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[romaji & translation] Microphone
tell me why
tell me why I don't know I don't know (I won't tell u why) Henka wa totemo suteki na koto da kedo Jibun o nakusu tte imi jya nai Nekko ni aru koremade mo korekara mo Tsuranukeru jibun ga atte koso Tashika ni genkai o kanjite nanimokamo ni Se o mukete uzukumatte ita Hibi mo atta keredo Mou mayottari shi nai koukai nante nai Anata to deau no wa unmei datta no Atashi de aru imi o sonzai suru igi o Ataete oshiete kureru no wa itsumo anata dakara tell me why tell me why I don't know I don't know (I won't tell u why) Dakedo ne tokidoki kao mo mitaku nai Kurai nikutarashii hi mo aru kara Mou nido to kono shikai ni hairanai de Nante omou koto mo aru no Dakara tte hanarete shimaeru wake demo nai Kekkyoku donna toki mo ichiban soba ni ite hoshii * Jyuuryoku ni osarete inryoku ni hikarete Anata to deau no wa hitsuzen datta no Nani mo sakarae nai keifuku suru shika nai Wakatte ru anata nashi no atashi wa atashi jya nai Moshi kanpeki na melody ga aru nara Atashi wa mada deai taku nai Mou mayottari shi nai koukai nante nai Anata to deau no wa unmei datta no Atashi de aru imi o sonzai suru igi o Ataete oshiete kureru anata ga * (repeat) tell me why tell me why -------------------------------------------------- tell me why tell me why I don't know I don't know (I won't tell u why) Change is very nice But it doesn't mean losing yourself It's just so, on the condition that you have the root You've held on up to now and will hold on hereafter Though it's true that there were days When I felt my limits Turned my back on everything and crouched down I won't lose my way anymore, I have no regrets It was my destiny that I met you Because you always give and teach me The meaning and the significance of my existence tell me why tell me why I don't know I don't know (I won't tell u why) But sometimes I hate you so much That I don't even want to see your face And I think to myself "Never come into my sight" But it doesn't mean that I can be apart from you After all, I want you to be my side most and anytime * Pushed by gravity, pulled by attractive force I met you by necessity I can't go against you, but just admire you I know that I'm not myself without you If a perfect melody exists I don't want to meet it yet I won't lose my way anymore, I have no regrets It was my destiny that I met you Because you give and teach me The meaning and the significance of my existence * (repeat) tell me why tell me why |
thank youu <3
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holy ****, these are awesome. thank you!
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Thank you!! It's gorgeous *-*
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OMG this song is.... WOW. I LOVE the lyrics!!
Thank you so much masa! :heart |
thanks for your translation masa:heart
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this part
"If a perfect melody exists I don't want to meet it yet" is so genius... i can relate a lot to the lyrics... |
Thanks for the translation masa!!
love the lyric! |
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nwey thank you masa :P |
Thank you Masa damn the lyrics are so freaking awesome!!
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thanks masa!! as usual, it is so good!!
and there's a French term wow~ |
ah~ waver is a good word to translate 迷い here.
I couldn't come up with the word when I made my translation. Sasuga desu !! |
I love the lyrics :love, thank you for posting translation :)
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so technically it's english too. |
Thanks Masa.
its all about Ayu and her microphone... |
Thanks! Here's a slightly edited version to make it sound better stylistically in english...
Change is very nice But it doesn't mean losing yourself You have the root which you've held on to up to now, And will hold on to from now on Though it's true that there were days When I felt my limits Crouched down and turned my back away from everything I won't hesitate any more, I have no regrets It was destiny that I met you Because the one who's always given me a reason to be myself And taught me the significance of my existence Is you But sometimes I hate you so much That I don't even want to see your face And I think to myself "Get out of my sight" But it doesn't mean that I can be apart from you When in the end it's you I want most by my side *Pushed by gravity and pulled by a force I met you by necessity I can't defy you, only admire you I know that without you I'm nothing* If a perfect melody exists I don't want to meet it yet I won't hesitate any more, I have no regrets It was destiny that I met you Because you've always given me a reason to be myself And taught me the significance of my existence * repeat 追伸：マサさん、ファースト・サビは２回目に「与えて教えてくれる… あなたが」で終わりますのでご注意く ださい。 |
thank you masa and thank you too ^
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thanks masa!
