on finishing my BLIND and Tsuioku ~I Remember You~ translations, I need to translate the newly posted members' corners at BLOOD's site, I need to translate a very long email, I need to fill out thank you cards from my graduation and accompanying party... ...but instead I'm going to try my hand at translating Mitsu, the brief poem included in the regular edition of the BLIND single. The one thing on my list of things to do that's the least urgent. :P But I'm dying to see what Fu-ki's saying in it. Already, though, I can tell that it's pretty similar to the story told in the BLINDlyrics, with maybe some of the new Morphine [Trans Mix] thrown in too... which is cool with me, because I love both those songs. ^^ So, let's see how it goes. Romaji first, then English, as always. MITSU Katsute yasuragi o ataeta sono "mitsu" wa Ima karamitsuku kage to nari Kimi no kioku sae mo kiete iku Otozureta kuuhaku no naka de... In English: That "nectar" which once gave me peace [1] Now becomes the shadow that coils around me Even my memories of you disappear Within the visiting empty void... I was right, it's BLIND in a convenient travel size. ^.^ I only had one problem with it... [1] The word "mitsu" can be translated in a few different ways; among these are honey, nectar, and syrup. Another that I found is treacle, which can be 1) a medical syrup used to treat poisons, 2) a type of molasses-based syrup, or 3) anything that's heavily sweet (such as a voice). So basically, "mitsu" refers to any sweet, thick, syrupy substance. I have no idea how Fu-ki intended for it to be translated, nor do I know why he decided to put it in quotations. It's probably supposed to be an analogy for... someone's love, maybe. Something that gave him peace at one time, but that is now engulfing him, blinding him. I should just leave the "mitsu" part in romaji in my translation. Because the imagery is there - thick, sweet syrup that once nourished but now ensnares - but capturing it in just one word, like honey or nectar, just doesn't work. T_T Anyway... now I love this little poem. And I seem to recall that the European version of the BLIND single contains a poem called Mitsu as well, but with different words. I can't wait to get it~ (disclaimer: this poem belongs to BLOOD (specifically Fu-ki), not me. I only claim credit for the romanization and translation. Insert rest of standard disclaimer here. >.>) posted by Becky at 9:36 AM (0) comments |
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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! | |
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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!
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