2016/04/03

Syncopation

Released on 2016 Apr. 1st, included in "METAL RESISTANCE" (Japanese edition only).
Lyric: NORiMETAL, KxBxMETAL / Music: NORiMETAL / Arr.: MEGMETAL

Syncopation

A hot heartbeat and an urgent impulse
go so wild that I got upset, and they can't be stopped.
Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.
Like, dislike, like, dislike.

My mind is so full of fantasy that I feel scared.
It shows the near future and is about to overflow.
Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.
Like, dislike, like, dislike.

Ah, lit by the moonlight, with the Metal wings,

turn! Turn! From this world,  [Turn!]
fly up and away dancing!
Beyond the seasons coming and going around,  [Come and go!]
flap the wings and fly on singing!
Let the words of love resound beyond the night.

The beat gets painfully strong.
It shakes me to burning, and it can't be untangled.
Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.
Like, dislike, like, dislike.

I create a bit of future vision.
The hope to see it swells and is about to burst.
Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.
Like, dislike, like, dislike.

Ah, if the dark night is torn by beams of light,

swing! Swing! Drive melancholy away!  [Swing!]
When I dream of dreams and reach out my hand,
the dazzling dreams come and go around.  [Come and go!]
Their rhythm is the syncopation of love.
Draw the shape of love on the night sky!

From this world, fly up and away!
Swing! Swing! To the sky,   Fly!

Turn! Turn! From this world,  [Turn!]
fly up and away dancing!
The dazzling dreams come and go around.  [Come and go!]
Their rhythm is the syncopation of love.
Turn! Turn!  [Fly away!]
Swing! Swing!  [Fly away!]
Draw the shape of love on the night sky!



  ROMAJI LYRIC AND NOTES ARE BELOW.


[i] About the Grammatical Subjects of the Imperative Sentences

There are several imperative sentences in this lyric. A few of them are the imperatives towards things, which I specify. And I think the rest (marked with "[i]") are the imperatives towards the speaker oneself because nobody except the heroine appears in this lyric. Japanese people sometimes say first person singular imperative sentences: e.g. I say "Makeru na ore!" (= Don't be beaten!) to cheer up myself.

There is another possibility that the lyric writers may be addressing these imperatives to the heroine from outside. There are no personal pronouns in the original lyric, but the lyric writers describe the heroine's mental state as if they saw it from inside, so I supplement the sentences with "I", "my", & "me". They, however, may freely move their point of view from inside her (in the verses) to outside her (in the choruses).

There is yet another possibility that the grammatical subjects of these imperatives might be her love, or her dreams, or something, but I think "utai nagara" (= singing) is difficult for something other than a person to do. For Japanese imperative sentences towards things, see also the note [i] of "Amore".


Syncopation

Romaji LyricEnglish TranslationNotes
 
Atsui kodoo takamatta shoodoo A hot heartbeat and an urgent impulse
aseru hodo hajikete tomara-nai. go so wild that I got upset, and they can't be stopped.1
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Suki. Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.2,MY
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Like, dislike, like, dislike.MY
 
Kowai kurai afureta moosoo My mind is so full of fantasy that I feel scared.
chikai mirai utsushite kobore soo. It shows the near future and is about to overflow.
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Suki. Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.2,MY
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Like, dislike, like, dislike.MY
 
Aa tsukiyo ga terashita metaru no tsubasa de Ah, lit by the moonlight, with the Metal wings,3
 
maware! Maware! Kono sekai kara  [Maware!] turn! Turn! From this world,  [Turn!]4,[i]
mai-tonde yuke, odori nagara! fly up and away dancing!5,[i]
Meguri meguru kisetsu o koete
    [Megure!]
Beyond the seasons coming and going around,
    [Come and go!]
6,7
habataite yuke, utai nagara! flap the wings and fly on singing!8,9,[i]
Ai no kotoba hibike, yoru o koete! Let the words of love resound beyond the night.10
 
Itai hodo takanaru biito The beat gets painfully strong.11
moeru hodo furuete hodoke-nai. It shakes me to burning, and it can't be untangled.12
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Suki. Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.2,MY
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Like, dislike, like, dislike.MY
 
