New Song Lyrics in the YoRHa Musical

The YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 was massively upgraded and revisioned from the previous Ver.1.1 stage play that had its last run in May 2015. One of the new additions to the musical was newly added song lyrics penned by Yoko Taro himself.

Back in February when I went to the musical and later watched it several more times via NicoNico Douga, I wrote down the lyrics as I heard and understood them, later translating them into English. This was really difficult to do and I knew there would be plenty of discrepancies and mistakes.

Now that the Musical has been released on blu-ray, they’ve included the lyrics to these songs, so now all we have to do is translate them. There are a couple additional verses to the song “Grandma” that does not actually appear in the musical.

Below you can find the lyrics as they’re shown in the booklet along with the Romaji reading and my preliminary English translation. It’s still pretty barebones right now and I may tweak them some more so that it sounds more like song lyrics without losing the intended meaning and feeling.

「還ラナイ声」/ kaeranai koe / Voice of No Return

[ JAPANESE ]

我が見えし
祈りの太刀
現闇に
惑いながら

彼の敵と
滅びの火は
何時 光 未だ見えなくて

それは 虚ろな
それは 贖い
ありもしない 御霊が
歌に 遠い 歌に
今も 壊れゆく

[ ROMAJI ]

waga mieshi
inori no tachi
utsuyami ni
madoi nagara

ka no teki to
horibi no hi wa
itsu hikari imada mienakute

sore wa utsurona
sore wa aganai
arimoshinai mitama ga
uta ni tooi uta ni
ima mo kowareyuku

[ ENGLISH ]

My vision
A sword of prayer
In the present darkness
While lost

His enemies and the fire of destruction
When the light still cannot be seen

Is it empty?
Is it redemption?
Those imaginary spirits in the song, the distant song,
Even now they break

 

「オバアチャン」/ obaachan / Grandma

黒 寄る辺なき光
白 薄闇と
空 届かない祈り
歌 今もなお

音 侵されて
刻 戸惑いて
音 奪われて
刻 彷徨いて

赤 砕けゆく命
灰 運命が
牙 曇りゆく刃
傷 忘れ得ぬ

音 狂わせて
刻 失って
音 間違えて
刻 呪われて

[ ROMAJI ]

kuro yorube naki hikari
shiro usuyami to
sora todokanai inori
uta ima mo nao

oto okasarete
toki tomadoite
oto ubawarete
toki samayoite

aka kudake yuku inochi
hai unmei ga
kiba kumori yuku yaiba
kizu wasureenu

oto kuruwasete
toki ushinatte
oto machigaete
toki norowa rete

[ ENGLISH ]

Black, No light to turn to
White, With the pale darkness
Sky, Unreachable prayers
Song, Even now

Sound, Is distorted
Time, Is confused
Sound, Is stolen away
Time, Is lost

Red, Life falling to pieces
Ash, Fate
Fangs, Growingly cloudy blade
Wounds, Cannot be forgotten

Sound, Is mad
Time, Is lost
Sound, Is mistaken
Time, Is cursed

YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 Recap and Exclusive Interviews from the Cast and Crew

It’s been almost exactly two months since the performances of the YoRHa Musical by now, but I am finally able to share my officially endorsed article and recap of the dress rehearsal, which includes several exclusive interviews from the cast and crew!

Read the Article Here!

As a quick overview, you can find personal comments and interviews from the following members:

  • The Cast
    Ishikawa Yui (No2)
    Takana Reina (No4)
    Mochida Chihira (No16)
    Hanana Mio (No21)
  • The Music Team
    Emi Evans (vocal)
    Goto Takanori (guitar)
    Kawaji Emi (piano)
  • Extended Interview with Tanaka Reina

I may write an afterward eventually detailing my first experience as official press.

Kuroi Hana: An Interpreted Translation

I was asked to translate the lyrics from “Kuroi Uta”, but since lyricist Kikuchi Hana also wrote this in complete katakana, it’s very difficult to make an exact translation. There are a few reasons why I am okay with this:

1) Like poetry, song lyrics need not be completely coherent and they can break from traditional norms of grammar.

2) Simply by using all katakana like this conveys a sense of an old language, or perhaps even the language of gods.

3) Somethings are not meant to be fully understood, but rather felt or experienced. It is what it is and holds no room for explanation. There is a sense of beauty in ambiguity.

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