Romaji
Title: Yoake
Riyuu no nai kanshimi wa butsukeru basho ga nai
Riyuu no nai ashita wa riyuu no nai mama otozureru
Dokoka ni ikitai demo doko he mo ikezu ni
tsuki to mesametara taiyou to nemuru seikatsu
Ookina puraido de chiisana koto bakari
Imi no nai kotoba wa imi no nai mama ni shitai dake
Mou yame ni shiyou demo sore sae dekizu ni
tsuki to mesametara taiyou to neru seikatsu
Kibou ga zetsubou ni kawaru you ni zetsubou wa kibou ni nareru sa
sorosoro sekai ga owaru you na souzou de kon’ya mo nemureru kara
Higashi no sora kimi ga norotta imaimashii hikari ga sasu
Nishi no no sora dareka ga tsubuyaku “Ashita wa haremasu you ni”
Kakinugutta imeeji ha katachi mo iro mo nai
Risou wo narabetara narabeta bun dake wakaru kyori
Oshiire no oku made shimaikonda akogare
tsuki to mesametara taiyou to neru seikatsu
Kibou ga zetsubou ni kawaru you ni zetsubou wa kibou ni nareru sa
sorosoro sekai ga owaruyou na souzou de kon’ya mo nemureru kara
Shoutengai wo nukete shounen ha hashiru
doko made yo ikeyo maiyoi no nai kutsu oto
Bokutachi no ashita wa hitotsuzuki no kibou
doko made ikeru sou omotteita ano hi
Riyuu no nai kanshimi wa butsukeru basho ga nai
Riyuu no nai ashita wa riyuu no nai mama otozureru
Mada boku wa utatteiru mada sekai ha ugoiteiru
imi mo naku riyuu mo naku
Kaketa kokoro hitotsu motteiku
Furiotosarenai you ni
Aita mado no soto irodzuku machi
Higashi no sora kimi ga norotta imaimashii hikari ga sasu
Nishi no no sora dareka ga tsubuyaku “Ashita wa haremasu you ni”
Kidzukeba dareka ga hayameta tokei tadashisa mo machigai mo utagatteiru
koritsu to kyoukan wo tenbin ni kakete kyou mo jibun wo motteiru
Kantan na koto sa ikinuku no koto kareta sumyaku horiateru kurai
Nandomo nandomo kurikaeseba itsumo to chigatta
Asa ga kuru asa ga kuru
Translation
Title: Dawn
There is no place where I can let go of my unexplicable sadness
and an unexplicable tomorrow will eventually come by without any reason.
I would like to go somewhere, but I still unable to go anywhere,
I live my daily routine of waking up with the moon and falling asleep with the sun.
With too much pride, one can only do small things
and I would just like to leave these meaningless words without any meaning.
I would like to just end all of this, but I still can’t do such a thing
and I live my daily routine of waking up with the moon and falling asleep with the sun.
Just like hope turns into hopelessness, hopelessness will eventually turn into hope
and with the thought that this world is about to end, I can sleep tonight too.
In the eastern sky, that annoying light that you despise so much shines through
In the western sky, someone whispers “I hope tomorrow will be sunny”
The image that I scribbled down, has no shape nor colour
and if I line up my ideals, I cannot understand more than the ideals that I lined up*
With my desires pressed deep down my closet,
I live my daily routine of waking up with the moon and falling asleep with the sun.
Just like hope turns into hopelessness, hopelessness will eventually turn into hope
and with the thought that this world is about to end, I can sleep tonight too.
Some boys are running leaving the commercial district behind them
“We can go everywhere!” they say with the sound of their shoes that show no hesitation.
Our tomorrows are a chain of hopes,
“I can go everywhere”, I used to think back in the days.
There is no place where I can let go of my unexplicable sadness
and an unexplicable tomorrow will eventually come by without any reason.
But I’m still here singing, the world is still turning,
even without an explanation, even without reason…
We walk with one and only chipped** heart,
so be careful not to shake it too much.
Outside the open window, the city shines with colours.
In the eastern sky, that annoying light that you despise so much shines through
In the western sky, someone whispers “I hope tomorrow will be sunny”
If you pay attention, someone has anticipated his clock, and they still are wondering if they are right or wrong.
I weigh on the scale isolation and participation, and even today I won’t lose my own self.
Keep on living is an easy task, you know, somewhat similar to digging up a withered water source,
and if you repeat the same thing time and time again, one day a different morning will rise.
Morning will come…
Notes and others
*=the concept that the band is trying to explain is a bit too complex to be summarized in a single, so I’ll do it here. The whole song is about finding some kind of indication on how to live one’s life, and one could think that people can understand how to live their life if they follow their ideal. But ideal are just images and so no matter how much one can try to link them and live by them, they are something different from reality and do not offer much of a suggestion.
**= this verb also hints that an object is chipped, therefore missing a part: in the case of the heart, the feeling of missing something is what drives us in our lives.
It felt good going through these lines after a long time: I revisited some passages and improved the general meaning of some passages. Revising the translation I realized how much I was projecting my personal experience at the time on the song, ending up completely missing the point of some lines, but the general message of track wasn’t too far off from what I had imagined.
I kinda miss Hello Sleepwalkers and the fact that this song still sounds so good to me, really leaves me thinking that there hasn’t been any band in the j-rock scene that has been able to surpass their writing style: so simple, yet so profound.
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