2013/07/27

[About This Blog]

I totally revised this article on 2017 May 4th.

About This Blog

I am Enki-Du (not a real name). I am a native Japanese speaker born & living in Japan. I listened to & watched BABYMETAL on YouTube and was surprised by their performing abilities. Then I learned not a few people outside Japan are also interested in BABYMETAL. I want YOU to know more about BABYMETAL & their songs. This is why I here present my translations of BABYMETAL's songs and translation notes.

There were already some translations of BABYMETAL's songs, but reading those translations, I felt that BABYMETAL's songs or Japanese songs are difficult to translate for some reasons (see below). Needless to say, it is difficult for people to understand things of other cultures.

About Romaji Notation

I present the lyrics in romaji, but there seems to be no standard romanization of Japanese. I'm sorry my romaji notation is not uniform. For example, the same phrase may be sometimes separated and sometimes united. I insert a hyphen before "nai" (e.g. "shira-nai") to show it is the negation auxiliary verb.

I write Japanese single long vowels double (e.g. "oo" for o: ). The sound system of Japanese is based on mora (not on syllable), and one long vowel is counted as two morae. Some long vowels were originally two short vowels (e.g. kufu → ku'u → ku: (= eat)). In the melody of a song, sometimes not one long note but two notes are assigned to one long vowel. For these reasons, I write all long vowels double in the romaji lyrics. In explanations, however, I may use macrons or circumflexes for long vowels (e.g. Tôkyô), or I may even drop them from such famous words as "Tokyo" (thanks to aine san on comment of 2013 Nov. 27).

Just for reference: In Japanese, "n" at the end of a syllable is counted as one mora (written as "ん"), so such a word as "ほんき" (honki) has three morae and usually three notes are assigned to it in the melody of a song. Such words as "もっと" (motto), "さっき" (sakki), etc. have three morae, and the middle is silent (called "促音"  (sokuon) in Japanese). Those words are distinguished from two morae words "もと"(moto), "さき"(saki), etc.

About Lyric Presentation

Japanese CD packages almost always include the lyric card. I call the lyric printed on that card "the official lyric". It is registered in the list of the copyright collecting agency. The official lyric is very important because some Japanese words have several meanings and the kanji that is used specifies the meaning. For example, "とぶ" (tobu) includes "飛ぶ" (= fly) and "跳ぶ" (= jump). And Japanese lyric writers sometimes use such an unusual combination of kanji & sound as "現在(ここ)". That is, sometimes they write "the present time" and read it as "here".

I mostly follow the official lyrics, but I may divide long lines or unite short lines. If I find some phrases or lines are omitted in the official lyric, then I transcribe them as far as I can. If I find a word is sung with different pronunciation from the official lyric, then I transcribe the actual pronunciation.

Usually punctuation marks are not used in Japanese lyrics, but I use them in romaji lyrics. I insert a comma at the end of the predicative part of the inverted sentences, but I may forget it or may use a comma for some other reason. I append a question mark to all interrogative sentences, an exclamation mark to all imperative sentences, and I also keep those marks contained in the original lyrics.

In Japanese, the words borrowed from foreign languages (except Chinese) are usually written in katakana, but some words are written in alphabet in the official lyrics. I present them in uppercase or small capital in the romaji lyrics (e.g. "CUTIE STYLE" is for "Cutie Style").

About Translation Notes

I write many long translation notes: Firstly, if I find ambiguity or something in the lyric, I present some possible interpretations and explain why I choose one of them. Secondly, if I feel difficulty in translation, I explain what I want to translate. Thirdly, if I find the lyric has reference to famous old songs, movies, etc., I mention them. Fourthly, if I think some background knowledge about the topic of the song is helpful, I present it. Fifthly, if I think the song is controversial in some way, I present my personal view about it.

About the Singer of the Phrase

To show the singer of the phrase, I use marks as follows:

  1. The lines that are not enclosed with brackets [---] & not marked with "M", "Y", "S" are sung by the main singer. On most songs, SU-METAL is the main singer but MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL sing some phrases with her. On BLACK BABYMETAL's songs, MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL are the main singers.
  2. The lines marked with "M" are sung by MOAMETAL, with "Y" by YUIMETAL, with "S" by SU-METAL. "S,MY" means the former half is sung by SU-METAL and the latter half by MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL. I'm sorry if I mistake the voices of MOAMETAL, YUIMETAL, & SU-METAL.
  3. The phrases or lines enclosed with single brackets [---] are also enclosed with parentheses (---) in the official lyric or don't appear in the official lyric.
  4. Most of the phrases or lines enclosed with single brackets [---] are sung by MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL, but those marked with "(s)" are sung by SU-METAL, with "(m)" by MOAMETAL alone, with "(y)" by YUIMETAL alone.
  5. The phrases or lines enclosed with double brackets [[---]] are death growls by some man/men.
  6. Some phrases or lines enclosed with brackets appear without parentheses in the official lyric, but I enclose them for some reason. The lines that are enclosed but not indented are such kind.

