| 空の 果てまでもうすぐ 寂しい太鼓が響く頃 ふいに 透き通る胸の 贖いに耳を傾けて | A sky – Soon, into its farthest reaches, When a lonely taiko will echo; Suddenly, The transparency of a breast – Bend an ear to its atonement; |
| 優しさの降り注ぐ 秋の日の夕暮れに どうして生まれも知らず 切なさはこみ上げる 迷わずに歩けたら 遠くまで行けるのに 枯れた涙の静寂で 歌い続ける nostalgia | Kindness beats in downpour Upon the twilight of an autumn day; Why, as one ignorant of heritage, Does an ache well within my heart? If I could but walk, unwavering, I could go to such a great distance; By the quietude of withered tears, I continue to sing; nostalgia |
| どうか信じないでいて 私の涙も溜息も きっと人よりも少し 儚い気持ちが好きなだけだから | Please, believe not in me – Neither my tears nor my sighs; Since, surely, more than most, just a little – The only feelings I enjoy are fleeting;1 |
| 青ざめた窓際で 忍び泣く旋律は 幸せの影残して 愛の夢 を弔う 一人ずつ歩けたら 遠くまで行けたかな 振り返る白い頬に 口付けるのは nostalgia | By the pallid windowside, A melody sheds silent tears; The shadow of happiness leaves A dream of love, Mourned; If, with each one of us alone, I walked, I wonder if I could have gone to such a great distance; Against a white cheek, turned back toward me, Lips are placed; nostalgia |
| 空の果てまで 秋の太鼓が響く nostalgia | Into the farthest reaches of the sky, The taiko of autumn will echo: nostalgia2 |
| 優しさの降り注ぐ 秋の日の夕暮れは 消えて行きたくなるような 寂しさを甘やかす 迷わずに歩けたら 遠くまで行けたかな 深すぎる空の下で 歌い続ける nostalgia | Kindness beats in downpour Upon the twilight of an autumn day3 Which begins to seem as if it longs to disappear – A loneliness indulged; If I could but walk, unwavering, I wonder if I could have gone to such a great distance; Below a sky, too deep, I continue to sing; nostalgia |
Footnotes
1. The final two lines of this verse are difficult to capture in English, because the Japanese sentence structure allows a “reveal” that can’t be translated without also losing its impact.
To illustrate, a literal translation would be: [surely][more than most][a little], [ephemeral feelings][enjoy/like][only][because].
So, since she sings [only][because] last, you aren’t sure why you can’t trust her or understand the context of her ephemeral feelings until the very final two words… Which, in the song, are fittingly sung in a lower register, adding a layer of meaning.
2. This segment is limited to the live version and isn’t listed as part of the official lyrics.
3. Literally, this is something like “the twilight, upon which the kindness beat down, of an autumn day”. But, whereas the prior, contrasting line,「優しさの降り注ぐ、秋の日の夕暮れに」, sets the location as the twilight, this line instead sets the twilight as the subject. So, in the first instance, the singer is the one acting within the twilight, and, in this instance, the twilight is the one acting.
Thematic Commentary
Kajiura sure enjoys writing a song about a past love having died or been lost. I really enjoy the balance between the kindness of the memories, the loneliness in recalling them, and the way the singer says she’s now incapable of long-lasting feelings because of how significantly her “nostalgia” for the past has sapped her.
Further Comments
This song uses a lot of literary-sounding language, such as ending verbs with「～ず」instead of「～ない」, so I tried to keep the tone of the song the same in English – even where the verbs are conjugated more traditionally.
I also chose to emphasise links in imagery, as well: the feeling of “welling up”「こみ上げる」, which “heavy rainfall”「降り注ぐ」 would cause, and to the withering of tears「枯れた涙」. To me, I read this as the singer, whose heartache wells up, sheds those tears in a taiko-like beating downpour, leaving them withered – with no tears left within them to cry.
Further Links
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