Learning Japanese through Music, Part 10: GO!GO!7188 浮舟 (Ukifune)

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This series of posts covers Japanese songs, along with their lyrics, and translations so you can make sure you learn every word.

When translating Japanese, and especially for things like subtitles which are timed, there are times when the English translation sounds more natural when the line order is switched or combined, based on how the lines are broken apart in the lyrics in Japanese and the word order, since for instance what is sometimes said at the end of the sentence would be the beginning of what’s said in the English sentence. There are also times where something doesn’t match nuance, and so what’s said is actually somewhat changed. However when going the interpretation route versus direct translation route, the translation won’t always follow the flow, and also roughly match the English translation line by line. Since this is a song, and the musical emotion is timed with the Japanese lyrics, I’ve kept it as close to the Japanese flow as possible as far as what line corresponds to the English translation. Needless to say this might sound unnatural in English or a bit like Yoda in places, but butcher the song’s flow I want not! 

For this one, let’s do: GO!GO!7188 浮舟 (Ukifune)

Japanese Lyrics:

春の匂いも芽吹く花もはるのにおいもめぶくはなも
立ちすくむあたしに君を連れてはこないたちすくむあたしにきみをつれてはこない

夏が来るころは明け方の雨なつがくるころはあけがたのあめ
静かに寄り添ってかけら拾い集めるしずかによりそってかけらひろいあつめる

秋が過ぎたらきっとあたしはあきがすぎたらきっとあたしは
のびた黒い髪を切り落としてしまうのびたくろいかみをきりおとしてしまう

愛しい人よ離れ顔なんて３日もすりゃすぐに忘れてしまったいとしいひとよはなれかおなんてみっかもすりゃすぐにわすれてしまった
ただ染みついて消えないのは煙草の匂いただしみついてきえないのはタバコのにおい

君を待つ日々は足りない切ない鳴り止まないきみをまつひびはたりないせつないなりやまない
不協和音が響き合ってふきょうわおんがひびきあって
それがあたしの枯れない溶けない鳴り止まないそれがあたしのかれないとけないなりやまない
孤独の唄　来来来…こどくのうた　らいらいらい

かすかな別れを漂わすことまなくかすかなわかれをただよわすことまなく
足音は突然途切れたあしおとはとつぜんとぎれた
あぁ悲しくも美しき白い冬あぁかなしくうつくしきしろいふゆ

会えるものならば他にも望まないあえるものならばほかにものぞまない
降り積もるはあの日も雪ふりつもるはあのひもゆき
君を待つ日々は足りない切ない鳴り止まないきみをまつひびはたりないせつないなりやまない
不協和音が響き合ってふきょうわおんがひびきあって
それはあたしの枯れない溶けない鳴り止まないそれはあたしのかれないとけないなりやまない
孤独の唄　来来来…　孤独の唄　来来来…こどくのうた　らいらいらい　こどくのうた　らいらいらい

English Translation:

Neither the smell of spring or the blooming flowers
bring you to me who’s petrified

At summer time the dawn rain
quietly cuddled close together, gather fragments

When fall passes, surely I
will end up cutting off my long black hair

Beloved person, and their parting face, after three days quickly forgotten

The days I waited for you, isn’t sufficient, is miserable, and won’t stop echoing
It reverberates an echoing dissonance
That is my lonely song of not withering, not dissolving, endless echoing (rai rai rai…)

Without letting loose a light farewell
The sound of footsteps suddenly were cut short
Ah, a sad and beautiful white winter

If we’re able to meet, I don’t wish for anything else
The snow, and that day too, is what falls and accumulates
The days I waited for you, isn’t sufficient, is miserable, and won’t stop echoing
It reverberates an echoing dissonance
And that is my lonely song of not withering, not dissolving, endless echoing