In Japanese:
vs.
In made-up language of unknown meaning:
Yoko Kanno is a genius. She wrote the lyrics and composed the score. Quickly translated loosely the lyrics … I cannot translate the gibberish – the second version, lol. How did she even make up a whole new language? She’s in a different plane all together – another dimension.
山の端 月は満ち Beyond the mountain full moon on the horizon
息づくあなたの森 your forest enlivened with every breath
夏草浴びて眠る covered in (summer) grass, sweet profile
愛おしい 横顔 of a slumbering precious one.
おぼろな この星 on this hazy fading planet we live
大地に 銀の涙 silver tears drop on the earth
繭たる蛹たちはchrysalis in cocoons
七たび身をかえる metamorphosis of 7 passages
青にLaLaLu LaLaLu染まる 恋し繭玉 so in love with sweet cocoon, a precious ball tinged in color blue
揚羽の蝶になる swallowtail butterflies are born
やがて宇宙をつつむ 無限の翅模様 their wing markings envelope the entire universe…designs of eternity.
いのち輝かせよ live to the fullest – bright life.
あの月 あなたなら if that moon above were you,
悲しみを写さずに no sadness is mirrored
世の揺らぎ見つめて bearing witness over the ever fluctuating world
嘆かずに飛んでみる flying without anguish
風にLaLaLu LaLaLu唄え 翅に月うつし sing to the wind, wings of light reflecting the moon
揚羽の蝶になる becoming swallowtail butterfly
揺らぐ夜に生まれ 銀河をわたる蝶よ a butterfly born into the night wrought with fluctuations, flying across the milky way
いのち輝かせよ ignite (your) ever brighter life
青にLaLaLu LaLaLu染まる 恋し繭玉 so in love with sweet cocoons, a precious ball, tinged in color blue
揚羽の蝶になる transform into butterflies
やがて宇宙をつつむ 無限の翅模様 their wing markings envelope the entire universe…we are wrapped in designs of eternity.
いのち輝かせよ ignite (your) ever brighter life.
Fewer in word-count but translating manuals are easier than translating poems, lyrics, any form of artwork that cannot be literal and word for word, requiring editing and rearrangement to piece it together … No machine can do it – only human. Google translate cannot do justice to the mood and emotions evoked …
Here, the image of cocoon is round, like that fuzzy balls of silk cocoons …mirroring the blue tinted white moon reflected over water … it’s an image and Yoko Kanno has the magic over ethereal image she weaves – she’s the weaver of silk threads that we all have but languishing in our hearts and minds. Through music, she awakens us.