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Thanks so much for the translation(s)!
I love the lyrics, they are very strong. ayu and her Microphone..♥ I love she did a song about this theme. I wanted to quote my favorite parts of the text but I really can't decide, it is so awesome.. every line of it! |
Thank you! For a song that sounds so dark it's really not!
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To: appears
>追伸：マサさん、ファースト・サビは２回目に「与えて教えてくれる… あなたが」で終わりますのでご注意 く ださい。 Oh, I didn't notice that. I corrected the parts. (You seem good at writing Japanese, too.) I also changed some parts of my translation. Thanks for your suggestions. To change --> Change crouched --> crouched down I’ll not --> I won’t you've always given and taught me --> you always give and teach me |
thanks for the translation !
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beautiful !
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awesome! Thanks so much for these!
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Thanks
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Thanks masa!
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thanks masa for the translation!
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I assume she's speaking to her music,
which is a very cool approach to describing it as well as confronting it. |
Thanx a lot for the translation :D!
I like the lyrics...I can relate to this song in a lot of ways :yes. Quote:
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thanks for translations masa & appears :yes
I love these lyrics :3 |
THANKYOU masa as always xD
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seems like a song written to max
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thank you
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I like this song a lot. Thank you for the translation and romaji. :)
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Thanks for the translation! I ABSOLUTELY love the fact you translated it like "my raison d'etre." That makes it feel way more epic. haha :heart
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Thank you masa & appears! :D
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Such a powerful song...wow...:luv2
Thanks for the translation (both ^_~) |
You are welcome.
Actually, "raison d'etre" is a phrase known to Japanese people, too. So I prefered to take it rather than "the significance of my existence", which I feel rather long and heavy. But if many people think the latter is better, I'm ready to change the part. |
Thank you for the translations ^^ i love ayu's lyrics!!!
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Thanks for the translation. The lyrics are awesome, some of the best she's written I think.
I'd leave it as raison d'etre. It is a common term, I've heard of it before. A few songs are titled that. |
Yeah, raison d'etre should be a common phrase for most people, but I suppose those people will have to look it up, haha. You could add a footnote or something.
*raison d'etre is.... -meaning here- or something. |
I'm curious how native and international English users feel about it.
I'd prefer "significance of my existence" because of the thing truehappiness pointed. Same thing can be said for Japanese young people; I guess more than 50% of them would say "what's that?" In addition to that, ayu isn't using "raison d'etre (or レーゾンデートル)" in her original text. (Actually I used "significance of my existing" in my translation because ayu's original text is not "存在意義" but "存在する意義" and it can be parallel to "meaning of my being", but now I feel it may sound weird to English users. :dead2 haha) |
thanks!! there should be "Tell me why!" and "I don't know".. :P
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thanks
I thought it had some deeper meaning though :P |
I didn't understand the rasion d'erte and I had to scroll down to the second translation to really understand what it meant. I'm not a native speaker of English and even though I've studied English at the university that phrase is something I've never heard. I guess you need to be a native speaker to know about it.
Anyhow, I really like the lyrics. They're beautiful! Thanks for the translations! |
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the chorus is difficult to translate, it's true... the significance of my existance is indeed far too cumbersome, for want of a better word... i guess a shorter version which attempt to convey all nuances could be... I won't hesitate any more, I have no regrets |
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oh, [significance] and [existence] are that long, heavy, and cumbersome?? hum...
I'd like to point out that [意義(igi)] is a little heavier and less-colloquial than [意味(imi)]/[meaning]. Above all, I think most of Japanese people would feel these two lines > watashi de aru imi wo > sonzai susu igi wo a little philosophical although no jargon is used here. Regarding [躊躇う] or [迷う], I have an impression that [躊躇う] is used in a situation you have something you want to do but you can't do it actually. So, I think [躊躇う] fits well with [hesitate]. [迷う] has a broader meaning. You can use it when you lost your "physical" way to go. You can also use it when you are uncertain and cannot decide easily what to do. In the context of ayu's original lyrics, I felt that this line > mou mayottari shinai is conveying broader meanings than [躊躇う]. (and of course she's not talking about "physical" roads/ways.) In this way I thought [waver] is a good word. But I'm sure I may be wrong about the nuances of English words. ;) I'm really addicted to this song and happy to discuss its lyrics :D:D |
Love love love love 'em! :D Thank you, masa!