Mirai yosoozu o chotto soozoo. I create a bit of future vision.
Mitai kitai fukurande hajike soo. The hope to see it swells and is about to burst.
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Suki. Like, dislike, like, dislike, like.2,MY
Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Like, dislike, like, dislike.MY
 
Aa yamiyo o kirisaku hikari ga sashitara Ah, if the dark night is torn by beams of light,13
 
yurete yurete yuuutsu o tobase!  [Yurete!] swing! Swing! Drive melancholy away!  [Swing!]14,[i]
Yume ni yume-mite te o nobaseba When I dream of dreams and reach out my hand,15
meguri meguru mekurumeku yume.
    [Megure!]
the dazzling dreams come and go around.
    [Come and go!]
6,7
Rizumu wa ai no shinkopeeshon. Their rhythm is the syncopation of love.
Ai no katachi egake, yoru no sora ni! Draw the shape of love on the night sky!16,[i]
 
Kono sekai kara mai-tonde yuke! From this world, fly up and away!5,[i]
Yurete yurete sora e   FLY! Swing! Swing! To the sky,   Fly!17,[i]
 
Maware! Maware! Kono sekai kara  [Maware!] Turn! Turn! From this world,  [Turn!]
mai-tonde yuke, odori nagara! fly up and away dancing!
Meguri meguru mekurumeku yume.
    [Megure!]
The dazzling dreams come and go around.
    [Come and go!]
Rizumu wa ai no shinkopeeshon. Their rhythm is the syncopation of love.
Maware! Maware! [Tonde yuke!] Turn! Turn!  [Fly away!]
Yurete yurete! [Tonde yuke!] Swing! Swing!  [Fly away!]
Ai no katachi egake, yoru no sora ni! Draw the shape of love on the night sky!16,[i]
 

Notes

  1. The lines marked with "MY" & the enclosed phrases [---] are sung by MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL (added on 2017 Mar. 31).
  2. "Hajikete" (= hajikeru) means to burst open or to jump away, but probably neither the heart nor the impulse have yet burst. I changed the translation from "rush me" to "go wild" on 2016 Jul. 10th.
  3. "Suki, kirai, suki..." may come from "hana uranai" (= flower fortune-telling) (thanks to Anonymous san on 2016 May 18). A person holds a flower with many petals and picks off petals one by one saying "he/she loves me", "loves me not", "loves me"... (there are several variations around the world). What one says with the last petal is the result of the fortune-telling.
        This sequence appears 4 times. Considering the preceding lines, the 2nd & the 4th are likely to mean "he loves me, he loves me not..." (as Anonymous san said), but the 1st & the 3rd sound to me as if expressing she loves him but dislikes an uneasy state of loving rather than she suddenly starts fortune-telling.
        On the choreography of this part, YUIMETAL & MOAMETAL put their index finger on their lips (the sign of "Be silent!" or "Keep it secret!" in Japan) and push their open palm forward (the sign of rejection in Japan). I think these signs are not fit for "he likes/dislikes". I changed the translation of the 2nd & the 4th back from "he likes/dislikes me" "like/dislike" on 2017 Jul. 18th (sorry for late update).
  4. It is "Turn with the Metal wings which are lit by the moonlight!" in the standard English word order.
  5. It is "Fly up and away dancing from this world!" in the standard English word order.
  6. "Mai-tonde yuke" (= mai-tobu) is somewhat ambiguous. "Mai" (= mau) originally means to turn/revolve. It also means to slow-dance, to ride on the wind, etc. I'm not sure whether the lyric writers imply some round motion or only mean flying away. I changed the translation from "fly (dancing) away" to "fly up and away" on 2016 Jul. 10th.
  7. "Meguru" means to move around. "Meguri meguru" expresses a chain of movements (or a causal chain). Here it means "winter goes and spring comes, and spring goes and summer comes, and..." or "one dream goes and another dream comes, and...".
  8. This "megure!" (= come and go!) is (probably) the imperative towards the seasons/dreams.
  9. "Habataite" (= habataku) means to flap one's wings, and "yuke" (= yuku) means to go.
  10. The preceding line (= "beyond...") modifies "yuke". That is "go (= fly) on beyond the seasons...". I changed the translation from "fly away" to "fly on" on 2016 Jul. 10th.
  11. "Hibike!" (= resound!) is the imperative towards "ai no kotoba" (= the words of love). I changed the translation from "sound" to "resound" on 2017 Jan. 22th.
  12. I changed the translation from "the beat gets so strong that I feel pain" to "the beat gets painfully strong" on 2017 Jul. 18th.
  13. It means "it shakes me so hard that I (am about to) burn".
  14. Literally "Swing if the light that tears the dark night shines!"
  15. It means "Swing and swing and drive melancholy away!" or "Drive melancholy away by swinging and swinging!" or something. "Yurete" is the conjunctive form (連用形; ren'yôkei) of "yureru" (= swing). It is dependent on the context what relation the verb in this form has to the main verb.
  16. "Yume ni yume-mite" (= ---miru) is ambiguous. Some people use this phrase for "dreaming of a dream" (= the state of indulging in one's dreamy feeling itself rather than dreaming of something) in association with "koi ni koi suru" (= falling in love with love). Some people use it for emphasizing: i.e. dreaming and dreaming of something. And traditionally it meant to dream in a dream and expressed a very vague vision/feeling.
        She may dream and dream of her lover if she dreams of something other than dreams. I changed the translation from "If I dream" to "When I dream" on 2016 Jul. 10th.
  17. I'm not sure whether the imperative "Draw...!" is towards some person or towards the dazzling dreams which come and go around. If not supplemented otherwise, the grammatical subject is usually supposed to be something that appears just above (= "the dazzling dreams"). In the last section, however, the last three imperatives are supposed to have the same grammatical subject which is unlikely to be "the dazzling dreams". See also note [i] above. (Added on 2017 Jan. 22.)
  18. It means "Swing and swing and fly to the sky!".
        "FLY" may be sung by MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL, but I'm not sure because of audio processing (appended on 2017 Mar. 31).

