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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Amaterasu / Kiryu (DOUBLE DELUXE..of sorts)

Kanji & Romaji: hiphopvomit (天照 | アマテラス)
Translation: myself

Lyrics & music: Sakai Mitsuki




天照 [Amaterasu]
Amaterasu / Goddess of the Sun



Spit lie fell down     Making a faint noise
If told, it would easily collapse     An obsolete, tender song

Clapping and cheering when dancing to a comedic tragedy

If I tried to look up without tears running through my cheeks

Even now, the heavens (1) are like that of THAT day     Unchanging    "Dull colored pattern"(2)
Nevertheless, the love speaks of dreams     Laughing while facing the heavens up
Even though I hold my mind to stop crying    Cheeks are getting wet by     "Dull colored pattern"
At vapors of the dream    The heavens are evilly laughing

At the end of loitering in the darkness, what will come out, a demon or a snake (3)
Lie     Truth    In the middle [of them]  appearing and disappearing "Amaterasu"

I'm unable to reach THIS hand, even though I'm following it    I can't get rid of the handcuffs because of a lie
Deceiving and ridiculing, singing and dancing (4)     The truth disappears into the darkness

Clapping and cheering when dancing to a comedic tragedy

Pretending not to see the mind that laments "It hurts"

Even now, the heavens are like that of THAT day     Unchanging    "Dull colored pattern"
Nevertheless, the love speaks of dreams     Laughing while facing the heavens up
Even though I hold my mind to stop crying    Cheeks are getting wet by     "Dull colored pattern"
At vapors of the dream    The heavens are evilly laughing

Is it yet...
Not yet... (5)

Echoing power of language (6)

Burst and flew away on the wind towards the other side     Love, dream, everything

Even now, the heavens are like that of THAT day     Unchanging    "Dull colored pattern"
Nevertheless, the love speaks of dreams     Laughing while facing the heavens up
Love is illusion    Dream is evanescence     Will it vanish or scatter    "Dull colored pattern"
When killed, dazzingly glittering flower blooms
______________________________________________________________ 

アマテラス [Amaterasu]
Amaterasu / Goddess of the Sun



One lie stuck to lips    Is a faint noise
Brittle when told     Crumbling from the old age     Therefore, it's a tender melody
I'm unable to reach THIS hand, even though I'm following it    Handcuffs I can't get rid of are a lie
Deception is the reason     Ridiculing, singing and dancing     The truth disappears into the darkness

Cheering when dancing to a comedic tragedy

Even now, the heavens are like that of THAT day     Unchanging dull colored pattern
Nevertheless, the love speaks of dreams     The dream is laughing while facing the heavens up
Even though I clench my teeth to stop crying    Cheeks are getting wet by the dull colored pattern
The dream is still in vapors   The heavens are laughing while facing me up

Is floating on the fate of loitering the path of a snake
Resounding lamentation

In the middle of the lie and the truth, appearing and disappearing

"Amaterasu"

Will the love disappear in the illusion or    Will the dream scatter into the evanescence if I touch it
When killed, dazzingly glittering flower blooms     The heavens are laughing while facing me up

Footnotes:
  1. Sung as 空 [sora] which means (astronomical) sky
  2. Wordplay (??): 鈍色模様 [nibuiro moyou] actually stands for dark grey pattern, but if we dissect it into 鈍 [nibu] - dull and 色模様 [iromoyou] - colored pattern, we can translate it to dull colored pattern; 色模様 can also mean love scene
  3. It's an actual proverb in Japan (鬼が出るか蛇が出るか [oni ga deru ka, ja ga deru ka]); means an outcome which is difficult to predict
  4. A play on 歌舞伎 [kabuki] - traditional Japanese form of performance
  5. A reference to Japanese version of hide and seek (kakurenbo): the one who "seeks" counts and asks is it yet? (mou ii kai?) while people who "hide" themselves reply with not yet (maada da yo) when not ready or It is yet (mou ii yo) when ready
  6. In accordance to Japanese beliefs, the words have their own spirit and magical powers, therefore we ought to be careful what we say, because it may have a huge impact on ourselves or surrounding us people; this power of words is called kotodama

Discussion:

The one who illuminates the sky, I mean, Amaterasu. This most important god of Japanese Shintou is the one who had been sent to the heavens to be the Sun of the world. I often stated that she's the progenitor of Japanese imperial family and the emperors themselves. However, she's also a symbol. Of things. I mean, Amaterasu represents life and fertility as the sacred embodiment of the Sun. 

I think that she can also represent hope and mercy, since her buddhist counterpart is Kannon which would make sense here.

The rest of the song is relatively easy to understand. Our well known motif of lost love which was meant to last forever. Appearing and disappearing Amaterasu, like the sun illuminates the sky stand for a bright day and happiness/well-being for the subject.

Again, I decided to put two songs that correspond with each other. Lyrics are basically the same, just paraphrased.