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タナトス

Thanatos

Lyrics by Sakurai Atsushi
Translation by Lola


You coax me to give you everything (1)
Now could you hold me and kiss me with your bewitching lips (2)
I'm decaying but you told me I was pretty
Said, "Your face is beautiful and sultry"

I shall enjoy myself as I like in this garden, until that day when the sun sets

Stubbornly, I fly on and yet wherever I go, the flower of Thanatos is on my mind (3 & 4)

When I peek backstage, the dream is at an end
Had I thought I wanted to stop time?
That stifled spirit I left behind (5)
Father, Mother, it is thanks to you

The middle of the night is when I will tremble alone, thinking tomorrow morning we shall meet

Stubbornly, you fly on and yet wherever you go, the flower of Thanatos is on your mind

I shall enjoy myself as I like in this garden, even if the sun melts my wings

Stubbornly, I fly on and yet wherever I go, the flower of Thanatos is on my mind
In a shimmer of heat I burn, through the pure sky and into the light I go, into the light


Notes: This translation was edited March 11, 2013.
(1) Literally "舌の先" means "the tip of the tongue" but it is also an expression used in a variety of ways meaning to "cajole someone into doing something" or to "coax someone". Basically using your tongue (words) on a person to get what you want. You see it in a variety of contexts, a waitress "sweet talks" to get better tips, or people who use flattery to get ahead. I was wavering between "coax" and "cajole" in English because I find they fit best in the context of these lyrics, because the tone in the first stanza is very much of a person who has been persuaded by words to do something that they might not have otherwise. In this case, coaxed by being told they are beautiful.
(2) "唇吸って", here is another expression that while yes, literally does mean, "suck lips" also can be translated as "kiss". Given the rest of the vibe from this stanza and the song as a whole, it seemed more fitting to translate it as the latter.
(3) Thanatos is the God of death, but more specifically, the God of peaceful, non-violent death. He was born of Nyx and Erebos, Night & Darkness and has a twin brother, Hypnos (Sleep). Often, in depictions of Thanatos, he carries a wreath of poppies. So perhaps the "flower of Thanatos" is the poppy. Both Thanatos and Hypnos were associated with poppies due to their hypnogogic traits and the fact that overexposure to such things could result in death. Also Thanatos can be used to describe a person who personifies Death. Within psychology, there is what is called "the Thanatos drive" which is a death drive of sorts. It is postulated that this drive is what compels certain people to engage in acts of self-destruction that may lead to their own death. Thrill seeking is believed to stem from this very drive. All things to consider in the reading of these lyrics.
(4) While I translated it as "the flower of Thanatos is on my mind", it could also be "the flower of Thanatos is in my heart" because the word "胸" in Japanese not only literally means "breast" or "bosom" but also can refer to a person's "heart" and "mind". I went with "mind" in this case because it sounded to me like, he was saying throughout the song that he cannot escape death, he cannot stop thinking about it.
(5) In this line, literally what is left behind is a "scent" from the Japanese word, "匂い". However, choosing this kanji instead of this one, " 臭い" allows for a variety of meanings. By using the former kanji, it can now be also understood as a feeling that is left behind, a certain kind of atmosphere, an energy, a spirit or a tone.

ヒロイン

Heroine

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


Let's look for paradise, the star of the angels
A pure white heroine that will take us on an endless trip


It's just you and me
We can fly anywhere drawing on this white light*
A pure white heroine that will take us on an unending trip

Close your eyes......

A splash of silver shines against your eyelids as you hold onto the scorpion and cross at the end of the night

Like the petals of a lotus flower, you bloomed on the other shore
Our dream is over but when we're together we can fly**

Close your eyes......

A splash of silver tears through the clouds of karma as you hold onto the flowing Aquarius at the end of the night

Close your eyes......

A splash of silver shines against your eyelids as you hold onto the scorpion and cross at the end of the night
A splash of silver tears through the clouds of karma as you hold onto the flowing Aquarius at the end of the night


Notes: * the kanji used is 影 which is most often translated as shadow, however, I've always loved that there is so much more to this kanji than just shadow. It can mean, shade, silhouette or even light. Translating it as 'white shadow' doesn't fit too well does it? Which is why I selected 'light'.
** Literally 'goodbye dream' or perhaps 'it's a dream of goodbye', however you like.

