１００ワット恋人 ー 鈴木茂

THE HEARTBREAKER.

100 Watt Lover - Shigeru Suzuki

I checked out my reflection in the spring window [1]
Of course I'm wearing a nice suit
I came five minutes late on purpose
So how come you
made me wait 25 minutes?

We wanted to talk so bad
You speak fast like a machine gun
Talking about how cool Shoken is [2]
Your cheeks flush, enchanted
You see my face and remember yourself [3]

The sweater you handed me as we were parting
It turned to spring while you were knitting
Us two continue living shoulder to shoulder [4]
You're not my sunshine or anything but
you're a bright 100 watt lightbulb

Notes:

[1] This is loose, but 映ってみる is a weird phrasing kinda?
[2] This guy, which is great, cuz it's more music for me to check out.
[3] Those two lines are kind of hard...I think I got it more or less right? "Remember yourself" is sort of stuffy English phrasing, but better than "come back to yourself" or something...?
[4] そんなふたり couldn't really be anyone else and the rest of the song seemed to be in first person. I think it's just like こんな僕？ maybe? I dunno. "Shoulder to shoulder" is awkward but..."together" is not really correct or anything either so.

God this song is so good.

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