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Thanks for the translation.
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thanks^^
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BAD.ASS.
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[i won't get lost anymore / i won't lose my way anymore] because this implies that the Microphone validates her existence and accentuates when she says that without it, she is nothing... so rather than no longer hesitating etc, the Microphone gives her the path she can follow... |
Thank you for these lyrics!!!! I am in love with them :love
I thought I was so clever, thinking that the song was about her microhpone, but then I saw several others thought the same :laugh Anyway, these are very powerful and very much fit the song! :D |
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Thank for the translation! And everyone else with input on the translation that makes it make sense in a different/similarish way..
Either way.. Very nice! |
Just curious what does she lightly sing after "I don't know, I don't know"? Is there any significance to that line right after?
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It's either "I can't tell you why" or "I won't tell you why"....
People are leaning towards the latter. |
^ I hear "I won't tell you more"
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To: appears
I think "I won't lose my way anymore" is a good translation, if "waver" sounds too literally. Let me use it please. About the difference of "mayou" and " tamerau", oji-i-san explained quite well. "Mayou" has broader meaning than "tamerau". And I think "hesitate" doesn't fit well in this song. But in the song of "Don't look back", "mayou" is used just as "tamerau". So I didn't hesitate to use the word "hesitate". And I changed the related part to "The meaning and the significance of my existence". |
thanks so much for the translation. awesome lyrcis
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thanks
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thx ^^
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is there a kanji version anywhere?
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i'm still unsure about [never come into my sight], which is a direct translation from the japanese, but one would not say this in natural english. i feel a passive reversal i.e "i never want to see you again" fits better, as it still implies that she wishes the Microphone never to enter her gaze, yet sounds more fluent in this case... |
Really love the lyrics of Microphone, Thank you very much for the translation!
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Regarding "sight", firstly I think it's sometimes OK to use less-colloquial words/expressions in our translation because ayu's original lyrics sounds less-colloquial/less-chatty sometimes even to Japanese people. Words like 視界, 重力, 敬服 and a kind of philosophical phrases like 私である意味, 存在する意義 are the examples. And another thing to consider here is that we need to differentiate between "kao mo mitaku nai / 顔も見たくない" and "kono shikai ni hairanaide / この視界に入らないで". Because ayu repeats one idea twice in different expressions, we need to do the same, and in this case the second expression is less-colloquial than the first one. How does this explanation sound? |
I really like these lyrics. Microphone sounds very good. :)
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that being the case, there are times i hate you so much i can't stand the sight of you sometimes i even think to myself that i never want to see you again because the literal translation is [never enter into my sight ever again] but as we've used the word -sight- previously, i personally think it's ok to switch it like this... and you? |
Isn't that taking a few too many creative liberties when it comes to translation though?
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^ the problem is that english and japanese are like polar opposite languages at times, so accurate translations (particularly when it comes to poetical thing such as lyrics) are uber-hard to translate well...
