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Welcome!

Here are my translations of the songs by the band BUMP OF CHICKEN, from Japanese to English. I hope this lets more people appreciate the beautiful lyrics of BUMP!

Links to each song can be found in "Albums" and "Singles."

BUMP's official website is http://www.bumpofchicken.com/!

Feel free to contact me at lebarrow@earthlink.net!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Motorcycle / モーターサイクル English Lyrics Translation

Motorcycle

When I woke up my chest was hurting
Not my heart, but the right side
At night, I felt better
I even forgot that it had hurt

Work frantically, sleep, that's all
Wake up, eat, sleep, that's all
Both ways can be called living
But thickheadedness and unfeelingness are different things

Medical exams, insurance, connected lives
Things you bought with the money you earned
Safety, amusement, wasted time
You've got all sorts of things

Your life isn't over
Wasn't today yesterday's tomorrow?
There's not point in thinking back to the beginning
All you'll find are the answers you'd expect
If you think you're a realist
Then I guess you're not looking for consolation
The deep heart below lifeless eyes is just fine

My friend's motorcycle was crushed flat
But we each cry when we need to
It's become my job to turn it into a joke
There's a right time to be sensitive and unfeeling

Intense anger when there are no buyers
Sad realization when there is no place for you
Both ways can be called living
Once you're born you survive somehow

Tow trucks, new cars, blurred lives
Innocent money solves our problems
Gravity, the earth, the worth of people
We are completely different from Icarus

Somebody pays compensation
Large and small, loss, patience, limits
But still what am I taking the compensation for?
I want it to stay vague
It'll all be over if they realize the outcome
If I just choose defeat, I'll be able to breathe
I applaud
The deep heart below lifeless eyes

Ah, I can't tell you
You can just ignore me
I don't even want you to acknowledge me
I can't say what was important in the first place
Ah, I can't tell you
You can just ignore me
I don't even want you to acknowledge me
What was important in the first place

Hating those the same as you
Mimicking other lives
Faces show they know it's an imitation
You impersonally stay within the safety zone
But where is your enemy?

It's not my business, but I'll try my best
Though there's no way for me to tell you how I feel
Amongst all the morals and rules
I've no choice but to frivolously try

You don't have to end it
The end will come on it's own anyhow
And there's no point in thinking ahead to that time
All you'll find are answers you borrowed from someone else
If you don't think of yourself as a realist
Then the time shouldn't matter to you
Even if people say you have lifeless eyes
Your heart still has a pulse

Eat your food and don't grumble
You can't become a person just by pretending to be one
They won't stare at you, it won't bother you
Once you're born you survive somehow
You may think those around you are fools
But they're probably struggling in life too
Those who laugh and say you have lifeless eyes
Have probably had hardships in their lives as well

Ah, I can't tell you
You can just ignore me
I don't even want you to acknowledge me
I can't say what was important in the first place
If I offered you a hand, would you hold on to me?
If you wouldn't, I don't mind, but…
Ah, leave me be, stranger
I can't say what was important in the first place


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JAPANESE


モーターサイクル

起きたら胸が痛かった
心とかじゃなく右側が
夜になったら治ってた
痛かったことも忘れてた

あくせく働いて寝て終了
起きて飯食って寝て終了 
いずれも生活という行為
鈍感と不感は別の物

診察 保険 繋いだライフ
稼いだマネーで買った物
安心 娯楽 潰したタイム
色々と高くつくもんだ

一生終わることなんかない
今日は昨日の明日だったでしょう
始まりを考えても意味がない
ありふれた答えしか出てこない
現実派気取りでいるなら
慰めなんて期待しないでしょう 
死んだ魚の目のずっと奥の心はとても丈夫だぜ

友達のバイクがぺっちゃんこ
泣きたい立場十人十色
なんだってネタにする仕事
敏感と不感の使い分け

買い手のいない激しい怒り
置き場などない哀しい悟り
それでも生活という行為
生まれたらどうか生き抜いて

レッカー 新車 滲んだライフ
罪無きマネーがお片づけ
重力 地球 人の価格
イカロスとは違うよ全然

誰が弁償してくれる
大小 損害 忍耐 限界
それで何を弁償して貰う
そこは曖昧なままにしたい
勝敗が付けば終わるなら
負けを選んでそれでも息する
死んだ魚の目のずっと奥の心に
拍手を送るよ

あぁ君には言ってない
そう無視してくれていい
相槌さえ望まない
そもそも大した事言ってない
あぁ君には言ってない
そう無視してくれていい
相槌さえ望まない
そもそも大した事

同族嫌悪
競ったライフ
誰かの真似で知った顔
安全地帯で没個性
開き直る相手はどこに

他人事だけど頑張れよ
手伝う気も方法もない
道徳と規則の中で
へらへら頑張るしかないよ

わざわざ終わらせなくていい
どうせ自動で最期は来るでしょう
その時を考えても意味が無い
借りてきた答えしか出てこない
現実派気取りじゃないなら
どんな時間が無駄か解るでしょう
死んだ魚の目って言われても
心臓はまだ脈を打つ 

四の五の言わず飯食えよ
人の振り見て人にはなれんよ
気にする程見られてもいないよ
生まれたらどうにか生き抜いて 
周りが馬鹿に見えるなら
生き難いなんて事もないでしょう
死んだ魚の目を笑う奴に
今更躓くこともないでしょう

あぁ君には言ってない
そう無視してくれていい 
相槌さえ望まない
そもそも大した事言ってない
手貸したら握るかい
どっちでもいいけどさ
あぁ外野は放っとけ
そもそも大したこと言ってない


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OPINION

Ahhh there's just too much to say about this song. It is probably BUMP's fastest song, with the most diverse lyrics. Oh my gosh. It was interesting to translate though. There are a lot of places I'd like to note… One is, the "stranger" could be read as "outfielder," as in baseball. But I think stranger makes more sense, since both are from far away in any case. The "lifeless eyes" in the original is "dead fish's eye," which in Japanese has a similar meaning. It can be used for someone who often has a blank, empty, or sad expression. It's not really a nice thing to say. As the song points out, the person with eyes that seem lifeless could be feeling any emotion, you just can't necessarily see it. This song's "story" is also rather obscured. My overall interpretation is that it's about grief. After the speaker's friend gets killed in a motorcycle accident, he was offered reparations and all sorts of things. But that really does him no good, and he has started feeling umcomfortable in daily life. As for the person he's addressing in the song, it could be himself, his dead friend, perhaps a second other friend, or maybe even a purposefully vague person that could be anyone. In the end, he's the one with the lifeless eyes. He doesn't cry about his friend's death yet. But he has realized that you can't guess what other people have experienced. The people who are mean to you have probably suffered in their own way. So it's ultimately a song about empathy. That's what I think, at least. Listen to it yourself and see what you think.

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