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

———————————————

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 »»)

———————————————

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  

———————————————

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!

performed by 9mm Parabellum Bullet
(video here » ) 

まるでホラー映画のヒロインみたいに
君が近付けばそこに不運は舞い込んでくる
顔よりデカいティアドロップのサングラスは
涙だけじゃなく治す気もない不眠症も隠してんだろ

maru de HORAA eiga no HEROIN mitai ni
kimi ga chikazukeba soko ni fuun ha maikondekuru
kao yori dekai TEADOROPPU no SANGARSU ha
namida dake janaku onasu ki mo nai fuminshou mo kakushitendaro

You bring bad luck with you, girl wherever you go
Like some horror-flick heroine  
And you’ve not been crying, no, you’re hiding
Evidence of sleepless nights behind tear-shaped glasses 

You’re Vampiregirl
夜明けまで　踊るのさ
アタマからっぽにしな

闇に浮かぶ輝きがひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ、よっつ
それは2つの牙と2つの眼
そんな物騒なもの早く隠したほうがいい
お前だってとっくに神の十字架に縛られてんだ

You’re Vampiregirl
夜明けまで　まだあるぜ
おれをからっぽにしな

悪夢まがいの現実の中で
夢を見られるなら

You’re Vampiregirl　すべて
You’re Vampiregirl　差し出して
You’re Vampiregirl　かまわない

You’re Vampiregirl
夜明けまで　まだあるぜ
おれをからっぽにしな

You’re Vampiregirl
夜明けまで　踊るのさ
アタマからっぽにしな

悪夢まがいの現実の中で
夢見続けるのさ

You’re Vampiregirl　すべて
You’re Vampiregirl　差し出しな
You’re Vampiregirl　お前も

—————————–

ROMAJI

maru de HORAA eiga no HEROIN mitai ni
kimi ga chikazukeba soko ni fuun ha maikondekuru
kao yori dekai TEADOROPPU no SANGARSU ha
namida dake janaku onasu ki mo nai fuminshou mo kakushitendaro

You’re Vampiregirl
yoake made odoru no sa
atama karapponi shita

yami ni ukabu kagayaki ga hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, yottsu
sore ha futatsu no kiba to futatsu no me
sonna  bussou na mono hayaku kakushita hou ga ii
omae datte tokku ni kami no juujika ni shibararetenda

† You’re Vampiregirl
yoake made mada aru ze
ore wo karapponi shita

Akumu magai no genjitsu no naka de
Yume wo mirareru nara

You’re Vampiregirl, subete
You’re Vampiregirl  sashidashite
You’re Vampiregirl kamawanai

(repeat † )

Akumu magai no genjutsu no naka de
Yumemi tsuzukeru no sa

You’re Vampiregirl　subete
You’re Vampiregirl　sashidashi na
You’re Vampiregirl　omae mo

———————————————

VAMPIRE GIRL

You bring bad luck with you, girl wherever you go
Like some horror-flick heroine  
And you’ve not been crying, no, you’re hiding
Evidences of your sleepless nights behind tear-shaped glasses 

You’re Vampiregirl
Sucking my head dry
until morning 

Two eyes, two fangs flashing once, twice,
three times in the darkness
You better put those dangerous things away, girl
Even you ought to be bound by the cross sometime 

† You’re Vampiregirl
Still here until dawn
Emptying me out 

It’s like a dream inside this
Nightmare of a reality 

You’re Vampiregirl,  without a doubt
You’re Vampiregirl, come on out
You’re Vampiregirl, and that’s all right 

(repeat † )

It’s like an eternal dream in this
Nightmare of a reality

You’re Vampiregirl, in everything
You’re Vampiregirl, I give in
You’re Vampiregirl,  come on out

==========================

NOTES:

» I’m not a big fan of very literal translations, so I took the liberty of making the overall English sound fluid. Some partial changes: 

• かまわない » lit., “no problem” (which would make it You’re Vampiregirl, no problem)
• 治す気もない不眠症 » lit., “an incurable insomnia”
• 差し出して » lit., “present yourself” (i.e. ladlad is the closest variant in 感じ)
• アタマ／オレをからっぽにした » lit., “making it empty”, so I decided to go along w/ the vampire theme and just use “sucking me dry” since it’s hardcore that way  
• the last 差し出しな » I used “I give in” not in the 負けない sense (giving-up) but more in the “I submit myself” sense, or to turn yourself over to a higher authority.  

