Homework

Mmmm as it turned out this weekend was exactly as busy as I thought it would be so I'm not sure if I'll get a translation in or not. I need to make sure I am taking the time to properly completely and study my homework for the classes I am taking or there is no point, right? Thus we'll be studying kanji this afternoon...

Translation: 朝 ー はっぴいえんど

This is one of their songs that get me every time. Original lyrics.

Morning

Morning leaks in from a gap in the curtains
and gently wraps you up as you lie there.
The light plays on the white wall and you're so sleepy
it makes you look beautiful. Now inside me
morning is passing through. I hang my head and
lived alone. I didn't see anything.
I didn't hear anything. I have the feeling that
the times up to now are like ancient history. Your awake but sleepy voice; you open your eyes a little, smiling. Without replying, I breathe in.
I'm warm. Outside the window, there is winter.

There are some little doubts about the above. I waffled a bit on the subject, like always. I don't want to get into it, though; just want to listen again.

Update: Actually, I know that 顔をそむく can't possibly mean what I said it does, the way the particles are. Got a little glib. I dunno what it should be, though. Do you betray your face? I wonder if it's just a difference in the figure of speech. If anyone knows I would be interested to find out. Ok wait I just updated it. I found the verb 背ける and it makes WAY more sense. Glad I looked that up. The kanji is the same as 背くbut it seems like the character has changed since the time the song was written (one of those).

Update: As I'm singing I realized I totally whiffed on 冬. Heh, it's "winter" not "snow." Fixed.

One week of class down

I guess I should've have written this sooner, but my second week of class starts tomorrow. LET'S REVIEW:

Kanji 2

I think I'm going to like this class. When I went last week there were 5 people (including me) all doing our best to remember the kanji we were supposed to have learned in the last class (which I did not take, but one would freaking hope that after a B.A. I would know SOMEthing, for the sake of our higher education system, if not for me). As it is, there were some that I did not know, and although I thought I had reviewed up to the point where we would be in 2, I missed about...6 chapters. Ugh. So I'm going through them. Luckily it is a lot of stuff I recognize, even if I can't necessarily pull it out of thin air with a pencil. Good review is good after all.

Intermediate 4

I have some problems with this class and they don't stem from what the 3 of us (including me) did as far as material (easy grammar, though it maybe—I really need the vocab work), but as far as learning to pronounce things. Not to say I'm not happy I signed up, but I'm just really worried about picking up horrible pronunciation habits. They teach this super basic elementary-reading-speak that just irks me. It feels like the equivalent of spoken romaji, honestly. Let's see if I can demonstrate in writing.

We worked on あげる、くれる、もらう and the honorific/humble equivalents. A sentence like:

お母さんは妹に本をあげました。

turns into:

お母さんは？ 妹に？ 本を？ あげました。

NOTE THE QUESTION MARKS AND SPACES.

Not that it really sounded like a question per se, but it was the easiest way to indicate the annoying upswing in pitch on the end of every particle with a little pause as if the grammar had to digest. I understand this might be the way you teach 5 year olds how to read, but we're not 5 and we want to sound like really human beings. Japanese 5 year olds speak it alllll the time so they even out. We mostly speak English and come to school to speak Japanese, so give us the real deal and don't baby us.

/end vent

I dunno. Maybe it's selfish and I don't mean to sound like an arrogant jerk, but one thing people have always noted about my Japanese is that I have decent pronunciation, so I really don't want to mess it up by getting this drill-speak in my head. In fact, I'm a little terrified of it. Hopefully if I supplement with lots of native exposure I'll be ok.

*worryworry*

Translation: かくれんぼ ー はっぴいえんど

This weekend I decided to do かくれんぼ, but next time I'm definitley doing 朝. I realized I should have probably done them in the reverse order after I started, but all these songs are so great that it doesn't matter too much. This one will be harder to learn to sing because the melody is so meandering, but that is part of why I love to listen to it, so I'll do my best :) Japanese lyrics are here.

Hide and Seek - HAPPY END

The cloudy sky's early twilight
I'm making a cloud of smoke puffing on a cigarette [1]
Unfortunately the wind has completely died down
I'm drinking hot tea.

I'm trying to say "I want you" or something
A lie like a sigh slipping out the back [2]
is like a flower petal.
I'm drinking hot tea.

There was no thawing of snow etc.
The left over time in a ovalish warped coffee cup shivers. [3]
I'm drinking hot tea.

Oh, don't say anything. Yes, if you just be quiet it's better.
Because I can't hear your words.
The snowy landscape is outside. Inside the two of us are playing
hide and seek.
You smile as if it's painted on. [4]
I'm drinking hot tea.

[1] The parallel is so much more beautiful in Japanese.

