Lyrics

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bokusi
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Lyrics

Post by bokusi » Thu Apr 10, 2003 8:08 pm

I have to agree with Miwa in the Asahi article (kindly translated here) that her lyrics in English are lacking. The images miss her heart. I also think that they miss the particular and specific, which I can see she uses in the Japanese -- based on the Web translations by Cori and Les. The English songs follow typical romantic cliches, is my sense. For instance, where, in any of the English songs, does she recall the love in preparing a salad for her boy, who returns the joy by eating it.

I recall a group called "The Nelories" who recorded about ten years ago. They were Japanese, but recorded solely in skilled but not precisely fluent English. It was joyful.

That's what I think, and so there we are.

:shock:
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tachikaze
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Post by tachikaze » Sat Apr 12, 2003 2:33 am

But I've also translated their writing into english, too, and was left under-impressed, eg. "a-ha-ha" boils down to not much subject when you understand all the words.

Sometimes I think Japanese itself is more poetic, and it's much harder to produce strong lyrics in english.

just recently I bothered myself to parse the coolest part of "Lovetide":

fune-wo dasou, umarere-kawatte-mo
kitto obetereru, mangetsu-no-umi-he

let's push out the boat, even if I'm reborn
I'm sure to remember, out to the full-moon sea.

For fun I contrast No Doubt's Gwen Stefani's lyrics to Miwa's.
As Miwa said [if I got it right] , song-writing requires unconscious writing ability, which takes decades to acquire.

bokusi
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Post by bokusi » Mon Apr 14, 2003 10:41 am

Thanks for that translation! Now that lyric reflects more substance than just cliche. I understand there is a use of cliche sometimes, but I sure would like some depth. Not knowing what the words mean sometimes leads me to think they say more than they really do.

On the other hand, think of Stevie Wonder's song "Love's in Need of Love Today" which curls a vague and generalized sense of love into a paradigm shift -- and lovely song. One of the reasons I like good J-pop is for a different perspective.

I can't recall an American or British lyric that talked about pushing out a boat. It's that finding a new, specific moment that makes for the best of DCT's lyrics, I think.


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tachikaze
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Post by tachikaze » Mon Apr 14, 2003 9:35 pm

Not knowing what the words mean sometimes leads me to think they say more than they really do.

yeah. A lot of jpop is probably better left untranslated...

Here's the second chorus from LOVETIDE:

Fune wo dasou anata ga nigitta OORU
Sakarawazu mangetsu no umi e deyou

Put out the boat -- you're holding the oar(s)
go out to the unopposed fullmoon sea

The final bit:

Soshite tada no watashi ni natte nami no aida tadayou
so you're just the one for me -- drifting between the waves

Soshite tada no watashi ni natte tooi kishi wa kako ni naru
so you're just the one for me -- distant cliffs are moving into the past

Nagedashita ryouashi ga nami ni mijikai kizu wo tsukeru
both feet thrown out into the waves -- soaking/steeping small cuts

I remember when first doing doing this (probably poor) translation I figured out why the song was called "LOVETIDE"...

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Lovetide

Post by bokusi » Wed Apr 16, 2003 8:58 am

Oh, this is terrific. Thanks for the time taken to create a translation; without it I would never have imagined the analogy.

What is the song's Japanese name, and on what album does this song Lovetide appear?

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Jei
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Re: Lovetide

Post by Jei » Wed Apr 16, 2003 2:36 pm

bokusi wrote:What is the song's Japanese name, and on what album does this song Lovetide appear?
The song's name is just "LOVETIDE" :)
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