==========================

Performed by: 9mm Parabellum Bullet
Translated by: 火

蝉の声を聞く度に　目に浮かぶ九十九里浜
皺々の祖母の手を離れ　独りで訪れた歓楽街

Cicada songs❶ call me back to Kujuukuri❷ beach
I break free of my wrinkled grandmother’s hand
and enter the pleasure quarters alone.
semi❶ no koe wo kiku tabi ni, me ni ukabe kujuukurihama❷
Shimajima no obaa no te wo hanare hitori de otoreta kanrakugai

ママは此処の女王様　生き写しの様なあたし
誰しもが手を伸べて　子供ながらに魅せられた歓楽街

Mama❸ ruled this place; I was her lifelike incarnation
The child everyone lured into the bewitching pleasure quarters
mama❸ wa koko no jo-ou-sama, ikiutsuhi no sama na atashi
dareshimo ga te wo nobete  kodomo nagara ni bakaserareta kanrakugai

15に成ったあたしを　置いて女王は消えた
毎週金曜日に来ていた男と暮らすのだろう

The queen left me when I was fifteen
Disappeared with the man who came to call every Friday
juugo ni natta atashi wo  naoite joou ha kieta
maishuu kinyoubi ni kiteita otoko to kurasu no darou

「一度栄えし者でも必ずや衰えゆく」➍
その意味を知る時を迎え足を踏み入れたは歓楽街

“Things of glory do decline.”➍
Such words find me meaning as I walk into the pleasure quarters
“ichido sakashi mono demo kanarazuya otoroe yuku”➍
sono imi wo shiru toki wo mukae ashi wo fumi ireta ha kanrakugai

消えて行った女を憎めど夏は今
女王と云う肩書きを誇らしげに掲げる

I hate the woman who disappeared on me
But I will proudly carry her title this summer
kieteitta onna wo nikumedo natsu ha ima
joou to iu katagaki wo hokorashige ni kakageru

女に成ったあたしが売るのは自分だけで
同情を欲した時に全てを失うだろう

I’m only selling myself, as I grow to be a woman➎
Hoping for solace means risking everything else
onna ni natta➎ atashi ga uru no ha jibun dake de
doujou wo horishita toki ni subete wo ushinau darou

JR新宿駅の東口を出たら
其処はあたしの庭　大遊戯場歌舞伎町

Leave Shinjuku station through the eastern exit and there it is:
My garden, my courtyard, the great playground of Kabukichou
JR Shinjuku eki no higashi guchi wo detara
Soko ha atashi no niwa, daiyuugibajou Kabukichou

今夜からは此の町で娘➏のあたしが女王

This daughter➏  starts her reign tonight.
Konya kara ha kono machi de musume➏ no atashi ga joou

=========================================

NOTE:

① Cicada song • semi no koe » As a metaphor, cicadas tend to signify indifference, and shedding; thus she ‘sheds’ her grandmother in the next line (the graphic ‘shimajima‘, ‘wrinkled and dried’, hints at moulted skin), which could also stand in for her security. One recalls Genji when he describes his young lover as a cicada shedding her shawl to meet him. Cicadas are also visual cues for summer (which is stated outright in the following passages).

② Kujuukuri beach » A famous beach in the Chiba prefecture. Worth noting that real Kabuki actors perform here occasionally. Shiina is employing a favourite device in Japanese poetry; the juxtaposition of two seemingly jarring themes, which are nonetheless correlated in a shared image-feel (kanji), or a pun-sequence (in this case both; taking it as a pun, the sound of ‘semen’ reminds her of ‘Kabuki-cho’). Another thing worth noting is that the “water business” is also an euphemism for the sex trade.

③ ママ » The use of “mama” implies the affectionate relationship and closeness the persona has with her forerunner, but it is also the shortened form of ‘mama-san’, (especially since it is written in the katakana glyph) the head courtesan of a ‘house’, if not the owner. Thus the ‘queen’ is not necessarily of blood relation to the girl, as is commonly perceived.

④ ichido sakashi mono demo… • “Even things of…” » Very literally, “all glorious things that rise must also fall,” in reference to the former queen’s “kingdom”

➄ 女に成った • grow into a woman » in Japanese, a euphemism for losing one’s virginity. As 女 (on-na) is the crudest form of sexual reference to a woman, I suppose it is defined precisely by the moment she comes into contact, or is exposed to male penetration. Conversely, it is the same as when the expression “男に成った” is applied to a man. A different nuance if 「女性に成る」were to be used (jo-sei being the most formal, most polite, and generally acceptable inclusive term for ‘woman’), as the latter would imply that a young girl has acquired the graces and the discipline elder women are expected to have.

➅ 娘のあたし • musume no atashi » literally, “From tonight henceforward, in this town, she who was once the daughter/ young girl shall now be the queen.” Musume means both ‘daughter’ (blood relative) and ‘young lady’, the equivalent of which in English we say, “my child”. In Beach language, “inday”.

Lastly, Kabukicho [»]. Scary to go at night, especially when you’re alone. Well, you brave it to get to the good gig places, but STILL.

===============================

Performed by　椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo)
Translated by　火

実は会社に、２００８年のキャンペーインを統べることのために、こんなぐらいを作ってしまったのに、「自分の意見」じゃなくて働きのローグなどをポストしてしまったこと。

「新しいブローグを作れば、何の訳で作るのか？」や「どんな人々にこの言葉を見せさせるのか？」こういう考えした。今日本語で書いていたし、まぁ、そういう探してる目的を見つけられるかもしれない。

(M.O.)