29 January 2013

lyrics translation. 'Parade' by Susumu Hirasawa ~ is it translatable at all?

upd 16.03.16:
some mistakes corrected

Of course I know this song because of 'Paprika' - a movie which is one of a kind, unique and oh, RIP Satoshi-sama
Since the lyrics are absolutely impossible to hear throughout most of this song, I was rescued by animelyrics. However, translating was no less difficult. The first problem - phrases used here do not make a line of complete sentences which makes it difficult to read. Secondly, some words have different meanings and 'tis hard to guess what is implied. The favourite moment of mine is the 'kakenedo' word - an old-Japanese beautiful... hurdle. My 'grammar cyclopedia' does not provide any info for '-nedo' ending and my knowledge is too shallow. I used an article explaining a phrase つゆ忘るるにはあらねど here - thanks to the fact that on Weblio one can read every word and its ending explained in terms of grammar, I was able to draw an analogy with the word in the lyrics.
Therefore! my translation this time is only an attempt, only a guess. Still, I hope 'tis useful
Japanese

胸にエナジー ケミカルの泡立ち
ハイヤーや古(ふる)タイヤや血や肉の通りを行(ゆ)き
あれがリバティー ユートピアのパロディー
バイヤーやギガ・ムービーの絢爛の並木は晴れ

マイナーな欝は戯言(ざれごと) バラ色は廉価
いわく幸せと知れ 持ちきれぬほど

瀕死のリテラシー メカニカルに殺す
売人や吊るワイヤーやホルムアルデヒドの通り
乾くシナジー 合成スイートで湿し
高層のメガ神殿に狂乱のファンドの雨

「蒙昧」の文字は書けねど 未来は廉価
なべて迷信と笑え 因果のストーリー

さあ 異臭を放ち来る キミの影を喰い
恐怖のパレードが来る キミの名の下(もと)に

轟音のMC シビリアンには致死量
廃人や売るダイアや血に堕ちた道理の通り
あれがリバティー ユートピアのパロディー
頼みはSSRI さて流行のテラスでハイホー

マイナーな説はたわごと 享楽は廉価
努々省みるな 手遅れゆえ

さあ 異臭を放ち来る キミの影を喰い
恐怖のパレードが来る キミの名の下に
さあ 地を埋めつくすほど キミの影が産む
狂気のパレードが来る キミの名の下(もと)に


Translation

Energy in the heart, chemical foam,
I walk through a street of hired cars, old tyres, blood and meet
This is liberty, a parody on utopia
Gorgeous rows of trees [on the avenue of] buyers and Giga Movies, it’s a sunny day

Minor depressions are pranks, rose colour is low priced,
Therefore, rejoice – to the extent you can hardly bear

Dying literacy – we kill it mechanically
A street of traders, hanging wires and formaldehyde
Drying synergy – we moisten it with synthetic sweetness
In the mega-temple of skyscrapers a frenzy rain of funds falls

I cannot write the word ‘ignorance’, but the future is low-priced
Laugh that this is in general a superstition. A story of karma

See, giving an off-smell, eating your shadow
A parade of fear is coming, under your name

An MC of roar – it’s a lethal dose for a civilian
A street of the disabled, diamonds for sell and reason fallen into blood
This is liberty, a parody on utopia
What I ask for is SSRI. And now, hi-ho on the terrace of vogue

Minor theories are nonsense, pleasure is low-priced
On no account you should reflect, for it is too late

See, giving an off-smell, eating your shadow
A parade of fear is coming, under your name
See, it can cover everything around, your shadow produces it –
The parade of insanity is coming, under your name
_____
translator's notes
  1. while searching for some words, I stumbled upon a blog where a person stated he (she?) thinks that exactly in the peaceful world one's heart can be in pain. probably this means that living in a modern welfare state can be not as great as it seems. this is only a personal opinion, but I cannot disagree that the lyrics imply something like that
  2. some of the comparisons are really vivid, such as 'skyscraper' and 'temple'. others are not. I believe that 'rose colour' in the first verse means a bright future - or at least the ability to see it as such, as the following two verses have 'future' and 'pleasure' in similar contexts
  3. I might be wrong but the line 'I cannot write the word 'ignorance'' may have two meanings here. not only 'ignorance' itself is important, but maybe also the fact that in Japanese the kanji for 'ignorance' - 蒙昧 - are difficult and not all people know them. well this is my speculation not yet proven by anything except the fact that my kanji dictionary tells me both kanji are rarely used
  4. SSRI is an antidepressant. speaks for itself
  5. not only 'kakenedo' sounds obsolete, but also the phrase 'on no account you should reflect for it is too late' is written unlike how they say it in oral everyday speech. I love it
  6. and I also love it how every second phrase in each verse has a lot of 'ya' sounds, as they give a special feeling to the lyrics
  7. and I also love that a lot of loan words are used. this is not a coincidence
  8. 'Giga movies' must mean the adult videos produced by a company called Giga, if I am not mistaken. At least this is what a simple Google search told me. Search for any details at your own risk, it is 18+ in Japan and seems to be 21+ in other countries.

7 comments:

  1. Is there anyway to know what does the background voice say? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRq0S_0FjkE

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    Replies
    1. Like I mentioned in another post, the vocal in the beginning seems to be a reversed part of his 'Nurse Cafe'. I'm sorry I cannot tell you more because I've lost the link to the website where this fact was described.

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    2. I wa pretty sure, it was Russian language, not reversed Japanese xD

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  2. It does sound very Eastern European I would be interested to know what they mean too. I love that you took the time to translate the lyrics though very insightful fell in love with this song

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I'm glad to hear it. If you're speaking about the background voice, I really think that the version that it's a reversed part from his another song, is correct.

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  3. Thanks for the translation. A bit different from the other translation I've seen, nice opportunity to reflect again on the meaning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you are very welcome, thank you. I reread my translation and it looks valid to me now, in 2019, as well :)

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