キタ〜ing over how good this album is. 2 months! They made this in 2 months! This song is particularly good. According to twitter, it was Ranko’s first time “rapping,” but NSY was able to coach during the recording session… this blistering solo, and then she starts rapping again and aaaa
Shuriken’s lyrics are as difficult and vague as ever. I’ve tried to leave as many pronouns out of the song as possible, so there’s still some room for the reader to interpret them in their own way.
Song: Plaza roboscape
Artist: NSY ft. ランコ
———> NSY ft. Ranko
Circle: サリー
———> Sally
Release: ビョウ
———> Byou
Key: Original Lyrics; Romaji; Translation
NOTES: せめてもの形見にと 蹄鉄を弾いたまで = goddammit. 形見にと doesn’t specify whether the horseshoe is being played within the memoir, or if that souvenir memoir is the subject’s partner in the action of playing the horseshoe.
蹄鉄を弾いた itself is confusing, because 弾く is the verb for playing stringed instruments, rather than playing a game of “horseshoes,” which, even though I’m sure is an old game, I don’t know if it was played in Japan, or is, or anything like that.
やっちまいら = やっちまう is to do something one regrets. I don’t like doing this but as of right now I can’t figure out what this conjugation is/means, and had to just throw in something that I felt made sense.
ならず者め = “Narazumono” is a “ruffian; scamp; hooligan.” But because め was on the end, I just went straight for “damned fool.”
矢を引かれてもよいのだろう = lit. “If an arrow was pulled against me, that’d be fine, right?” which I took to mean “if an arrow pierced me…” That kind of meaning. But please note that 引く itself is not the act of “loosing an arrow,” it’s just “to pull/draw back.”
仰げば声 = 仰ぐ is “to look up (at), to look up (to), to revere, to ask for, to depend on, etc.” With that said, a few other parts of the lyrics suggest that this is a plea to God (or some other higher being). I didn’t specifically use “God” in my translation, but I wanted to make it clear that there are a lot of things suggesting this song is about being forsaken or ignored by some sort of higher power.
解き明かすべからずとし凍える木 = This line is somewhat incomprehensible to me. Specifically, the use of とし has me puzzled. There are so many possibilities I’m having trouble interpreting
ドストエフスキー = Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer and philosopher who was sentenced to death before the age of 30, but at the last moment was saved, and instead sentenced to hard labor in Siberia. “Dostoyevsky expressed religious, psychological and philosophical ideas in his writings. His works explore such themes as suicide, poverty, human manipulation, and morality.” Notably, Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment, which even a literary ignoramus like myself has heard of. There are many phrases within this song that could be connected to him.
首が泣いた = “Kubi” usually refers to someone’s neck or head, but also has a third definition: “unemployed person.”
まあるいお月さん = From what I was able to cleanse from multiple Google searches, this is a phrase for an unclouded view of the (possibly full) moon. But I was unable to find a real definition, or any real information that would confirm this. Just some blogs/videos…
_______________________________________________________________
打つ波は 悲しげに 溺れる名を呼ぶ
butsu nami ha kanashige ni oboreru na wo yobu
A surging wave, itself seemingly drowning in sadness, calls out a name
せめてもの形見にと 蹄鉄を弾いたまで
semete mo no katami ni to teitetsu wo hiita made
Until, at the very least, with these memoirs, it played the horseshoe
ありきたりな紙芝居は終いだ
群れに帰属した青二才が
苦い味は嫌いか 血 やっちまいら
揺らいだ決意じゃ遺せないわ
arikitari na kamishibai ha shimai da
mure ni kizokushita aonisai ga
nigai aji ha kirai ka chi yacchi maira
yuraida ketsui ja nokosenai wa
This ordinary picture show comes to a close
Assigned to a group of greenhorns
Do you hate bitter things? Blood. Do you regret it?
Your determination was shaking, so why can’t you leave it behind?
私とは別れ歌 小雨のドレミファ
watashi to ha wakare uta kosame no do re mi fa
And I, too, am a farewell song; a drizzling rain’s “Do Re Mi Fa”
息ごとに胸を切る 暗がりへの運命
iki goto ni mune wo kiru kuragari he no sadame
Every breathe within my chest is cut through; my fate is to fall into darkness
手放せぬ想いと 連れ立てるなら
ならず者めと 矢を引かれてもよいのだろう
tebanasenu omoi to tsuredateru nara
narazumono me to ya wo hikarete mo yoi no darou
And the memories impossible to let go of… if we went together
It’d be damned foolish, but if I was pierced by an arrow, that’d be fine, right?
仰げば声は折れ あれはいつぞや
晴れ渡る日を待ちくたびれて
やがて空を睨みつける
aogeba koe ha ore are ha itsuzoya
harewataru hi wo machi kutabirete
yagate sora wo niramitsukeru
Turning to that voice for help, but it’s long since been broken
Tired of waiting for the day this weather will clear up
They scowl at the sky before too long
こぼれ落つ命から 住処を暴けば
kobore otsu inochi kara sumika wo abakeba
Because that life is spilling and crashing, a dwelling becomes exposed
祈りの場 その先は 行き止まりのままで
inori no ba sono saki ha ikitomari no mama de
But in this house of prayer… all that’s left is a dead end
聞き馴染みもない 足音であろう
それはそれは恐ろしい謎
解き明かすべからずとし凍える木
死罪放免か ドストエフスキー
kiki najimi mo nai ashioto de arou
sore ha sore ha osoroshii nazo
tokiakasu bekarazu toshi gogoeru ki
shizai houben ka dosutoefusukii
No familiar sounds but the sounds of footsteps
And that’s… that’s a frightening enigma
You can’t dispel those doubts within this city of frozen wood
Freed from your death sentence, Dostoyevsky?
霧は隠れ蓑 みぞおちに
笑うばかりの理想郷に向かう
kiri ha kakuremino mizoochi ni
warau bakari no risoukyou ni mukau
The fog is a cover for illegal activities within the pit of your stomach
Turn and face a Utopia of smiles
痩せがれた物語の 見返りと引き換えに
しのび死馬 お奉行へ
yase gareta monogatari no mikaeri to hikikae ni
shi no bi shi uma obugyou he
Going to collect the compensation for the story of how he became thin
And riding a beautiful horse of death towards the magistrate
濁り淀めよ川 なけなしの情は
生き延びる間に 尽きてしまえというのだな
nigori yodome yo gawa nakenashi no jou ha
ikinobiru ma ni tsukiteshimae to iu no da na
The feelings are almost nonexistent; a stagnated and murky river;
A long life has finally coming to an end, huh…
耳鳴りを抑えて次の世まではもたぬ走馬灯
瞼裏あと少しだけ
miminari wo osaete tsugi no yo made ha mo tanu soumatou
mabuta ura ato sukoshi dake
Suppressing the buzzing in your ears until the next world comes, like a revolving lantern
Hidden just a bit out of sight
渡り継ぐ橋のない 首が泣いたか
watari sugu hashi no nai kubi ga naita ka
No ferry or bridge to success; Did that unemployed man cry?
まあるいお月さん 今日で最後
詫び乞いと化すだけのお願いを
裂く夜の帳 億相当の一騎
未だ人知外 浸れ余韻に
maaruiotsukisan kyou de saikou
wabi koi to kasu dake no onegai wo
saku yo no chou oku soutou no ikki
mada jinchi gai hitare yoin ni
The full moon tonight is a beautiful finale
The only hope is to transform the begging apology
A book able to cut through the night; one horseman equivalent to 1 billion
Yet still, outside of human knowledge, the lingering memory reverberates