About Difficulty in Translation

Translation of Japanese songs is difficult largely because there are many omissions. For example, "I miss you" corresponds to "boku wa kimi ga koishii". This is too long to say (particularly in songs), so only "恋しい"  (koishii) is said, and the context determines who miss whom. The grammatical subject & object are added only if the speaker thinks they must become explicit. In Japanese, they are something like "in Tokyo" of "It rains in Tokyo." and grammatically dispensable.

What is worse, Japanese people don't care about grammatical ambiguity. For example, "先生の嫌いな生徒"  (sensei no kirai na seito) has two possibilities: "a student disliking a teacher" and "a student disliked by a teacher", but many Japanese wouldn't think this is ambiguous. A school boy clearly said "the meaning is clear because teachers are not allowed to dislike students". Yes, he is right.

If the speaker & the listener share recognition & concerns, there is no ambiguity. It seems to me that many Japanese think sharing recognition & concerns is important for society and unconsciously confirm their sharing through such (ambiguous) sentences. Therefore, if the communication breaks down due to ambiguity, they would think the listener is to blame rather than the speaker (particularly in informal conversations).

Actually the sharing often fails: boys often misinterpret girls' songs, optimists often misinterpret pessimistic songs, etc. Needless to say, there are a lot of riddling songs all over the world and some song writers never think about the answer.

About My Translation

I'm not an English speaker. I'm sorry that I've probably made many mistakes in English and I sometimes change the translations when I later find the word is somewhat misleading or hit upon a more suitable word. Please be careful when I use a simple English expression which has a special meaning to native speakers (e.g. "get down") without a translation note. Probably I'm not aware of that special meaning.

I try to keep the original word order in translation because I think the order of the images occurring in the mind is important. I think, particularly when reading the translation while listening to the song, the translation of a certain part should come together with the melody of that part. I add a note if I think the translation is difficult to read due to the word order.

Japanese lyric writers prefer the lines consisting only of single noun clauses such as "痛いほど高鳴るビート"  (Itai hodo takanaru biito; The beat which gets painfully strong). (Sometimes there is no larger sentence that contains such a noun clause.) I often translate them to normal sentences such as "The beat gets painfully strong." for ease of understanding.

Though I often disregard big grammatical structures of the original lyric, I translate words rather literally, that is, "megitsune" to "female fox". "Megitsune" also means a woman who deceives men, and there may be a more suitable English word for this meaning, but the lyric of "Megitsune" contains some expressions associated to foxes, so it should be "female fox".

Some readers have kindly suggested more suitable expressions than mine (e.g. "PLEEASE!" for "I entreat"). Probably many of them are more suitable, but I'm afraid some might be what I would not select even if I knew English well. For example, "Zakkenja nee zo!" is a harsh pronunciation of "Fuzakeru no de wa nai zo!" (= don't kid / stop kidding). It is more aggressive but contains no insult, so I will not translate it to an insulting expression.

Some people seem to translate what a typical Tokyo girl says in a certain situation to what a typical London girl (or a typical New York Girl or whatnot) would say in that situation, but such translation can't convey the difference between their ways of thinking in that situation.

About English Lyrics for Singing

At first, apart from the English translation which is rather literal, I had intended to write the English lyric that we can sing with the melody, but it is too difficult for me to accomplish.

122 comments :

  1. おはようございます。はじめまして、イアンルせナと申します。ブラジルに住んでいる.私は日本語の学生です。よろしくお願いします。私はベビーメタルが大好きです。私はFacebookのベビーメタルブラジルのページを持っている,そして私はあなたの翻訳が好き。私はあなたの翻訳を使うことはできますか。  (英語からポルトガル語に変換する方が簡単です) それについて考えてください、お願いします。



    (sorry for bad Japanese, i am learning)



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    1. Please use my translations. That's why I translate. But I hope you to keep two points in mind.
      -- Firstly, I'm not good at English. I don't use English usually. I attach notes when I find the difficulties in translating. Please consult them. Even with a very natural English expression, I may fail to express my intention. Please be careful of such idioms as "get down".
      -- Another one is about the nuance. Your Japanese is almost perfect. Grammatically perfect. But it's better to use the polite form "-to-iimasu" rather than the modest form "-to-mooshimasu" (at the beginning) if you have no special intention (but using this modest form makes no problem). Such an issue arises in my translations. The reason why I translate literally as possible is to tell that "On a situation like this, English speakers may not say like this, but the Japanese do". However, I don't know how strange the expression sounds to English speakers. If it sounds "very strange", please replace it with an "a little strange" expression, or the strange expression of the same degree as you feel about what the Japanese say and do in such a situation.

      PUT YOUR KITSUNE UP!