24 comments :

  1. Awesome, thanks for the lyrics once again :)

    When will we get the lyrics for From Dusk Till Dawn ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will get the eur edition Apr. 4th 7am (JST) or after. If it contains the lyric card, I will immediately copy the lyrics, if not, I will transcribe them from the audio track.

      Delete
    2. quietThunderstorm03 April, 2016 18:55

      The Out of Japan edition doesn't have a lyric card, unfortunately. I had to transcribe them myself, but it's not perfect and lots of words are hard to hear.

      Something’s got to go…
      Something’s got to go…

      In the air…
      Pray your way
      In the air… the air…

      It got better…
      Don’t start slow, then…
      (Something’s got to go…)
      It got better…
      Don’t start slow, then…
      (Something’s got to go…)

      Dream… sing…
      Climate… the weather…
      Hot… colder…
      And warm… memories…

      Get off my face
      More day after day
      And reaching to fate
      So instincts so faint
      I’ll wake from the dream
      To keep and relive
      ‘Cause life it is a dream
      And dream’s on a BREAK

      While it’s over
      Never ever
      While it’s over
      Never ever

      In the air…
      In the air…

      Delete
    3. Thank you for transcription.
      I've created the article for "From Dusk Till Dawn" and reposted your comment.
      I would like further discussion to be posted to that article. Thank you.

      Delete
  2. 日本語で失礼します。

    Itai hodo takanaru biito
    moeru hodo furuete hodoke-nai.

