浮舟

17May10

“Adrift” 
performed by GO!GO!7188

春の匂いも芽吹く花も
立ちすくむあたしに君を連れてはこない

Haru no niyoi mo mebuku hana mo
Tachisukumu atashi ni kimi wo  tsurete ha konai

Not the scent of spring, no flowers blooming
Will lead you to where I am 

夏が来る頃は明け方の雨
静かに寄り添って　かけら拾い集める

秋が過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

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
ただ染みついて消えないのは煙草の匂い

»»君を待つ日々は足りない　切ない　鳴り止まない
不協和音が響き合って
それがあたしの枯れない　溶けない　鳴り止まない
孤独の唄　来(らい)来来…※

かすかな別れを漂わすこともなく

足音は突然　絶切れた
あぁ悲しくも美しき白い冬

会えるものならば他に何も望まない
降り積もるは　あの日も雪

君を待つ日々は足りない　切ない　鳴り止まない
不協和音が響き合って
それはあたしの枯れない　溶けない　鳴り止まない
孤独の唄　来(らい)来来…孤独の唄　来来来

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Ukefune

Natsu ga kuru koro ha akegata no ame
Shizuka ni yorisette kakera hiroiatsumeru

Aki ga sugitara kitto atashi ha
Nobita kuroi kami wo kiriotoshite shimau

Itoshii hito yo hanare kao nante mikka mo suriyasugu ni wasurete shimatta
Tada  shimitsuite kenai no ha tabako niyoi

Kimi wo matsu hibi ha tarinai kirinai nari yamanai
Fukyouwaon ga hibikiatte
Sore ga atashi no karenai tokenai nari yamanai
Kodoku uta rai rai rarai rai… 

Kasukana hakare wo hyouwasuku tomonaku

Ashioto ha totsuzen kireta
Aa kanashikumo utsukushiki shiroi fuyuu

Aeru mono naraba hoka ni nani mo nozomanai
Furitsummoru ha ano hi mo yuki

Kimi wo matsu hibi ha  tarinai kirinai nari yamanai
Fukyouwaon ga hibikiatte
Sore ga atashi no karenai tokenai nari yamanai
Kodoku uta rai rai rarai rai… 

———————————————

Adrift¹

Summer dawns with morning rains²
I quietly gather the fragments 

Autumn passes with me cutting
Off my now-long hair 

They say in three days you forget the face
of the one who left you yet³
 The smell of your cigarettes is a burn⁴
in my memory. 
 

»»How these days of waiting 
Strain me on
Pain me on
Keep me crawling on
It’s the white noise rippling in my head that⁵
Doesn’t dry
Doesn’t die
has no true reply⁶
And carries on and on and on… 

 Your uncertain goodbye has left me adrift 

Abrupt footfalls bring
The sudden pallor of
A bittersweet, bruised winter

There is nothing for me now but what could be,
if we meet,
possibility
The days still gather thick as snow⁷

(repeat »»)

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TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

¹ 浮舟 literally means “floating boat”. I didn’t like how literal that would have sounded (the Japanese having a very visual language, the image-metaphor link is directly established), so decided to appropriate an English equivalent that would convey the idea faster without being awkward. 

² The image overall is the irony of dawn rain on summer, and the persona ‘huddling to gather’ the pieces (of rain). 

³ Literally translated, “The face  of the loved one that you let go can be forgotten in a span of 3 days.” Sounded so flat and awkward, and I wanted to change the words a bit to emphasize the persona’s dependence on the ‘you’ character, as well as the unfairness of the situation she was put in. 

⁴ Literally translated, “But the deep stain that won’t be erased from my memory is the smell of your cigarettes.” ‘Stain’ and ‘burning cigarettes’ don’t sound so congruent in English. I settled for “burn”, as in burn marks a live stick makes when pressed onto skin. 

⁵ Condensed two lines into one: “不協和音が響き合って/それがあたしの枯れない/溶けない/鳴り止まない” which literally is “The discordant sound keeps reverberating/ This is my undying/ unmelting/ ringing hymn”. The “discordant note” is actually the “days of waiting”, and its reverberating quality bothers and torments the persona, who ironically remarks that it has become her song, to which nobody is singing it back to her (i.e., nobody is waiting for her/ making his way back to her).

⁶ 枯れない/溶けない/鳴り止まない » “undying” (doesn’t die), “unmelting” (doesn’t dry—wanted to connect this to the image of rain and water that’s been established earlier via the verse “summer” and later via “adrift” and “snow”), “unending ringing” (as of a phone; thus, no reply). 

⁷ Literally, “If there were only a chance we could meet, there is nothing else I would look to/ Days and snow gather.”

Also, here’s a secret: I was singing the English version in my head to make sure it was at least singable  

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PERSONAL NOTES: 

» I LOVE this song, I really do. I’m head over heels for it, always have been, except that today my brain needed to take a smoke as it were, and translating something that’s been playing over and over in my head is one way of doing it for me. Yumi is my IDOL, and one day I will be like her. I should get Kurenai back and practice a bit. Even my harmonica playing has seen better days.

I want those days back!

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