無知の涙

Tears of Ignorance

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


A teddy bear and a pumpkin carriage spin in a slow dance in the show room
Fighter planes fly around the room dancing a slow dance around the child


A machine gun held by a girl, a celluloid girl

Dazzled by diamonds, the puppets are made to dance
As the entire world burns to ash in the flames of justice

Mama where, where are you? The devils are doing a slow dance
And the girl with the pretty hair does not shed tears of ignorance

A girl firing a machine gun in a celluloid slow dance

LOVE & PEACE are torn to pieces by tin plate soldiers that are unleashed
With dangerous toys until that child burns to ash too

A machine gun held in a slow dance, a celluloid slow dance

Dazzled by diamonds, the puppets are made to dance
As the entire world burns to ash in the flames of justice
LOVE & PEACE are torn to pieces by tin plate soldiers that are unleashed
With dangerous toys until that child burns to ash too

リザードスキンの少女

Lizard Skin Girl

Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Translation: Lola


The key to the broken boy is the tedious weekend when
Lost in a parade, he disappeared with the freaks


Just drifting about without a map
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
The boy does not return
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
The boy does not come home

Lizard skin girl
Devours candy and chocolate
Tomorrow, is spirited away to the other side of the moon

We ought to commemorate the beginning of the night
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
That girl does not return
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
That girl does not come home

Resident of capitalism
Swollen with earthly desires granted
Living everlastingly, gently hanging by the neck in the garden

If you come out of the revolving door then it will be completely empty
We ought to commemorate the night by giving
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
We are outside the mosquito net
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
We are outside the mosquito net

everybody freedom
everybody freedom
The boy does not return
everybody freedom
everybody freedom
That girl does not come home

Lizard skin girl

螺旋 虫

Spiral Shell

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


Two people pick flowers in a glass amusement park
Beneath the velvet of a violet sky they pick one flower at a time


The turning Ferris Wheel is like a spiral shell
With frozen hands clasped they board the heaven bound train

The waning moon shines in your eyes
Reminding me of stars as with eyes like glass orbs you laughed

I feel a storm coming, my heart is uneasy
Lost in a spiral in the night as the Ferris Wheel sways

I begin to slip into the soothing seas of your eyes
The stars vanished and you laughed with eyes like glass orbs

I feel a storm coming, my heart is uneasy
Lost in a spiral in the night as the Ferris Wheel sways
There is no one else around us, we are in a soundless world
The stars have vanished and you laughed with eyes like glass orbs

In a glass amusement park, a Ferris Wheel turns

蝶蝶

Butterfly

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


I'm a pig, devouring everything in sight
As I look for more feed to pour down and the butterfly dances


In the midst of roleplay I put on a show of the highest quality
But this seductive mosaic is a bloody lie
Still the monkeys run after me, eyes dilated in hot pursuit

I become sad
When I see a child chasing after the pretty butterfly

I'm high, I'm low, I am born again as a dancing butterfly

Too much Monkey business. You create propaganda
With your skilled hips and the butterfly dances
Still the monkeys screech, eyes dilated as they latch on and suck

I am amused
When I see a child chasing after the lovely butterfly

I'm high, I'm low, I am born again as a dancing butterfly
I'm high, I'm low, I am a dancing butterfly in a spider's web

囁き

Whisper

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


You are a dream and I am a slave to passion
You are the night as I let tears flow in rapture
You are the moon and it feels like I'm covered in mud as you get wet
You are so tight that I come by myself*


There is one thing I desire, I say in a dirty whisper

This is your dream and you run me down like a child**
This is your night and I am drooling in rapture

There is one thing I desire, I say in a dirty whisper
If you wish to fulfill my desire then tie me up

You are a dream and I am a slave to passion
You are the night as I let tears flow in rapture

There is one thing I desire, I say in a dirty whisper
If you wish to fulfill my desire then restrain me

You are the moon and it feels like I'm covered in mud as you get wet
You are so tight that I come by myself


Notes: * Literally 'I discharge by myself'. That sounded too clinical and I did debate keeping my original translation for this of 'I find release' but that...seemed too poetic. For some songs 'release' works when it's much more love oriented but...this is hardly a flowery song is it? *laughs*
** This line...I just can't decide!!! It means 'I am tread on/trampled down like a child' but I don't think he literally means he's being stepped on. :/ I thought it meant...more in the context of the song, something like, being told what to do, lectured or put down, that sort of thing.

迦陵頻伽 Kalavinka
Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


When the beasts crack their knuckles, eagerly awaiting in the night for the moonless dawn
At last it comes, the final blessing but I am too young to disappear


   A rose blooms, and I sing when it's dyed red
   It blooms out of season, thorns trembling
   Heart wantonly open in the wind*

I leave the joys and sorrows of the past behind, as I close my eyes and block my ears
At last it comes, the end of rapture but I have grown too old to live

   Cherry blossoms bloom, as I suck red blood and sing
   They dance in the wind, as I drive a person mad
   Now is the time at the water's edge

You blossom and the scent of your honey lures me
While I know it's poison, I taste its bittersweetnesss
Ah to be happy, ah to be sad