       どうぞ私の翻訳を使ってください。私はそのために翻訳しています。ただ注意してほしい点が二つ有ります。
       一つは、私が英語が得意でないことです。私は日頃英語を使っていません。翻訳で苦労したときは注を付けていますので、それを参考にしてください。英語としてごく自然な表現でも、私が自分の意図を伝えるのに失敗しているかも知れません。"get down" のような慣用表現は注意してください。
       もう一つはニュアンスの問題です。あなたの日本語はほぼ完璧です。文法的には完璧です。ただ、最初の謙譲語「と申します」は、あなたに特別の意図が無ければ、丁寧語「と言います」を使うほうがいいです(このままでも不都合は有りません)。私の翻訳にも同様の問題が起こります。私がなるべく直訳しているのは、「こういう状況で、英語話者はこう言わないかも知れないけど、日本人はこう言うんだよ」と伝えるためです。しかし私は、その表現が英語話者にとってどれくらい奇妙に聞こえるのか分かりません。もし「とても奇妙」に聞こえるならば、「少し奇妙」な表現か、そういう状況での日本人の言動にあなたが感じるのと同じ程度の奇妙さの表現に、替えてください。

      キツネ挙げよ!

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    2. 我々は非常にべビーメタルブラジルに感謝!

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    3. I just found your blog while searching for information about BABYMETAL. I really appreciate your detailed notes and translations. Thank you very much!

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    4. I'm glad to know my blog helps you.

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    5. Thank you for your work Du Enki!!!! I am a new BabyMetal fan. Your translations make my experience of BabyMetal much better and I love to learn about Japanese language!!

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    6. I hope many people enjoy BABYMETAL.

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    7. Thank you Du Enki.

      I've been listening to BabyMetal for about a year now, since around when their second album came out, I think? (Seems longer). And by 'for about a year' I mean pretty much literally that. The drive to work, the time at work, the drive home, sometimes in the evening; it's just about all I've listened too. It may sound like I've gone completely mad/obsessive; but it's been great to find some music I am totally amazed by and which constantly surprises me.

      I've only just recently been looking into the meaning of the lyrics, because up until now the music has, frankly, been enough.

      With more knowledge of actual meaning of the words has generally come some disappointment, though. Either because my own interpretation of the music/choreography was so far out, or because I'd missed something so obvious in those clues about the meaning of a song. Or, (as with NRNR) because an already obviously emotional song suddenly becomes almost heart-breakingly sad.

      But your site offers far more than simple literal translations. The cultural, perceptual and idiomatic ideas behind translation are presented as well. This is simply fascinating to me. (And as a mostly maths/science guy, I'm really not into linguistics at all.)

      I just wanted to say thank you for the work you've put into this.

      Thank you.

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    8. To Unknown san on Nov. 24:
      I'm glad this site helps you. Your interpretation might be right and mine might be wrong because I can't know how the lyric writers or the singers feel about the lyrics, so I present some other possible interpretations.

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    9. (I'm not entirely sure why I posted that last comment anonymously, rather than with this account, but there you go.)

      You are right in that you can't be 100% certain of the intended meaning; language can be pretty subtle. And Japanese seems especially so from what little I know. Particularly when translating across such a large cultural border too.

      But the point is, you at least know what the words mean. I don't have any clue at all. And further, you are providing WAY more than just the first, simplest 'text-book' literal translation (if there even is such a thing).

      Take as an example Onedari DaiSakusen. This is right up there as one of my favourite songs, but I had almost no idea at all what it was about. I've still not got much of an idea what genre of music it is, even! (A sort of heavy-metal-rap is about as close as I've got. Anyone?)

      I listen to it many times daily, and I still have no idea what it IS as a piece of music. It just leaves me feeling like I've listened to something moving, interesting, musically wonderful, and at least a bit dark. It's just got a feeling of "Wow! What was *that*?" every time it ends.

      From the choreography of the live version, from the refrain "one for the money...", and even from the costumes Moa and Yui wear in the live shows, I kind of decided it was something about commmercialism/capitalism somehow. But that's all.

      That it seems to involve the idea of young girl(s?) discussing strategy for emotionally blackmailing / manipulating daddy to buy more stuff; that wasn't obvious at all without the words. And yeah; you may not be totally accurate in your translation either. But at least it's narrowed the intent of the song down massively from what I knew previously.

      I'm also sure there are plenty of things within just that single song which are almost untranslatable on a word-by-word basis. The phrase "Atashi papa no oyome-san ni narunda" seems to be especially complicated. Here, the translation simply seems weird/creepy/disturbing to me as someone in the UK. But with the background you provide, at least some small idea of what it's trying to convey comes across.

      I may comment more on individual songs in the right place as I get to them; and I doubt I'll provide any insight (and I'm in no rush, as I still mostly just like the music).

      But I think what you've done here is simply wonderful, and just want to say once more that the huge effort you have obviously put in is greatly appreciated.

      Oh; and I saw you say somewhere(s) on the site that you don't think your English is very good. That I totally disagree with. I've spoken to Oxford professors who weren't as coherent in English as you. And the fact that you realise you can't necessarily translate everything accurately is, in itself, a huge step towards getting things as close as possible.

