This is one of my favourite songs of hers, but strangely I've never tried to imagine the story told in this song. And when I did, I loved it even more. Even though I might not understand Ms. Onitsuka as a person, she is able to write and perform such songs that seem to express my own self so well.
lyrics
やっと街も足音を立てて
風さえも隙間を埋めようとする
すべては夢で あとは目を覚ますだけ
また立ち止まる
季節を彷徨う最後の言葉が
まるであなたのように横切る
涙をうかべて歩いてゆく私に
聴こえないメロディー
答えは今も曖昧なままで
ほんのわずかな望みさえ色褪せるのに
待ち続けてる 途方もないことくらい
分かっていても
時間を奏でた優しい記憶が
まるであなたのように手を振る
もう何も言えずに頷く私に
聴こえないメロディー
落としたものを探していくのは
どこまでも遠く果てしないから
すべては夢のようで
日々は静かに過ぎる
季節を彷徨う最後の言葉が
まるであなたのように横切る
涙をうかべて 涙をうかべて
涙をうかべて
涙をうかべて歩いてゆく私に
聴こえないメロディー
もう何も言えずに頷く私に
聴こえないメロディー
translation
At last, there are footsteps heard in the streets,
And even the wind tries to fill the gaps,
Everything looks like a dream to me, I only have to wake up –
And I stop and stand still again
The last words that flow through the season
Are just like you – they cross my road
I walk on with tears on my face
And I can’t hear that melody…
The answer is still unclear even now,
Even the smallest hope fades, but
I still wait, even though
I know this is absurd
The tender memories that played the music of time
Are just like you – they wave hands to me
I just nod, not able to say anything
And I can’t hear that melody…
Searching for something I have dropped
Is a long, never-ending road
Everything is like a dream,
And the days silently pass by
The last words that flow through the season
Are just like you – they cross my road
With tears on my face, with tears on my face
With tears on my face
I walk on with tears on my face
And I can’t hear that melody,
I just nod, not able to say anything
And I can’t hear that melody…
_____
1. All kanji for 'I' are written as usual, but I've noticed Onitsuka sings them as 'atashi', not 'watashi', and in many songs she does. Google for the difference.
2. The words in Onitsuka's songs are usually more materialistic than you'd think, unlike some popular performers who sing songs with lines that are impossible to translate because they are just rows of 'beautiful' words put together. Just a random song, Yuuki Aira's 'I believe': 'I am always captured by invisible things and that bothers me, it's like a sudden rain'. What? Being always captured is like a sudden rain? Okay, Kalafina's 'monochrome': 'I want to try to put into words things that I don't want to put into words. It flows transparently becoming a song with a shape of water'. I know this is supposed to be mysterious and stuff, but it's meaningless, and there was not any particular meaning attached to the lyrics, I'm afraid. And by the way, I'm not a total Kalafina hater, there are some songs of theirs I like. However, even if Onitsuka's words may seem strange in the same way, they are different because they create a certain image. I cannot imagine situations in the songs I mentioned, but there are things I can certainly imagine in 'Last melody'. The first lines create a very familiar scene - a street full of people with the wind between them, and all moving so closely and dense that it seems there is no free space left, and it looks like a mirage so much you'd want to come to a halt. The words that 'flow through the season' are probably some important words that were so memorable that they become the strongest association with the time of the year they were spoken in. They cross the mind of the heroine, perpendicular to her direction, and the important person also crossed her life path and probably went away. The 'tender memories' are also some strong association with particular periods of her life, and as a creative person, she associates them with some music, too. They become more and more distant, just like the person who - supposedly - went away. I don't think any other lines need special explanation, but I hope this is a good example of how a song can be poetic enough without becoming an exercise in creating Jabberwocky nonsense.