    ジョジョの奇妙な冒険の第1部
    「ふるえるぞハート!燃えつきるほどヒート!!
    おおおおおっ 刻むぞ血液のビート!」
    (引用元:http://proudyblood.nobody.jp/wryyyyyyy.html)

    にインスピレーションを得ているのでは、と思いました。

    このサイトの素晴らしい仕事に感服しました。
    高村光太郎からグレートマジンガーまで日本のカルチャー&サブカルチャーてんこ盛りのBABYMETALを丁寧に非日本語圏の人たちに説明していただいてありがとうございます。

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for information.
      "Biito", "moeru hodo" & "furuete" indeed seem to come from the words of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

      情報ありがとうございます。
      確かに「ビート」「燃えるほど」「震えて」はジョジョから来ているみたいですね。

      Delete
  3. 翻訳ご苦労さまです。日本語で失礼しますが、
    [Suki. Kirai. Suki. Kirai. Suki.] [I like, dislike, like, dislike, like.]
    の部分は花占いを表していると思います。
    ですので、英語圏の花占いである"he loves me, or he loves me not"
    が正しいと思います。
     花占いであることは明示されていませんが、「あふれた妄想」、「未来予想図をちょっと創造」
    など明らかに片思いの女性が花占いをしていると思われます。

     それではsee you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing out.
      The lines "suki, kirai..." seem to be flower fortune-telling. Probably the 2nd & the 4th occurrences are "he likes me or not or...", but I feel it a bit strange that the 1st & the 3rd are "he likes me or not or...". For now, I've removed "I"s.

      ご指摘ありがとうございます。
      「スキキライ・・・」は花占いのようですね。たぶん二回目と四回目は「彼は私を好き?嫌い?」でしょうけど、一回目と三回目はそれだとちょっと変な気もします。とりあえず "I" だけ削りました。

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for correcting. I've fixed it.

      ご指摘ありがとうございます。修正しました。

      Delete
  5. Thank you fir translation.

    My thinking is that this dong is sung by either or both Moa and Yui, as the vocals don't sound quite like Su.

    What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably Miss Moa & Miss Yui sang only the interjected parts which I marked with [ ... ]. In some interviews, Miss Suzuka said she sang this song. If Miss Suzuka's voice sounds to you differently from usual, probably it is because of the sound processing or she slightly changed her way of singing for this song.

      Delete
  6. Thank you for your reply, Du Metal, and greetings from the UK.

    I appreciate your thoughts. Miss Nakamoto certainly has a very powerful voice and I'm excited for what her future career shall bring, whether that will be with Babymetal or not, or metal or some other genre.

    Yours,

    Christian.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Du Enki-san

    After a short break, I present my new playlist. I think you may find some fun surprises in here...
    BABYMETAL LUCKY FOX PLAYLIST / ラッキーキツネプレイリスト
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOefuN1l53T4zEjV8NWKohGaApYcyG-aZ

    I hope you enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for playlist.
      Some of it are new to me. I will watch them later.

      Delete
  8. I disagree with adding the possible subject, "He likes me, dislikes me, likes, dislikes."

    I agree one interpretation is that it's like the picking flower petals asking if he like or likes me not. But if there is no other subject clearly stated in the rest of the lyrics, leaving your translation vague is for the best.

    -R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment.
      In informal conversation, Japanese people often omit the grammatical subjects and/or objects if the listeners can understand what are omitted. Those who can't understand them are treated as outsiders of the group (not classmates, not young people, not Japanese people...). In Japan, saying it's ambiguous may mean "I don't care what the lyric writers thought", but it might be better not to add "he" in the translation but to explain that in the note.

      Delete
  9. I made a cover using your lyrics, have a listen. https://soundcloud.com/ctrledo/syncopation-babymetal-cover

    ReplyDelete
  10. Are you currently working on updating the Syncopation video with Tokyo Dome footage?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watching the choreography in the Tokyo Dome video, I'm thinking about whether I should revise the translation.

      Delete
  11. Du Enki-san, it seems to me that some lines have a citation to another BM songs. For example, 見たい期待 from Doki Doki Morning, 膨らんで from Awadama Fever, はじけ from Megitsune (this verb was used only in this song). Also, メタルの翼 is a citation to META (メタルのハート, メタルのパワ, メタルヒーローさー). What do you think about that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lyric of "Hohoemi-gaeshi" (1978), the last single of "Candies" (a Japanese girl trio) has some citations to their hit singles, but I can't imagine BABYMETAL had some special reason to do such citations in this song. If there is some resemblance, I guess they are the lyric writers' favorite phrases. The lyric writers of this song also wrote the songs you mentioned except "Doki Doki * Morning".

      Delete