i have endeavoured to retain as much of the original as possible whilst at the same time producing something natural-sounding to english speakers... personally, i would translate the line i crouched down and turned my back away from everything even though the original is i turned my back away from everything and crouched down as i find the former to sound better stylistically but it's obviously open to interpretation and everyone will have a different take on it... plus, it's unfortunately half a decade since i've been translating japanese professionally, so i'm rusty as hell :-/ |
> well, i found something interesting... in my dictionary [Xの顔など見たくも無い] is [cannot stand the sight of X] which i think sounds better than the literal translation of [i don't want to see your face]
Well, could you tell me why you think "I cannot stand the sight of you" is better than "I don't want to see your face" for the translation of "顔を見たくない" ? "顔を見たくない" is a very normal and frequently used phrase. Why do you want to use less-frequently-used phrase for the translation of "顔を見たくない" ? As for "視界に入らないで", you know the literal translation of it is "Don't enter into my sight". I'm curious what is bad about this "Don't enter into my sight". I think you said you wanted to avoid using "sight". Then, why do you think using "sight" for the translation of "顔を見たくない" is OK? Let me explain again. Ayu's first phrase is "顔を見たくない" and second phrase is "視界に入らないで". Why do you want to change this order while we can say firstly "I don't want to see your face" and secondly "Don't come into my sight" ? Anyway this is just how I feel. I simply cannot figure out :dead2 As for > i crouched down and turned my back away from everything and > i turned my back away from everything and crouched down , I'm not very sure about nuances of English and I agree it's open to interpretation and liking. I wrote "I felt my limits, turned my back on everything, and crouched down" and it's because it's the order of how ayu sings. I think if we can keep the word order as original as possible, it would be better because ayu fans can follow/sing the lyrics while they have a better image of what ayu/they are singing. ;) |
^ yes i completely agree, it's just difficult because japanese and english grammar are usually opposite in form etc, so it's hard to directly translate without sounding ridiculous sometimes :laugh
yes, i know i was a bit vague about the sight thing.. basically, in english, you can say "get out of my sight!" (i don't want to look at you right now) we don't usually include the face in phrases like this... i.e [jesus, i can't even look at you right now... i can't stand the sight of you... etc] i don't want to look at your face sounds unnatural... it's like... in spanish, me duele la cabeza... literally the head hurts me - my head hurts... you know? so we modify it to sound better in the translated language, whilst retaining the original meaning... but i realise i have thrown a curveball by revearsing the order of the sight thing... but my dicitonary translated -kao mo mitakunai- as -i can't stand/bear the sight of- which to me sounds a perfect translation... the glitch being that the next sentence uses precisely the word -sight-... but one would never say -never enter my sight again-... ok, so howabout we try 'there are times when i hate you so much i can't even look at you sometimes i think to myself get out of my sight and be gone' P.S i have only had 3hours sleep so i'm not the sharpest thorn on the rosebush right now :-/ 御理解と御了承を戴きます様宜しゅう御願い申し上げます... |
to go a bit away from appears and oji-san's translation questions...
may you turn your eyes on this part, it's just minor, but like a thorn in my eye: Quote:
so it should look like this: Quote:
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^ da, i'd put that in my translation but masa-san blanked me on it :laugh
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OMG~~
the lyric is so AWESOME!!! and AWESOME translation! o.O thanks masa! :heart |
awesome lyrics!
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I'm always anxious about my "the/a/(nothing)/one's" My first translation didn't have that "the", but later I added it thinking it may be grammatically weird if "the" is not there. I'm happy to know there's no need for it. Thank you to appears, too! I think I get a part of your points. Is it like "I hit your face" is unnatural (or never used??) and "I hit you in the face" is natural? Then, I agree it's natural and fine to say "I don't even want to look at you" instead of "I don't even want to see your face" As for "get out of my sight", I still feel it's a little too natural. My reasoning is "get out of my sight" is asking something which is in to go out but "shikai ni hairanai de" is asking something which is out not to come in. They are (to me) different things. But, haha, maybe I'm too picky. Another thing I'm curious about is if it's better or not to pursue the natural English in a place where there are many non-native English users. Danke schön for your comments and ideas!! :P |
I personally feel that changing what Ayu wrote simply to have it make more sense for English speakers would be compromising her work somehow, haha. I suppose it depends on the style of the translator in the end. I think there are some people who really dislike when translators try to "localize" their translations, if you understand what I'm saying...
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Love the lyrics! :D
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I have to agree with truehappiness, I'd personally like you to keep the lyrics as close to the original as possible. I believe that metaphors and phrases "not normally used by native english speakers" will still be pretty much undestood by the reader. ;) But whatever you choose to do, I thank you all very much for the hard work. ^^
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and yes, you're quite right with what you were saying about smacking someone in the face :laugh so, consensus seems to prefer as pure a translation as possible, so with the shikai line, shall we do -sometimes i think to myself 'don't ever enter my sight again'- it's as close to the original as we can get right? but i don't really get your comment about preserving a natural sound in english... ヤッツケ仕事なんかやったらダメなんぢゃないですか？ |
I deleted "the" in the second stanza.