[2] 滑り落とすis a tricky word that doesn't seem to want to come up in any of my dictionaries. Obviously the line after this one is very connected to it, but I'm not sure I got this metaphor right. And as usual, it sounds horrible in English. Luckily, no one expects you to (god forbid) sing or even really think about these songs in English. This is just a reference and it helps to sing the song if you have an idea of what you're saying.

[3] 瞬間: You can clearly hear him say とき here, so I'm guessing that this is just (now) outdated kanji. In the dictionaries I tried it came up as moment/second/instant, which you could also use here, I suppose. I really like the idea of "dregs of time" which I think is what they are getting at here? This is a really pretty song. I hope I understand it correctly : /

[4] This is a really a key line and it's hard to say whether I translated it right here. It seems like it should be this bitter interpretation, since they are playing hide and seek with their feelings and having a rough time of it (at least the way I'm seeing it). He could also be ADMIRING her smile, though. That said, it might not even be "her" smile. *sigh* Anyways, yes, so you could also say something like, "The very picture of a smiling face..." but I just don't get that vibe. In English you wouldn't really compliment someone by saying their smile looks like in a painting, so I'm not sure how I would translate it if it were a positive thing. If anyone has any insight into this line, please let me know :)

Translation: 暗闇坂むささび変化 ー はっぴいえんど

I sort of want to start a HAPPY END cover band. How cool would that be? These songs are so fun to sing :) This one has been my project for the weekend. On the tribute CD, Happy Parade, this song is sung BEAUTIFULLY by　つじあやの with ukulele :) Lyrics are here.

The Giant Flying Squirrel Monster[1]

The place is Tokyo, Azabujuuban,[2]
just then the early afternoon.
In the dark hills, an outburst of crickets chirping.
To my shining eyes in my black coat [3]
In broad daylight, appeared a monstrous apparition.

Flying squirrel,
Flying squirrel,
Oh-oh flying squirrel.

Butterflies go flap flap flap
Bats go whoosh whoosh whoosh
A suspicious cloud streams by
To my ears in my black hat, from a torn mouth
comes a worn out voice saying, "You never write..." [4]

Flying squirrel,
Flying squirrel,
Oh-oh flying squirrel.

If I try to remember,
in grandma's old stories, since I've met one of these I should say [5]
"Let me hear one or two of your tales of woe"
and take its hand even if it's just a dream [6]

Flying squirrel,
Flying squirrel,
Oh-oh flying squirrel.

Notes:

[1] This is a more or less literal translation. As far as I can tell, though, this song really is about a fying squirrel "monster."

[2] Thank god for name and place dictionaries.

[3] This was probably the hardest line in the song (well and the one about 黒ソフト, but once you decide the first one the second one works the same way. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be more metaphor or he was actually just describing the clothes he was wearing. I mean, I could be entirely wrong. I think it's the に that really through me off, since that should indicate direction, not location. Unless it's with ある, at least. See? It's hard. I'm not sure.

[4]草疲びれる　This was pretty interesting. It took me a while to figure out this word, even though I knew right away what it meant because of the kanji for 疲れた (which means "tired"). Unless the dictionaries I use are mistaken, this: 草臥れる is the current kanji spelling of the word. Another of the dictionaries only seems to register the kana くたびれる.

[5] 以来, here, through me off. It's supposed to mean "since" in a time sense, not a "because" sense. I almost want to assume they botched the kanji, because 依頼 (also いらい) means "request," which totally makes sense, but I would have to change the rest of the verse, too. It'd be something like ,

If I try to remember
in grandma's old stories, the request from one of these when you meet is,
"Let me tell you a tale of woe or two..."
and it takes my hand even though I'm dreaming.

Orrr....something. But you get the idea. It would change from you offering to help it out (to save your skin!!) to it requesting your help (because it's a sad lonely spirit). It's hard because I understand the situation and even have a general idea of how a yokai encounter works, but I just can't get through this grammar.

This sort of runs into point [6] by now, but that も is sort of hard to parse. Normally も is something like "as well" or "too" but in this case I don't think he's been talking about any other "pipe dreams" (which I refuse to translate as pipe dreams because...well...we just wouldn't say it. I could maybe do it as "hallucination," but that seems a little too far from the original.) I guess I just took some liberities in this case and said "even though" because that seems to be the sentiment they are trying to convey. Like, "It's probably a dream, but this is what happened, so...what can I say?"

UPDATE:

This past week a friend from Twitter sent me some notes on this blog post! I was very surprised and excited by this development :)

The main gist is to confirm my hesitations in [3] where I wasn't sure what to do with the black clothing mentions. The context is murky enough that it seems like you could go either way, but this translator went with the metaphor, which maybe does make more sense. Anyhow, I highly recommend checking out the notes!!