      Thanks, yet again.

      P

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    10. Can I link to this site from others, like YouTube? I'm not going to do so without asking; but this seems like a great place for some fans to land on; and if I can direct them to it, I will.

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    11. Linking is welcome & asking is not needed if the link helps those who see it.
      I'm sorry I've not yet updated what should be updated such as the lyrics of "From Dusk Till Dawn".

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    12. @AnAardvark: It seems you're a bit disappointed with BM's lyrics? Well not all of them are genius, and it could be argued that between the first and the second album something was lost lyrically speaking – the juvenileness of most songs like Doki doki, Uki uki, Choco, Onedari daisakusen and others, there's nothing like that in Metal Resistance... But I find many of the lyrics are great, interesting and... fun. You mention about Onedari daisakusen: "I kind of decided it was something about commmercialism/capitalism somehow." And it is! If you want to interpret it that way. If memory serves, according to interviews, both Yui and Moa are the best daughters of their parents, so the song can not be a sort of celebration of such bad behaviour of manipulating daddies. It's more like a description of something that exists, and you can interpret it as you like. For instance as a critique of young people's consumerism enforced through the media. Something similar with Gimi Choko. My first interpretation was, this song is a critique of the obsession of the youth (specially female youth) of having a slim body, an obsession that created thousands of anorexia cases since the 90's. And well, you can't say the song IS such a critique, but it can still be read that way. In any case, BM couldn't be a band with political or social messages, it's basically a fun band, mixing idol themes with metal themes and tons of humour. And it's great. But hey, they still have serious songs with strong messages, like Megitsune or IDZ!! Knowing the contents of some of these lyrics –thanks to Du Enki basically– in my case helped a lot enjoying the music even more! And some lines, the way Suzuka sings them, are really touching...

      @DuEnki: what do you mean about updating he lyrics to FDTD? Is there finally an official version?

      Saludos to both,

      Fernando :)

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    13. To Fernando san:
      I've not as yet found what I'd call the official lyrics, but some readers suggested some other transcriptions of "From Dusk Till Dawn" on the basis of the performance at L.A. on 2017 June 16th.
      Some seems to fit both the studio take & the live take, and some seems to fit the live take only, but it is difficult for me to decide.

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    14. @Fernando (Hi!)


      Am I "a bit disappointed with BM's lyrics?" That's certainly not what I'd meant to imply. I was simply saying that most translations I've come across have been severely lacking.

      There is a lot that can't be conveyed by just changing the words from one language to another. And Du Enki seems to have done a great job of adding some extra background to help the meaning behind the words come over the cultural barrier, too.

      And in the case of NRNR, for example, I wasn't disappointed by the translation at all; simply overwhelmed by it.

      However. When I stop and think a little, the honest answer is probably yes; translations are sometimes a little bit disappointing.

      I've been listening to the music a LOT with little to no real comprehension of its meaning. Anyone doing that is bound to come up with all sorts of things in their own head that don't quite match up with what the words really mean.

      Or maybe it's not even that. Maybe it's simply that unknown meaning in music has a power all of its own. Pinning that down and explaining it loses some of the mystery/charm. As an analogy; once you've solved a puzzle (crossword, Sudoku, maths, computer game, etc.) it's often no longer of any interest whatsoever. A problem you've spent (tens/hundreds of) hours on is simply not interesting anymore. Maybe it's that kind of thing with lyrics, too?

      If you listened to the Blue Danube a few hundred times with no prior knowledge and then were told it was 'just a tune about a river' it'd probably come as a bit of a let down.

      On the other hand, this is absolutely not a critique of the lyrics themselves. I can see that they are fun/creative/complex/moving and various combinations of all those and more. I don't think they could be better.

      But at the same time, the human voice (especially in the hands of someone like Suzuka) is the most powerful and versatile instrument there is. Maybe attaching meaning to it is sometimes just a distraction?

      All that is not going to stop me exploring this site more, though. Apart from anything else, I want to be able to sing along to some of the songs that are simply too hard for me to vocalise without at least reading the Romaji lyrics. (And even then it's a struggle!)

      All the best. :)


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  2. Thank you very much for your work. There is a big BABYMETAL boom going on in my head right now, and finding your site helped me appreciate them even more. Your extensive translation notes really do help to understand the lyrics on a whole different level, with all the linguistic and cultural nuances that would otherwise be lost on me.

    I help maintain a Japanese lyrics translation website myself, but I'm afraid we're nowhere near your level of background information.

    To answer your question about long vovel romanization. In case of well-known words like Osaka (and not Oosaka) or Tokyo (and not Toukyou), I think you should use the established English spelling. But, do that only as an exception to the rule to make romanization accurate, that is to represent all moras in Roman alphabet.

    Personally, I also prefer to romanize words written in katakana in all capital letters (eg. メタル→METARU). But this and the above is just nitpicking. Your romanizations are pleasant to the eye and read very smoothly.

