Ahane Ayano – Ikiru ashioto [Japanese lyrics with English translation]
artist: Ahane Ayano
title: Ikiru ashioto | Footsteps of Life [1]
discs: Ikiru Ashioto (single)
Re.Birth (album)
Best Selection (compilation album)
lyrics: Ahane Ayano
music, arrangement: Kameda Seiji
Romanization
nani hitotsu wakaranai mama mune ni semaru omoi
toshigoro da to ii nagara soremo kekkyoku nigeteita [2]
taikutsu da to wameiteru kakkoyoku ikirenai
kumo no kirema yuugure-zora
kaeritakute te wo nobasu [3]
tsumekonda kokoro chigiresou de
ikiru ashioto ga setsunaku hibiiteru [4]
katachi dake ni shigamitsuite jun na kimochi doko e [5]
samishisa to wa chigau kono kimochi wasuresou na mainichi [6]
tamerai nanka sutetesa warawaretemo ii ja nai [7]
kumo no kirema hareta sora
modoritakute me wo tojiru
takusan no hikari ga tsukinuketeku [8]
ikiru kodou ga setsunaku hibiiteru [9]
ima mo…
daremo inai ano sora ni
hanashita yume uso ja nai [10]
kioku ga nagaretsuku koro ni wa [11]
kitto mata aruki hajimeru
kumo no kirema yuugure zora
kaeritakute te wo nobasu [3]
tsumekonda kokoro chigiresou de
ikiru ashioto ga setsunaku hibiiteru [4]
Translation
Not knowing anything at all, a thought presses on my chest
Though I’m young, [2] even that is fleeing from me
I shout out against the tedium, and cannot live on happily
The evening sky peeks between the clouds
I reach out my hand, wanting to return to it [3]
My heart, so filled with emotions, feels like it will be torn apart
As the bittersweet footsteps of life keep echoing [4]
I go through the motions, but the true feelings disappear [5]
This emotion isn’t sadness, rather it’s like the blur of days that I’ve forgotten [6]
I want to stop hesitating and feel okay even if I am foolish [7]
The clear sky peeks between the clouds
Closing my eyes, I want to return there
So many rays of light keep passing through the clouds [8]
As the bittersweet pulse of life echoes on [9]
Even now…
Under the sky of a deserted land
The dream that I spoke of was true [10]
When the memories resurface [11]
Surely I will start walking again
The evening sky peeks between the clouds
I reach out my hand, wanting to return to it [3]
My heart, so filled with emotions, feels like it will be torn apart
As the bittersweet footsteps of life continue echoing [4]
Japanese
なにひとつ解らないまま 胸にせまる思い
年頃だといいながら それも結局 逃げていた
退屈だとわめいてる かっこよく生きれない
雲の切れ間 ゆうぐれ空
帰りたくて 手をのばす
詰め込んだ心 ちぎれそうで
生きる足音がせつなく響いてる
形だけにしがみついて 純粋（じゅん）な気持ちどこへ
淋しさとは違うこの気持ち 忘れそうな毎日
ためらいなんか捨ててさ 笑われてもいいじゃない
雲の切れ間 はれた空
戻りたくて 瞳を閉じる
たくさんの光が突き抜けてく
生きる鼓動がせつなく響いている
今も・・・
誰もいない あの空に
話した夢 うそじゃない
記憶が流れつく頃には
きっとまた歩きはじめる
雲の切れ間 ゆうぐれ空
帰りたくて 手をのばす
詰め込んだ心 ちぎれそうで
生きる足音がせつなく響いてる
==========
[1] Ikiru ashioto, lit: “living footsteps.”
[2] Toshigoro, “of a certain age.” Ii toshigoro = an appropriate/a good age.
[3] Yuugure-zora kaeritakute: [I] want to return to the evening sky
[4] Ikiru ashioto ga setsunaku hibiiteru, lit: “the living footsteps are echoing nostalgically.” I could not find a less awkward way to express the grammatical relationships of this phrase accurately. Perhaps: “The bittersweet echoes of living footsteps continue to reverberate”
[5] This was a stretch in trying to capture the meaning of the words. Katachi dake ni shigamitsuite jun na kimochi doko e. More literally, “I cling tightly only to the [physical] form, but where has the genuine emotion gone away to?” Along the lines of: “going through the motions, but without the feeling;”
[6] Wasuresou na mainichi: more literally at: “like forgetting the everyday.” This simile seems to describe the feeling of numbness and loss of concentration that causes days to blur together, along with disorientation and memory loss.
[7] Tamerai nanka sutetesa: “[Somehow] throw away the hesitation.” Warawaretemo ii ja nai: “Isn’t it good, even if [you are] laughed at?”
[8] Takusan no hikari ga tsukinuketeku: “Many [rays of light] piercing through.” This imagery suggests rays of sunlight passing through the clouds
[9] Ikiru kodou ga setsunaku hibiiteru. Similar to [4], this is more accurately and more awkwardly expressed as: “The living pulse is echoing nostalgically”
[10] Hanashita yume. Either: “the dream that [I] spoke of”, or “the dream in which [we] spoke.”
[11] Kioku ga nagaretsuku: “the memories drift ashore,” as if coming back to land after being submerged in the ocean.
As shown by the ample footnotes, this was a difficult song to translate. The lyrics are abstract. I hope some of the artist’s thoughts have been accurately interpreted and expressed in this translation.
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