• Kenshi Yonezu

    Peace Sign → English translation

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Peace Sign

いつか僕らの上をスレスレに
通り過ぎていったあの飛行機を
不思議なくらいに憶えてる
意味もないのに なぜか
 
不甲斐なくて泣いた日の夜に
ただ強くなりたいと願ってた
そのために必要な勇気を
探し求めていた
残酷な運命が定まってるとして
それがいつの日か僕の前に現れるとして
ただ一瞬 この一瞬 息ができるなら
どうでもいいと思えた その心を
もう一度
遠くへ行け遠くへ行けと
僕の中で誰かが歌う
どうしようもないほど熱烈に
いつだって目を腫らした君が二度と
悲しまないように笑える
そんなヒーローになるための歌
さらば掲げろピースサイン
転がっていくストーリーを
守りたいだなんて言えるほど
君が弱くはないのわかってた
それ以上に僕は弱くてさ
君が大事だったんだ
 
「独りで生きていくんだ」なんてさ
口をついて叫んだあの日から
変わっていく僕を笑えばいい
独りが怖い僕を
蹴飛ばして噛み付いて息もできなくて
騒ぐ頭と腹の奥がぐしゃぐしゃになったって
衒いも外連も消えてしまうくらいに
今は触っていたいんだ 君の心に
僕たちは
きっといつか遠く離れた
太陽にすら手が届いて
夜明け前を手に入れて笑おう
そうやって青く燃える色に染まり
おぼろげな街の向こうへ
手をつないで走っていけるはずだ
君と未来を盗み描く
捻りのないストーリーを
カサブタだらけ荒くれた日々が
削り削られ擦り切れた今が
君の言葉で蘇る 鮮やかにも 現れていく
蛹のままで眠る魂を
食べかけのまま捨てたあの夢を
もう一度取り戻せ
もう一度
遠くへ行け遠くへ行けと
僕の中で誰かが歌う
どうしようもないほど熱烈に
いつだって目を腫らした君が二度と
悲しまないように笑える
そんなヒーローになるための歌
さらば掲げろピースサイン
転がっていくストーリーを
君と未来を盗み描く 捻りのないストーリーを
 
Translation

Peace Sign

That day when it skimmed the space just above us
as it went by, that airplane
It’s puzzling, the extent that I remember it
Even though there’s no reason for it
I wonder why
 
The night I dried my cowardly tears
My only wish was to become stronger
The courage needed to fulfill that wish
Is what I’ve been searching for
 
Even if the destiny written for me is filled with cruelty,
Even if that fate were to someday appear before me,
If even for just an instant,
 
For just this very instant,
As long as I can draw breath
It’s not something worth the worry
That’s how I want to live
 
One more time
“Go the distance! Go the distance!”
Somewhere inside of me someone sings these words
With a passion as if it’s all they can possibly do
So that your eyes, always swollen from tears, will never again
have reason to cry, I will smile
This song is so that I may become such a hero
In any case, throw up a peace sign
As this story unravels before our eyes
 
As much as I say I want to protect you,
I know that you aren’t weak
In fact, I’m much weaker than you
You’re just that important to me
 
“I’ll live on my own” and things like that
came out of my mouth as I cried, and since that day
It’s okay to laugh at how much I’ve changed,
at the me who was scared of being alone
 
Pushing others away, lashing out, unable to take a breath
My head’s in a tizzy and my insides are jumbled up
To the point that all my pretenses and put-on airs are vanishing
I want to reach out now
To your heart
 
We will
Surely someday, though it’s so far away,
Be able to reach even the sun
Let’s reach it before dawn and laugh
And like that we’ll be dyed a burning blue
The other side of that faint town
We can reach it if we join hands and run
Together let’s snatch the future and rewrite it
A story with no big twists
 
Those violent days filled to the brim with scars,
And now, worn down to shavings
Resurrected by your words
Vividly
It appears
As if in a chrysalis, my soul sleeps deeply
That thrown out, half-eaten dream of mine,
Give it one more chance
 
One more time
“Go the distance! Go the distance!”
Somewhere inside of me someone sings these words
With a passion as if it’s all they can possibly do
So that your eyes, always swollen from tears, will never again
have reason to cry, I will smile
This song is so that I may become such a hero
In any case, throw up a peace sign
As this story unravels before our eyes
 
Together let’s snatch the future and rewrite it
A story with no big twists
 
Kenshi Yonezu: Top 3
Idioms from "Peace Sign"
Comments
Killua19Killua19    Sun, 14/07/2019 - 10:41

Amazing that version #1 of the translation has that many thanks, considering it is severely lacking. Anyone wondering which of the two is more akin to the original meaning of the song, should look to translation #2...

Biggest flaw I'd say is the fact that the whole song has to do with the symbolic peace sign, which is actually "offered" as a sign of affection to the story that is unrolling before the narrator's eyes, and not dismissed as just some sort of childish notion, as translation #1 would have you believe.

AyakashiAyakashi
   Sat, 29/08/2020 - 15:59
Killua19 wrote:

Amazing that version #1 of the translation has that many thanks, considering it is severely lacking. Anyone wondering which of the two is more akin to the original meaning of the song, should look to translation #2...

Biggest flaw I'd say is the fact that the whole song has to do with the symbolic peace sign, which is actually "offered" as a sign of affection to the story that is unrolling before the narrator's eyes, and not dismissed as just some sort of childish notion, as translation #1 would have you believe.

Firstly, I would like to say that this comment is very, very rude. It is one thing to offer up suggestions and to provide corrections, but to simply tear down someone's work for not prescribing to a predetermined notion you have is not constructive criticism. In fact there's nothing constructive about it at all.

Secondly, from an interview with the artist (translated by vgperson) "If it were a manga, the first panel would have the plane flying over, and the boy looking up at it... then a bunch more panels, and finally, at the very end of the chorus, there'd be a two-page spread of the boy from behind holding up a peace sign, like bam! Turning that image I had into words, I ended up with those lyrics. Making music from an image is something I always do, but I'd never had it planned out as a manga before"

Technically "farewell," fits more accurately than "in any case", but I felt "farewell" was finite in a way that didn't provide the same sense of imagery as described above.

BlackSea4everBlackSea4ever    Sun, 14/07/2019 - 10:53

It goes to the arguments we frequently have whether it's better to have an artistic vs literal translations.
When I don't know the source language, I prefer translations that closely convey the meaning even if that means rhymes are sacrificed. But, I also enjoy poetic variations, although when they completely alter the original, I'd prefer that author stated so in submitter's notes.
Thanks for your clarification of this song.
Best,
Deanna

AyakashiAyakashi
   Sat, 29/08/2020 - 16:02

Hello Deanna,

I base my translations off the direct word choices of the lyricist and spend a great deal of time thumbing through interviews about the songs I translate. My goal is always to provide the same experience that the author intended.
If this is referring to the formatting, I formatted my spacing to reflect the official printing of the lyrics as seen in the physical release, which I used as my primary source.

I hope this clears things up :)