Notes: *There's a play on words here with the word that I translated as open. The original Japanese is 'arahani' but Sakurai sings 'arawani'. The play being with 'arahani' which comes from the sanskrit 'arhat' or 'arahat' meaning to be of an enlightened mind. An Arhat is someone who has found enlightenment through compassion and understanding and so is free of the cycle of samsara (the cycle of life & death and rebirth). The difference between an Arhat and the Buddha is that while the Buddha attained enlightenment himself, an Arhat achieves this through following the teachings of another. Very interesting given the context of the line, in this case achieving enlightenment through intimate knowledge of another, by being 'open' to that cosmic union. Which brings me back to the play on words, singing 'arawani' is a word in Japanese which means to do things 'openly' or 'frankly'. This 'enlightenment' ties into the title of the song as well.
Kalavinka is again sanskrit and is the allegorical bird of immortality and represents the higher attainment of wisdom & knowledge. Which is why it is said to be the sweet blessed voice of the Buddha when it sings. Why the Kalavinka? Well...basically the actual bird sings its song and nests at the beginning of the monsoon season in India, after a long ardous period of dry heat. As such, its song could be said to be signalling a time of rebirth. By singing with the coming of new life, its beautiful cry announces hope after a period of darkness. So it's easy to see why they would say hearing the song of the Kalavinka is like the voice of the Buddha. Its song is more than mere notes, more than a pleasant sound, it is a symbol, a sign. A reminder of the cycle of transformation that the Buddha speaks of in his teachings.
Also, in regards to the title, Kalavinka is the reading for the kanji shown in the title. Some of the kanji are simply used for a specific sound and have no meaning really when strung together.

My Fuckin' Valentine
Lyrics: Imai Hisashi
Translation: Lola


BELIEVE IT FUTURE RISE ABOVE YOURSELF
BELIEVE IT FUTURE RISE ABOVE YOURSELF
BELIEVE IT FUTURE RISE ABOVE YOURSELF
BELIEVE IT FUTURE RISE ABOVE YOURSELF


YOU ARE MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE
YOU ARE MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE

We suffer from this virtual era
Bound by a cable
That flows through our pulse like a virus
Running to a future that is real
A serial thrill killer
In raging heat for the material

High tension wires for full colour*
Stain the sky with filth, make it look like shit
HAIL PSYCHO BITCH RISE ABOVE YOURSELF
Data control information
From bugged and gaping cyber soldiers
HAIL PSYCHO BITCH RISE ABOVE YOURSELF

YOU ARE MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE
YOU ARE MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE

Illegal powder and needles
Are pure chemicals
Confused with virus pills
As mankind puts on airs
Like high-class monkeys
Getting off on the material

Masochist heartbreaker
Queens of the tantalizing future
HAIL PSYCHO BITCH RISE ABOVE YOURSELF
Cross dresser with a vibrator**
With such fabulous bad taste, your future wavers
HAIL PSYCHO BITCH
YOU ARE MY FUCKIN' VALENTINE


Notes: *The word 'wire' is not part of the Japanese but the image that came to mind as I revised the lyrics was that of a sky scattered with electrical wires crisscrossing the sky. You see this a lot in Japan and in many big cities and true to Imai's words, it does make the sky look rather junky.
** Literally it's 'Man in women's clothes'.

Schiz.o 幻想

Illusions of a Schizo

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


Will I sleep tonight? Do I think tomorrow will come?
I'm full of a terrible self-hatred, I want to disappear and it feels like I'm running to the ends of the world to escape it
Yes, that's right, I'm going to die as my life flows out and I stare at my hand


Her lullaby, her breast's lullaby

Will I dream? Will it be in colour?
It's all pain and fear, full of silence and loneliness and the whole world is sneering at me
Yes, that's right, if the wound hurts then I know I'm alive, I'm just a perverse person seeking the womb

Dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy, dissolving into an illusion in reckless abandon
Now, please let me sleep

I've begun to decay, my line of reasoning has been torn apart
It's all a persecution complex caused by a trauma isn't it? So I run to the ends of that world to escape it
Yes, that's right, if love and happiness is all I live for then I'll sing my raven song

Her lullaby, her breast's lullaby

Will I sleep tonight? Do I think tomorrow will come?
I'm full of a terrible self-hatred, I want to disappear and the whole world is sneering at me
Yes, that's right, I'm going to die as my life flows out and I stare at my hand

Dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy, dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy
Now, please let me sleep
Dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy, dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy
Dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy, dissolving into an illusion with just one fantasy

キミガシン..ダラ

When...you die

Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola


My Earth floats in the Milky Way
It overflows with people who love each other
It's a lie I fabricate, they kill each other but it's a nice dream at least for tonight

Like a dolphin that travels through the sea, I travel like a comet until I reach the heavens

Suppose you were to die, what would you become I wonder?
Suppose I were to die, where then would I go?

Even the sun and the moon, as well as the stars of water and fire
Even black holes and the deceased are in this nice dream, at least for tonight

Like coral that blooms in the sea, so too shall I bloom like an aurora until I reach the heavens

So if you should die, let's say you become a star
So then if I should die, I will be the darkness

Like a dolphin that travels through the sea, I travel like a comet until I reach the heavens

           Do you hear me? I am here, within you
                      Can you hear me? You are here, within me
So if you should die, let's say you become a star
So then if I should die, I will be the darkness

A little further than your beloved Scorpion
Until there it is, your beloved glittering Cross


Notes: This translation was edited January 8, 2013.

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