Saturday, March 17, 2012

D'espairsRay-琥珀 (Kohaku)

Oh I got my first request already! ^o^
Made by a friend, truth to be said, and on facebook. But definitely a headstart for this blog, I'd say ^--^ thanks Milica!
Anyway what I forgot to mention is that I make these analyses directly, with just once read lyrics before I start doing line by line. The main reason is that, knowing how lyrics and poems are usually made, I want to follow the flow of thoughts of the writer, not the general finished work, which, I must confess, when it comes to my own songs, ends up as something a bit different than what I wanted it to be.
So, getting on to this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xpRA7GFSXU



D'espairsRay

Redeemer (11.March 2009)

琥珀 (Amber)




"都会に埋もれた
君はまるで迷子のよう
悲しみを秘めた顔で笑っていた... "
(Tokai ni uzumoreta
kimi wa marude maigo no you
kanashimi wo himeta kao de waratteita...")
(Hidden in the city
you are completely alike to a lost child,
laughed with a face that was hiding sorrow...)

This is a very metaphorical part, and a great introduction into the song. If we manage to imagine the city as a human soul, and a human soul as a reflection of the outer world (the city), it's very easy to understand these lines. There's a reason for using the phrase "lost child", with "child" as an essence-a person lost in, or still exploring this world, and their own soul. It also explains a bit why the girl is laughing and smiling, trying to hide her true feelings. It indicates that she is a fearful person, that doesn't seem to understand this world yet.


"何もかも信じられずに囁いた
「誰もいない...」
か弱く途切れた細い声"
(Nanimokamo shinjirarezu ni sasayaita
"daremo inai..."
kayowaku togireta hosoi koe)
(believing nothing you murmured
"no one is here..."
with a frailly interrupted thin voice)

With this quote we find out that the reason the person's soul is filled with sorrow is loneliness. There's nobody and nothing to believe in. The quoted sentence is not finished either. No one is there to do what? Most probably, to give her support, to give her strength to carry on, according to the following line which expresses her weakness.

"抱きしめたい 悲しみが君を覆い尽くすなら
激しさで溶かしてみせよう"
(Dakishimetai, kanashimi ga kimi wo ooi tsukusu nara
hageshisa de tokashite miseyou)
(I want to embrace you, if sorrow covers you
I shall dissolve it intensely)
*this is the refrain, it repeats with unimportant changes, such as word tints that can't be expressed through english

This was a very hard line to translate. "Ooi tsukusu" doesn't really exist as a phrase (I know of). "Ooi" is a cover, a mantle, and "tsukusu" is "to exhaust" or "to serve to something". I want to try to explain the "cover" I used, as it must be understood as a very serious word, much stronger than the usual "cover" or "conceal"-"If it completely conceals you", or "if it serves as a mantle that hides you". Also, the "intensely" I used can also be translated as "violently", but I believe it just means "I should devote myself to it".
So if we understand it like that, the line makes a much deeper meaning. "I want to embrace you, because I know that you're hiding your true self because you're afraid, but you don't have to fear me, and I will devotedly work on gaining your trust, and opening you up, dissolving your coating." These lines literally scream "you can trust me", in a good way, of course. Actually, I believe these are the gentlest and warmest lines I've heard in my life, it's just so beautiful...

"かけがえの無いもの
ひとつふたつ... また失う"
(Kakegae no nai mono
hitotsu futatsu... mata ushinau)
(Irreplaceable things
once, twice... and losing again)

A reasonable reason for a person to stop believing, for losing hope. She is repeatedly losing things that are precious to her, in either a material or abstract world of her mind, and naturally she starts fearing what will happen next, she becomes afraid of everything that has any power to hurt her or take something away.

"眠らないこの街に星は飾れない"
(Nemuranai kono machi ni hoshi wa kazarenai)
(Stars aren't decorating this sleepless town)

Beautiful line. Again we come across the "city" phenomenon, the connection of her soul and her surroundings. Going along with the previous sentence, stars would be her precious possessions, and there's nothing to shine and decorate her soul as she's lost it all.

"いつからか僕らの声は
ぬくもりを失った
傷つくばかりの世界だから"
(Itsukara bokura no koe wa
nukumori wo ushinatta
kizutsuku bakari no sekai dakara)
(How long ago have our voices
lost their warmth
because of this world that only wounds?)

Now Hizumi takes us into a wide picture. It's not just the two of them who've lost the warmth in their voices and gentleness in their words, but the whole world and humanity. People only hurt each other, and have, with a valid reason, lost the ability to trust each other. So the person he sings about in the whole song could just be a reflection of the general human fate, the world we're all doomed to live in.

"寄り添って 悲しみをこの身深く刻んで
傷痕が燃え尽きるまで"
(Yorisotte, kanashimi wo kono mi ni fukaku kizande
kizuato ga moetsukiru made)
(getting close together, while sorrow is deeply carving into this body
until the scars burn out)

There's not much to say about this sentence, except that it indicates the strength of the pain she is feeling-so strong that it carves into the body, making deep scars.

"心とは裏腹の言葉はもういらない
恐れずに... 心は傍にいるから"
(Kokoro to wa urahara no kotoba wa mou iranai
osorezu ni, kokoro wa soba ni iru kara)
(Unneeded are the words that are contrary to the heart,
don't be afraid... Because our hearts are close together)

Again we come across the importance of the outer world to the human, and the contrary to it importance to keep in touch with inner human qualities in a harsh world. These lines are much more closely connected to the "How long ago have our voices lost their warmth because of this world that only wounds?" than latter lines. So we get back to the big picture of a world with the two of them in a center of it all, deciding not to give in to the surroundings, deciding to trust each other.

*

"星の無い空の下 今も震える君に
聞かせたい夜明けの歌を...
見せたいこの世界の光を..."
(Hoshi no nai sora no shita ima mo furueru kimi ni
kikasetai yoake no uta wo...
misetai kono sekai no hikari wo...)
(Under the sky without stars, To you who are still shaking
I want to sing this song of the dawn...
I want to show you the light of this world...)

She is still shaking, but Hizumi is showing her that there is something beautiful to this world, like the daybreak that is coming. He wants to show her that there is hope. These beautiful lines are leading us to a happy ending.

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