Saturday, March 31, 2012

微熱少年 ー 鈴木茂

Kid with a Fever - Shigeru Suzuki

On a rainy afternoon I take my temperature
The grain of the ceiling's wood slowly sways and dissolves
A kid in a baseball cap taps on the window glass
A marble shattered by a rock scatters across the sky [1]
Hey, that can't be real
A streetcar floats towards the Milky Way

The sound of a distant train echoes from alley to alley
If I wake up, night has snuck up on the empty room
Hey, that can't be real
A street card floats towards the Milky Way

Notes:

[1] The grammar, esp the は, is pretty mysterious to me, but the meaning seems clear somehow?

八月の匂い ー 鈴木茂

Here's the second one off that same album (Band Wagon).

Scent of August - Shigeru Suzuki

Standing at a country trains station, chillin' in the shadows [1]
I watch as you finish off your Ramune
"Futile, huh" The nape of "Lonely, huh" your neck [2]
"Cool, huh" runs in a "Futile, huh" straight line
"Lonely, huh" Cold sweat
You press the empty blue Ramune bottle against your sunburned skin [3]
You laugh, "Ah, it's cold!"

Basking in the fading sunlight, I would be able to see your swaying chest
from fifty miles away [4]
"Futile, huh" My left "Lonely, huh" pinky
"Cool, huh" hurts "Futile, huh" Your
"Lonely, huh" teeth marks

In a scuffed up passenger car, if you sit down and let yourself go
the electric current between colliding knees [5]
"Futile, huh" Caught up in"Lonely, huh" the scenery
"Cool, huh" flying by
"Futile, huh" Our two "Lonely, huh" smiles
"Cool, huh" fade [6]

Notes:

[1] Not literally "chillin'" obviously, but it seemed to fit the context...?
[2] Don't know what other nape that would be. Also translated ね to 'huh' since I thought it fit and should be different than the word without the ね.
[3] At first I thought she was doing it to him, but in the second verse he does not seem to be close to her...
[4] Not sure if I got this right and not sure how to go about 'looking up' the grammar involved.
[5] There are other words you could use, but I kind of like the drama of 'colliding' with the drama of 'electric current.'
[6] Smiles don't 'crumble' in English, do they?

砂の女 ー 鈴木茂

Been listening to hella Shigeru Suzuki lately. This song always puts me on another planet.

Woman of the Sand - Shigeru Suzuki

The snow mingling with the wind falls on the beach
The waves roar like thunder [1]
"It's the landscape you like." You... [2]
whisper that and avert your eyes as if you're lonely
Quit fooling' around

Following your careless glance
I'm so irritated, caught in a vortex
"If you have something to say, hurry up." You…
murmur that and your look hardens
Quit fooling' around

I'm tormented by grains of sand like needles
I hold you to protect you and we go back to the city [3]

Notes:

[1] Literally "lightning" but lightning doesn't roar, so.
[2] Quotes are placed as I interpreted...uh.
[3] Not sure I'm satisfied with this line, but

Monday, March 19, 2012

SHOW - シュガーベイブ

Here's a quick translation of the lyrics to this groovy good mood song :) Japanese.

SHOW - SUGARBABE

When you get tired of the talking
someone starts to sing
The shine of neon
It's the beginning of a wonderful show

I'll take you out on the town [1]
I'll whisper love in your ear
I've got time
I'm in the highest of spirits
Let's start singing
the ease of the moment [2]


Notes

[1] Was not sure what to make of volitional in this case.
[2] 安らぎ is kind of a pain. I don't think peace or tranquility nail the happy feeling of running around a city with neon lights 'n seeing a show? Not that 'ease' is quite it either, but...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

今日はなんだか - シュガーベイブ

Pretty sure I'll just be putting this on repeat for the rest of the day, haha. Japanese here.



Today, Somehow - SUGAR BABE [1]

Somehow today I have the feeling
even though you're far away [2]
I can hear your voice

Cuz somehow today
the morning fragrance [3]
smells a little better

At that moment your heart
got through to me
Wanna confide it? [4]
This helpless feeling [5]

Somehow today I have the feeling
that your heart
opened up a little bit

Note:

[1] Could hem and haw all day over how to translate なんだか but I think this way works?
[2] Added the "even though" because that's how it would be in English and they did that weird adjective with personal pronoun thing that we only do super rarely in English...
[3] I think I wrote this 16 ways and then got sick of it. Seems ok? "Aroma" was wonky. I tried a few times with "scent" but I wanted to use "smelled" even there wasn't literally a verb there.
[4] Trying to think of a way to say it without "shall" cuz that just doesn't sound fluent. I think "Wanna" works if you think of it in terms of being invited to go somewhere, but in this context it sounds like only one of the people in question feels helpless and I don't think that's the case...
[5] Kind of annoyed that I have to say "feeling" here as well, but "emotion" sounds dumb.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

君はそう決めた - 坂本慎太郎

Well I didn't know Shintaro Sakamoto had a solo album.



But now I do. This is probably the best track on it (although I want to look for lyrics to others, too.)

You Just Decided - Shintaro Sakamoto [1]

You're attempting to do something on your own
You're trying to feel pleasure, plain
You want to be in love, to fight
You woke up today and just decided
suddenly

At times you want to try to shed tears
To try to scream so loud the windows break
You want to dance, to jump
Worn out, you opened the door
and suddenly left

You live in this city Doing your homework
And getting excited about simple lies [2]
Morning comes, night comes, and morning turns into night again
Morning comes again, night comes again, morning…

You want to be in love, to fight
You woke up today, opened the door
and suddenly left

You live in this city Watching people go by
And trying to be apathetic at a critical juncture [3] [Updated]
Morning comes, night comes, and morning turns into night again
Morning comes again, night comes again, morning…

You just decided suddenly
You just decided suddenly
You just decided suddenly
You just decided suddenly

Notes:

[1] This is the official English title of the song, so I didn't mess with it. It also influenced translation where the phrase was used in the song.

[2] and [3] seem like some of the most meaningful lines in the song, I guess since they are the most unique. But they are also the hardest to translate...because so much depends on what you read into the context.

[3] was the hardest line. I don't know, but I feel like I may have finally gotten it? Or close? The particle was kind of messing me up, but...I dunno. I dunno. lol You listen to this song and then you don't know -_-

[Update] Dang so I read it wrong haha. It's not things it's a point. Sooooo. Now it makes me want to change those parts of the song to first person kind of. Ugh now it's really hard. Ugh. Ugh -_- I can't decide.