    I have a small request. I want to introduce BABYMETAL to the members on my forum. Do you mind if I link to your blog and use a few translated quotes in the introduction post?

    Thank you again. Keep on rocking.

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    1. Thank you for your comment and answer to my question.
      Linking and quoting are welcome, but if you quote some from the page "under construction", please check the page again later because I may change the quoted phrase.
      BABYMETAL's songs need more background information than ordinary songs (i.e. the reference to old movie, etc). That is the taste of the middle-aged producer and the young listeners (and I) may not know some of it. And many lyric writers sometimes write the line without (or hiding) the deep meaning just because it sounds cool and, when asked, they'd answer the meaning is open to your imagination.
      I've filled the blank by searching on Internet and consulting the dictionary, but the blank matters little unless your imagination draws quite different things there.

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    2. Thank you for your kind permission. The deed is now done. I didn't use an "under construction" page, but I will keep an eye for any updates.
      Although I think I'm quite proficient in English, it is not my native tongue. I sometimes find myself wondering what is the meaning behind the line even with English songs. With Japanese songs, unfortunately I will need to rely on other people's translations for a long time still. With many of those translations done by people not fully proficient in Japanese I often feel I'm only getting maybe 10% of the real meaning. This is why your translations and notes are so valuable. Even if you sometimes need to fill the blanks in, I think your conclusions or interpretations are much more reliable.
      On an unrelated note, do you know anything about the people behind BABYMETAL? Such as producers, arrangers, composers, musicians? With the high quality metal arrangements I have a feeling they may be someone well known in the metal world, however I'm unable to find any information other than their stage names.

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    3. I've found some good transtaions of Japanese songs by non native, and one not so good by native without love for the singer, so I think non native can do that if they have a bit of poetic sense and very very much time.

      I'm planning the page "People around BABYMETAL" but I don't have enough information.
      The producer "KOBAMETAL" is a salaried worker of the management office, formerly at management of SIAM SHADE. I think the high quality is due to the long time of production. KOBA said he had sent back "MEGITSUNE" 36 times to the arranger.
      He has talked about BABYMETAL on some magazines as "Hedoban" (vol.1,2, by Shinko Music), etc., but the given information is merely lot of fragments. I guess no bigger name musicians than NARASAKI are concerned with BABYMETAL. The stage musicians of BABYMETAL very often tweet and very less the composer. I get such information from a famous huge BBS "2ch". No one seems to pile up these fragments of information. I wonder why.

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  3. I will treasure this blog. Thank you for this blog and your works.

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    1. I'm glad to know BABYMETAL are welcomed in Singapore.

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    2. Yeah... i'm from Indonesia though. AFAID13 introduced BABYMETAL to Indonesia i'm really grateful for that.

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    3. I am sorry for mistaking. It is reported that there have been many accesses from Singapore this week.

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  4. Greeting from Indonesia! Firstly, I really love your blog and thank you so much for your effort. I don't think there's many translators like you who put detailed notes on their translations even the minor one.
    I just really like when the translator put their interpretation about the meaning of the song so I can related them with my interpretation too.
    Yes, I find it really difficult to understand Japanese lyrics and when the lyricst write the obscure kanjis or meaning, wow I can't help so much about that... English is not my native language too, so I can't related them with English too. But thankfully, you keep the note and it's really helpful for me to understand the lyrics.
    Again, I really grateful for your hard work and keep on BABYMETAL's spirit! (Sorry for bad English, hehe)

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    1. I'm glad to know these help you. I think that shorter is better, but I'm not sure that my English translates the details, so I put many long notes.

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  5. hello du enki-san
    greeting from indonesia..
    can you make the lyrics into Japanese alphabet? i prefer the original lyrics..
    and by the way babymetal is really bad ass kawai metal band..
    God damn it..i even play their song and doing headbanger first before get asleep..
    can you give me the info how to buy their album or any merchandise? i really want to buy their album to show how much i support this band..

    thanks
    evan

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  6. upss..looks like i don't notice that you already add romaji lyrics!!!! THAAAAANNKKK YOU

    evan

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    1. I'm glad that you've found romaji lyrics. (^_^)

      http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/
      is famous to overseas fans for buying Japanese CD, etc.
      Read carefully "Help" page and instructions of the site before you order the CD.
      You can possibly buy BABYMETAL's music on iTunes Store but I'm not for sure.

      They sell merchandise such as BABYMETAL T-shirts on the Official Online Shop of Amuse Inc.
      http://www.asmart.jp/
      The site is available from abroad via the overseas forwarding service angency.
      The site introduces tenso.com , but tenso.com is not available from Indonesia for now.
      I don't know other overseas forwarding services are available with Asmart,
      so I think you better join in some Indonesian fan community of BABYMETAL or J-POP if you want to know such info.

