lyrics translation. 'Dhobi Ghat' by Eiko Shimamiya

This song is an unusual one for ms Shimamiya, even though she sometimes uses oriental, middle-eastern, ethnic etc. motives in her songs. Her wonderful lyrics do a good job here, too, and create not just a description of feelings but a story. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing is up to yourself to decide. As for me, I love it.

Japanese

ここがいつからチャンスとホープが与えられる国に変わったのかは
分からないけれど
少なくとも僕には関係ない　何百年何千年と
階級の呪縛は解けないまま僕らは今日もひたすらシャツを洗う
君は誰かと比べられているのかい　存在を無視されるより
ましなことなのさ
対象からさえも外されて生きるってことは流れてくるものを
全部受け止めて行くってことさ　それがどんなものでも抗えない

洗え、洗え、洗うんだ　この洗濯の山が消えることはない
生まれてから死ぬまで　この手が、この指が乾くことはない
太陽が昇り沈み　またブリキの屋根いっぱいに
干すだけのドビーガート

僕がどうして今日だけ仕事もしないで　何も食べないで
涙にくれているのか
密かに心寄せてたあの娘(こ)が街へと売られたよ
絨毯工場で働くなんて嘘っ八だ　あの娘(こ)は戻れない
ここはチャンスやホープに見限られた街　それでも歯を食い縛れ
爪に灯を点せ
死ぬ思いで貯めたその金を握って　あの娘(こ)のいる街へ
日に何十人客を取らされ空(くう)を見つめるあの娘(こ)のいる店へ

そして逃げろ、逃げるんだ　僕の手を離すな、離したら最後だ
生まれてから死ぬまで二度とは味わえない高揚感だ
追っ手の声が聞こえて、路地裏の僅かな隙間に
滑り込むドビーガート

嗤え、嗤え、嗤うんだ　これ以上下に落ちることは出来ない
だからここで洗うんだ　この洗濯の山が命を繋ぐ
かわいいあの娘(こ)とともにこのブリキの屋根に上って
月を見るドビーガート

Translation

When did this place become a land of chance and hope?
I don’t know, but
At least it has nothing to do with me – for hundreds, thousands of years
The curse of my caste does not leave me, and I just keep on washing shirts
Are you being compared to anyone? Well, rather than being ignored
It’s better to be compared
When you’re not taken into account, it means that everything that flows to you
You must accept, and you cannot resist no matter what it is

Wash, wash, I just wash… And this heap of laundry does not diminish
From birth till death these hands, these fingers never dry up
The sun goes up and down, and again tin roofs
Dry up in Dhobi Ghat

Why have I stopped working and eating today,
And just drown in tears?
That girl with whom we were getting closer was sold to the street
It’s a white lie that she’s working at a carpet factory, she won’t come back
Chance and hope have given up on this land, but still, clinching my teeth,
Scrimping and saving,
I collected money, ready to death, and now, grasping it – to the street where she is,
To the place where she looks at the sky after having to receive dozens of customers a day

And then run, we’ll run away! Don’t let go of my hand, if you do, it’ll be the end
It’s euphoria of freedom that we’ll never feel again in our life
I hear the voices of the pursuers, through a narrow passage on a backstreet
We slip away in Dhobi Ghat

Now laugh, laugh, let’s laugh! We can’t fall down any lower
So I wash laundry here, and this heap of laundry is my life
Together with that cute girl we climb up these tin roofs
And watch the moon in Dhobi Ghat

＿＿＿＿＿

comments:

1. While replacing 'musume' (娘) with 'ko' (子) is a widespread thing (and it does not mean she's a small child, it's just a way to call young maidens), pronouncing 'sora' as 'kuu' might have had its goal in stressing that she's not admiring the beautiful blue sky but rather looks somewhere into the empty air.

2. The kanji for 'laughing' was also written as 嗤, when I checked it in the web. I decided to replace it in my text, too, because usage of old kanji like this makes the lyrics even more poetic.

3. If I wrote 'establishment' in the lyrics it would just look weird to me, so I wrote 'place', but bear in mind the Japanese text says exactly 'establishment' ('mise').