スーパーカー - Cream Soda

Fulfilling a request for a friend, it's Supercar's first single and a really cute love song.  I had to sacrifice the entirety of Ishiwatari's cleverness in translation on this one, unfortunately, but the meaning is still very pretty.


スーパーカー - Cream Soda
Translated by Alan Rice

Last night again with indifferent eyes¹
I saw a dream of you and these open skies

I'm just thinking of how nice it'd be
to fly in the real sky with you someday
that's all

If I, a vapor trail, stretched out my white arms²
those open skies would soon become yours and mine

I was thinking of how I ought to tell you
the real truth of things someday
I'm just thinking how I'd love to meet you
in the usual sky again tonight
that's all

Even though far ahead, forever beyond
freedom surely waits
that's why

I hope you'll forgive that my car's so plain³
though I wanted a big⁴ one you'd feel fancy riding in

I just think you can't really see anything
if all you do is yearn
so I won't say I give up
even if I wake from this dream
that's all


The main cleverness in this song comes from a repeated use of the words 白い "white" and 広い "broad/wide" in different contexts each verse:

1. He is literally (Japanese-ally anyway) using the phrase "白い目で見る" here, which idiomatically means to look at something coolly, indifferently, or even with a bit of a frown.  The tension between him being tired of the dream and longing for it still is cool!

2. Here we get to use 白い in a more literal sense, as he metaphorically describes himself as a contrail reaching out his white hands.

3. Finally for our 白シリーズ, this one is a bit of guesswork/fudgery on my part, but I think when he calls his car white in contrast to a big, fancy-feeling car, "plain" is a pretty solid shot.  If I'm wrong and/or anybody can let me know of a better translation, much appreciated!

4. Another untranslatable Junji Ishiwatari wordplay afoot!  In the first two verses, a "broad," "wide," "open," etc. sky works, but none of those adjectives can be applied well to the fancy car in verse three he doesn't have, so another great little lyrical parallel is killed by the English language.

The original Japanese lyrics:

昨日また僕が白い目で見た夢は
この広い空と君との話だよ。

いつかは君と本当の空を飛べたらなぁって、それだけさ。

ひこうきぐも僕が白い手を差し出せば、
その広い空は、もう君と僕のものだよ。

いつかは君に本当のコトを言わなきゃなって思ってた。
いつもの空で今夜も君に会えたらなぁって、それだけさ。

ずっと向こうのその先に
きっと自由があるのにねぇ、そのせいだよ。

自動車なら僕の白いので許してよ。
気取って乗れるような広いのにしたいけど、

憧れだけじゃ本当は何も見えないなって思うから、
あきらめだけは夢から覚めても言わないよって、それだけさ。

the pillows - Chelsea Hotel (チェルシーホテル)

I don't feel like there's much need for annotation on this one, either because I'm so used to Sawao Yamanaka's lyrical style that I don't notice the oddities as much, or because it's legitimately a bit more straightforward lyrics here.

Anyway, a very cute, sad song reflecting on the pillows' eventual end.  There have been a few songs with this theme in recent years, notably "Quarter Bakugeki no Tomo" (Quarter-Century Friends).  Yamanaka has stated in several recent interviews that the 4th Movement will be the pillows' final chapter (in case you're not a pillows fan, each "era" of the pillows' history is referred to as various "Movements," based loosely on a combination of changes to the lineup/label backing and evolution through various styles).


the pillows - Chelsea Hotel
Translated by Alan Rice

When I flip open the lid on this familiar music box
the melody ringing out goes round and round, as if it were writing out eternity

From the old tune that came through faintly, a new dream came
And time flowed on, as if to hide my loneliness

Please don't forget, my friend
how we shook up Chelsea Hotel
dancing about on an empty floor
Free, oh, free

It's such a funny story you could weep
but I don't know how to cry

I opened my eyes and stood up, looking from the light to the darkness
Unable to erase the pain of the sound I was drinking in

Please don't forget, my friend
how we lit up Chelsea Hotel
The lights and the shadows and the rock music with you
Free, oh, free

It's a fairy tale that can't be told
but I don't know how to try

Please don't forget, my friend
how we shook up Chelsea Hotel
dancing about on an empty floor
Free, oh, free

It's such a funny story you could weep
but I don't know how to cry
It's a fairy tale that can't be told
but I don't know how to try


The original Japanese lyrics:

懐かしいオルゴールの蓋を外せば　響くメロディー
永遠を刻むように　回り続ける

ぼんやりと染み渡った　古い旋律　新しい夢
寂しさを覆うように　時は流れた

忘れないでくれ my friend
チェルシーホテル揺らして
人気のないフロアではしゃいだ
free oh free

泣きそうな笑い話
But I don't know how to cry

目を開けて立ち上がって　光の方へ闇の方へ
飲み込んだ音の痛み　今も消せない

忘れないでくれ my friend
チェルシーホテル照らした
光と影とキミとロックミュージック
free oh free

語られないおとぎ話
But I don't know how to try

忘れないでくれ my friend
チェルシーホテル揺らして
人気のないフロアではしゃいだ
free oh free

泣きそうな笑い話
But I don't know how to cry
語られないおとぎ話
But I don't know how to try

lostage - 2:50

Listed on one of their early demos as "am 2:50," this song is about waking up to tangled emotions in the middle of the night, a tortured realization of something that has lost its shine.


lostage - 2:50
Translated by Alan Rice

I hid my face in the dark blue night
Having that dream of being alone

I thought¹
It's not like that, leave it for tomorrow²

Lingering memories I can't ignore any longer
Those feelings that won't find a voice³

I thought¹
That bell already chimed
so many times

What do you think, how do you feel⁴
There's nothing left for me

What do you think, how do you feel
There's nothing left for me

What do you think, how do you feel
There's nothing there anymore

1. In the original Japanese below, the phrasing on both of these stanzas is flipped, which creates a very different feeling.  I tried a variant with "So I thought" at the end instead of on the front, but it creates more of a sense of past tense reflection that I thought went against the overall feeling of the song.

2. This line was difficult to put into English, and I'm not really satisfied with it, but he's rejecting the dream of being alone and trying to push off thoughts about it for another day.  Obviously, it doesn't work, because immediately after saying he thinks he'll put it off, he's struck by "un-erased memories."

3. Had to take a few liberties here, because "unerased memories" is not how we'd approach that concept in English, and because "That feeling which did not become a voice," the literal translation of the second line of the stanza, just sounds super silly.  I chose this line over "Those feelings I can't put into words" because it stays a little closer to the original's usage of "voice."

4. Clever lyrics here, he uses two different forms of "omou," which means to "think/believe/feel about" a thing.  Thus, I also used two variants in the translation, although it's impossible to maintain the beautiful wordplay, since there aren't any homonyms that function like that in English for this.


The original Japanese lyrics, for reference:

濃いブルーの夜　顔を隠した
一人だったような　あの夢

そんなもんじゃない　明日に加えよう²
そう思って¹

消してない記憶　もう否めない
声になってない　あの想い³

もうすでにあの鐘は
何度も唸る
そう思って¹

何を思う　何を想う⁴
何もない　もう僕には

何を思う　何を想う
何もない　もう僕には

何を思う　何を想う
何もない　もうそこには

Lyrics Are Pieces

Translating lyrics is an imposing task.  Not only do you need to consider the emotion of the song that you feel through the instrumental portions and the nuance of expression within the singer's voice, but there are underlying currents of both cultural and personal meaning that create the depth of emotion.

The title of this blog, "Kashi wa Kakera," is both a slight allusion to the band who will be taking the spotlight in this project, the pillows (and their song Boku wa Kakera), and also an attempt to capture the spirit of the project.  Lyrics are but pieces of the whole, and to properly translate a song requires more than simply turning the words from one set of symbols to a semi-equivalent set of different symbols.

I want to help strengthen the connection between fan and band, between word and feeling, by bridging that gap left when only the words are considered.  This blog will be a series of annotated translations, referring to points of cultural significance, outlining interesting wordplay and references, and attempting to tie together these pieces of story created by lyrics into a fuller narrative through use of interviews and other sources relating the individual history of the songwriter and band members.

I know that the majority of songs in the pillows' catalog have already been translated, and many of us who consider ourselves Busters have been able to deepen our relationship to their music because of this.  This project will seek to facilitate a further deepening of that relationship among the fans who are drawn to Sawao's words by providing further pieces of the story to them.

This will not be only about the pillows' lyrics, but that will be the main focus.  Learning enough of the history of a band or musician to tie tenuous pieces together into threads of narrative is a long process, and I unfortunately do not possess the knowledge for other bands at the present time.

Anyway, comments and suggestions are highly appreciated, and I look forward to learning and sharing more in the hopes that others will find this project useful.

-Alan