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    2. aa..ok..thanks for the info du enki-san..
      one more question how big and accepted babymetal in japan?
      you know the competition between idol group in japan are tough..
      there are a lot of amazing group in japan.. let say akb48.. akb48 it self is know as the biggest idol group in japan..and in Indonesia it self we already have their sister group (jkt48 with 2 akb48 member in it).. and to be honest i am their big fans too..lol..
      pardon me du enki-san.. i'm not trying to compare babymetal with akb48.. i have special place in my heart and in my mp3 player for babymetal :)
      by far this is the coolest sub-group i ever see in idol group world..

      thanks
      evan

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    3. I don't know the idols well. Browsing in Wikipedia, Japanese top girl idol groups seem to be:
      AKB48,
      Morning Musume., Perfume, Momoiro Clover Z,
      SKE48, NMB48, Nogizaka46,
      (HKT48?, E-Girls?), Berryz Kobo, C-ute, S/milage, Idoling!!!, BABYMETAL

      BABYMETAL may be ranked higher than this because the tickets of BABYMETAL's Budokan 2 days concerts are sold out.
      BABYMETAL's fans are partly different from others' fans because some of them had not been interested in the idols before but knew BABYMETAL at such a rock festival as Summer Sonic or Loud Park and became their fans.

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  7. aaa..thanks for the answer..
    i hope babymetal can stand forever.. since graduation is a common thing in idol group..
    and hopefully yuimetal and moametal remain in babymetal despite their age growing up..

    thanks
    evan

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    Replies
    1. BABYMETAL can't exist without any of these three girls. When their early repertoire becomes unsuitable for them, it shall be the end of BABYMETAL. I can't imagine whether they then will disband or become "LADYMETAL" with new repertoire.
      Anyway, I wish BABYMETAL will be given many good songs in this very short and very precious period.

      Delete
  8. agree..
    these three girls are really fit together..and in a weird way they're really fit to this kind of music and the dance it self somehow really blend to the music..
    i just can't imagine if they become LADYMETAL.. because yui & moa really cute at the age they are now...
    let see how far they can walk..

    evan

    ReplyDelete
  9. Du Enki-san, did you make .srt file for Live Legend IDZ? If you dont make it yet, may I use your translation to make it into english sub? Arigatou.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's very polite of you, but I have no rights because I made these translations without permission of the original copyright holders. Use them at your own risk.
      I wonder why Amuse or Toy's Factory won't present the official translations of BABYMETAL's songs in spite of knowing there are many foreign fans. That's why I started this blog.
      I hope that the creators be rewarded appropriately for their efforts and their fans be satisfied appropriately for their expenses (and the stockholders' profits be minimized).

      Delete
    2. yeah, just like you said, there are many fans who don't know the meaning of story narration yet. So unfortunate, haha. While the story itself has full of meaning, not only as a narration of its concert, but it's related too with current songs like Gimme Choco, cool.
      Ok I will begin to make subtitle soon, I should put your name too as credit for your hardwork. If you have any complaints later, please send me an email. Arigatou :)

      Delete
    3. How are the subs progressing? Want some help?

      Delete
  10. If you give me permit to making eng sub based on your translation, please email me at exotic_pandawa@yahoo.com, thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If you ever wanna write for my site babymetal.net and get more visibility just let me know :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your invitation, but I'm sorry I'm slow at writing. For now, my hands are full with keeping my blog.

      Delete
    2. Well ill keep use your translation and linking your site and send you traffic :)

      Delete
    3. Thank you for your linking.

      Delete
  12. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thank Suzuka, Yui & Moa for forming BABYMETAL.

      Delete
  13. Du Enki, your English is excellent! Thank you for this site about my new favourite band! Jim

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Du Enki. I am not a native English speaker either (salutes from Brazil, by the way), but I hope you understand my thanks. Your careful translations are another example that what makes internet great: individual effort put to a collective good. Thank you very much for your work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I should do my best because I work for Susuka, Yui & Moa.

      Delete
  15. Hi Du Enki. As other people I am not a native english speaker but I am able to understand better the english than japanese...in fact I am learning a little bit japanesse reading your translations...so thanks for that...and thanks for your job...BABYMETAL is an amazing band...I can not stop listening them...and now reading your translations I am able to understand what are they singing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep this blog for the people all over the world who want to know what BABYMETAL are singing.

      Delete
  16. Du enki you are a legend. I have been following babymetal for sometime now and your translations are fantastic. Your english is very good too and I am starting to learn about your amazing language the more I read and listen. Keep up the good work friend.

    Babymetal forever \m/ \m/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. I work for BABYMETAL to be understood by people over the world..

      Delete
  17. Du Enki,
    This website is awesome and your attention and understanding of the English language is excellent. I'm an Australian living in the USA and I promise you, you speak better english then many people I meet here! I'm a huge fan of BabyMetal and even more so now that I know what they're saying, thanks for all the hard work, you're rad :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. But I'm poor at remembering and can't write this one sentence without consulting a dictionary.