Thank you, ren0210989 |
To truehappiness and Not~Yet,
Thanks for your comments!! I agree with you in this case. To masa-san, Thanks for your hard work!! To appears, I think "sometimes i think to myself 'don't ever enter my sight again'" is OK. It can be one of candidates, I believe. As for "preserving a natural sound in (of?) english", I simply can not get what you mean by it. ^_^; We are not making a translation *from* English. So, why do we think about *preserving* characteristics of English? And, as a non-native English speaker, I don't think I can do it well. haha |
^ yes i know, but the language we are translating into should still flow well and not sound completely unnatural, no? anyway, japanese is your first language so you are good at conveying the original meaning as well as nuances that non-native speakers might not pick up, so your input is invaluable :thumbsup
and i am a native english speaker so i can do my best to attempt a good english translation :P glad you are somewhat(!) happy with the shikai translation anyway ;) |
I think preserving the nature of the Japanese understanding of the lyrics should take precedent over making it nice and pretty for international audiences.
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If you want to put your own spin on it, why not just start your own translating blog/site? Or start a thread here and put your own translations in them? Whatever the case is, masa's page is where he'll be hosting his translation (with feedback) so he can pretty much do whatever he pleases, haha. |
Microphone Lyrics
* Pushed by gravity, pulled by attractive force
I met you by necessity I can't go against you, but just admire you I know that I'm not myself without you Those are my favorite lyrics in Microphone so far!! Thank you, masa!! :thanks: |
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i had actually seriously considered that priorto, it's just that it's not an easy project to undertake, you know? but anyways, if you are satisfied with what is being presented here, i shalln't protest as much i have been, just as someone who is fascinated by languages and linguistics, and as a bit of a purist on the side, i only wanted to deliver the best possible translation in the english language that could be conceived, that was my first and foremost agenda and nothing more. p.s but not to be pedantic or anything, but i am pretty sure masa-san himself had previously stated -if you find something unnaturally sounding in the translation please let me know- so i think masa and myself both have the same common goal... ? whatever, i am not here to cause friction, far from it, i only want to give non-japanese speakers the opportunity to fully appreciate ayu's lyrics, but in a way that they can relate to (i.e a piece of prose that does not have the feel of being obviously translated using a dictionary or soforth but which could have almost been written by a native speaker... is that really so bad?) |
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^ i am not saying they've failed you, just that english is not his native language, therefore he is not as familiar with the nuances that are able to be expressed in english without consulting a dictionary for example and therefore not fully understanding the meaning, subsequently presenting some english which could be rephrased in a more accurate way whilst still retaining as much of the original meaning as is possible...
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But rephrasing it might take away from the original lyrical intentions, you know?
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i am well aware of that, and i said before, i am like, a total purist, so i wanna convey as much of the original as is possible... but it's like in spanish, they literally say -the head hurts me-... we would translate this as -my head hurts-, you know? we alter the language to suit our own syntax etc, that's my only beef with this ;)
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Thanks for the translation.
The lyrics are indeed strong and very true. She's talking to her microphone. "I know that without you, I'm nothing" Thanks microphone...XD |
Ahh.. couldn't help it.
I really LOVE masa's translations :luv2 I love the way you have to imagine the whole picture for the lyrics to be "understood". I LOVE the whole poetry in those "not narutal" sentences. So I definitely agree with this: Quote:
I hate when people translate something and change, completely or too much, the order of words and even some words, just to make it more "fluid". If you change the real words that AYU, in special, wrote.... is like....:thud I don't know.... I just don't like it when I see translations that look too "perfect" in english.... or even in spanish (my native language)... because I KNOW they modified it a bit -too much- xD to make it look "perfect". It bothers me a lot :shakehead xD However... I'm really happy that there are not bad intentions in appears corrections ;) So I totally take his/her words in his/her last posts and respect them too... ^^ Mmm.. maybe there are those people who might like those "more refined" translations...so appears should try that of making his/her own page for AYU translations ^_~ |
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I thought it was needless to say that I care about the quality of my English as an end product of my translation. What I repeatedly said was I'm not sure about how good my english is, and maybe I sounded too irresponsible. In that case, sorry for that. You taught me some of my words and expressions sound not natural, and I appreciate it because that's exactly what I want to know. And I'm happy to hear that you're planning to make more translations of ayu's lyrics. In general, it's obvious that a better translation can be made by a native speaker of the language to which texts are translated. Good luck :thumbsup :thumbsup |
thanks again
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Arigatou for the lyrics and translation ^^
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thank you so miuch~
the only new pv-song I actually wanted to repeat. |
I added several English lines, according to the official lyrics.
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