      Delete
  18. Absolutely love this blog. I operate http://www.babymetalmusic.com, would love to get some of your translations of lyrics there. Interested in collaborating?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Using my translations is welcome. But I want you to be careful about the page "under construction" since I may change the translation on that page. And, if you find some lines difficult to understand and the notes attached to them help you, please put those notes also on your page (or the url of my original page).

      Delete
  19. Since you gave your blessing and no one else had I've sync'd "Legend Z" (the 720p version) to a .srt file.

    http://a.pomf.se/onmshx.srt

    This is my first time subbing anything so the timing isn't perfect.
    I'm working on "I" and "D" very soon. The rough versions should be out before too long.
    Then I'll make whatever changes the community thinks are needed.

    Thank you so much for doing all the hard work, Du-Metal!
    Your effort made this possible.

    P.S. I made a few minor changes to your text for poetic reasons only :)

    - Wu-Metal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want you to be careful about the explicit links to the high res videos. They seem to offend Japanese copyright holders more than the furtive ones or the low res videos. Poetical modifications are welcome.

      Delete
  20. I'd never link to pirated copies. I'll only ever distribute the .srt files (just the text with the times to display each subtitle in it)
    I recommend everyone buy their copy of the bluray and a ridiculous amount of other official merchandise just like I have. Okay, maybe I wouldn't recommend buying quite as much merchandise as I have :)

    I sync'd the subs to the rip as I'm not even sure it's possible to add or view subtitles with the official bluray.
    If it is possible the subtitles will line up automatically.
    I'm not sure if they will automatically line up with the DVD release as they may be slightly different in length (which would misalign the timing). I don't have the DVD to check either.

    I credited you in the front and the back of the subtitles with
    "All translation credit to Du-Metal
    http://du-metal.blogspot.com
    (Sub timing by Wu-Metal)"
    If you would prefer I remove references to your blog I am more than happy too but I believe you deserve credit from the community for your work.
    (Any changes at all you'd like made I will do for you)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I apologize to you for my misunderstanding. For I failed to learn how to sync the .srt file with the video both at hand.

      I don't need credited. I just want people who watch the video with your .srt file to get more info if they want it and I can offer it. Whatever way you take for that is welcome.

      Delete
    2. I'll keep the one at the end :)
      You deserve it. You're the only one who has translated these sections for the thousands of foreign fans.
      I have added a couple messages at the start about buying the official bluray.
      I'll try and add links to further information at the end too.

      Subbing them was a learning experience for me.
      I started with "Z" and worked backwards.
      The first one took several hours to complete.
      I got the hang of it eventually and completed "I" in less than an hour.

      Having the romaji side by side with the translation made my work much easier.
      I have a few friends looking them over to find my mistakes and make general improvements.
      I hope to release the completed versions to the internet on Monday.

      If you choose to do translations of the Budokan shows when they are released I will release the subtitle files for those too.
      I'm very interested to know what was happening.
      I was in the crowd but do not speak Japanese so I was very confused at times.

      Delete
    3. I hope the live BD will be released soon, but BABYMETAL fans need to be patient with the slow pace because the producer wants to concern himself deeply with everything about BABYMETAL, from song-writing to T-shirts.

      Delete
  21. こん○○は、はじめまして、福島と申します。
    日本在住の日本人です。

    BABYMETALに魅了されたまだ一月未満の新入りです。
    タイムのインターネット記事からここへたどりつきました。

    Enki-Duさんのこのブログをユーチューブのコメントや、ツイッターでリンクつきで紹介してもよろしいでしょうか?
    念のため了解を得たいと思います。
    どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

         福島

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linking is welcome, but please note that this is an unofficial fan site and the contents are not BABYMETAL's official views but my personal interpretations of lyrics, etc.
      リンクなされて結構ですが、ここは非公式のファンサイトであり、内容は、ベビーメタルの公式な見解ではなく、個人的な歌詞解釈などであることに、ご留意ください。

      Delete
    2. ご回答ありがとうございます。
      お墨付きをいただき安心いたしました。
      閲覧するにあたって、こちらが非公式ファンサイトであることを重々承知いただくよう配慮いたします。

           福島

      Delete
  22. I'm glad to read from a native speaker that the lyrics have indeed some tricky parts and it wasn't just me being dense. You'd think some little girls' songs should be pretty straightforward, but of course it's not like they are writing them themselves...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hello, Du-Enki-san,

    I have used your translations often to learn the meanings of BabyMetal's songs, and I very much appreciate all of your tireless work on behalf of international fans.

    I have just submitted an article to Jeff's BabyMetal.net Unofficial Website, and I often refer and link to your translation blog. I hope you will be able to read it when Jeff makes it go live.

    Agent Piroko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've found your article. Great Work. I'm sorry I'm a slow reader. I will read it paragraph by paragraph.

      Delete
  24. Hi, I made Legend Z subtitles using your help.. http://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2dugxze8ubFSVFhTHNkSy1vMGM/edit
    Thanks Du-metal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Aka-oni-san;
      Could you contact me on google?

      Delete
  25. DU-3NK1 Y0U 4R3 50 4W350M3,D347HR488175 5UCK
    .
    Translation:

    Du-Enki you are so awesome,Deathrabbits suck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know that BABYMETAL follower, and I think Bucho-san (maskman) stands out too much.

      Delete
  26. You're awesome men... keep it with the great job!!

    Greetings from Chile!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hey, thank you for your good and helpful work and effort. Your translations and descriptions allow to better understand and enjoy the songs and catch the interesting details. i was also translating songs and know that it is not so easy.
    Because of so many informations sometimes i suppose that you are a secret member of the band.
    i very appreciate your work and i am happy because of that.
    おかげさまでした! メリークリスマス!
    Have a great BabyMetal time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am just one of BABYMETAL fans. All information in this site is found in the internet or in the mass media. Sometimes I suspect (some parts of) the lyrics are borrowed from other songs, search for it, and find it. Sometimes I find the source of the lyrics by chance, and append a note. But probably there are many that I haven't noticed yet.

      Delete
  28. Thank you for all your translations, interpretations and -perhaps most of all- your notes.
    These allow me a very educational insight on the shared language/culture border that is rare to find elsewhere.

    Cheers from Amsterdam, .NL

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi, I'm not sure how to contact you directly, so I'm going to hope this comment reaches you :P

    I like to create subtitles/karaokes for all the music I hear, so when BabyMetal's "Live at Budokan" was released I promptly started to create a subtitle for the Red Night. And well, your blog has the most amount of information for all their songs, so I basically just had to do the timings... anyway, I made both a romaji and an english-translated subtitle (but only for the songs, I have only a faint idea of what KobaMetal and the female narrator says at the end... sadly, my japanese is really pitiful T_T'')

    I don't know if you have any interest in it at all, but since most of the work was actually done by you (all the transliteration and translation), it seemed polite to make the subtitles avaliable for you (in case you want to link/post them in your blog). I just don't know where to send/email them, heh.

    Anyway, amazing work with the whole blog, I greatly appreciate your efforts to spread the word of Kitsune-sama and her 3 disciples to the world. :P

    edit: hum, I don't know why its posting as "unknown", I hope the comment gets posted correctly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your polite offer.
      I guess Google Drive is available for it, but I don't know its usage well.

      You are "Unknown" on your profile (from the link on your name). I guess your blogger profile may not be linked with your google plus profile or you may put some restrictions on your profiles.

      (I'm sorry I deleted a bit.)

      Delete
    2. Ok, I used a free uploading site to host the subs; this is the file link (you need to wait a few seconds for the download button to be avaliable).

      http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/606954/BABYMETAL---LIVE-AT-BUDOKAN-RED-NIGHT-zip.html

      Also, I don't know if you are planning to translate KobaMetal's and the female narrator (as you have done with other narrations), but if you do, I will add them to this subtitles too.

      Delete
    3. Thank you for subtitling.
      I'm translating the narrations of "Live at Budokan".

      Delete
  30. Please keep doing your wonderful notes and comments!!! They very much help me with understanding the Japanese language and by extension the Japanese people and culture.
    I very much appreciate what you are doing here on this blog. Thank you sincerely.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you so much from Italy too! We will have pleasure to see BABYMETAL live performance this week. Thanks for your precious help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope people in Italy will enjoy BABYMETAL's live performance.

      Delete
  32. I recently started to listen to BABYMETAL and your blog has been a great resource for understanding what the songs are about as well as what is being sung.

    I can only hope BABYMETAL makes another tour over to Canada so I can experience their energy live.

    Thank you for your hard work.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hello I'm Giira from Germany
    I find your Blog when I was searching for Englisch Translations of the Songs from Babymetal
    I really like the Group and I'm realy thankful that you translate the songs.
    My English is not so good, too, but I understand your translations very good

    Thank you for your hardwork :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. I'm glad to know my blog helps BABYMETAL fans in various countries.

      Delete
  34. hi du enki could you contact me i am based in nz.my name is matt and my email is kloppy2001@hotmail.com.thanks in advance.i am administration of the kami band fans club on fb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sorry for my late reply.
      I want to communicate with BABYMETAL fans openly so that other fans can share the information unless it is something to be hidden from Amuse Inc. like the URLs of audio bootlegs. If you would like to contact me secretly, please leave a comment with "keep this secret" or use Google plus hangouts.

      I don't know much about the members of Kami Band, little more than Wikipedia's Japanese pages. Even so, if I can tell you something, I will do, but I am a slow writer even in Japanese.

      Delete
  35. Happy New Year may you enjoy the songs, the lyrics, the translations and the interesting comments! Greetings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope all fans will enjoy BABYMETAL's songs this year, too.

      Delete
  36. Du Enki さんへ
    もしかして ”Enkidu”=「エンキドゥ」、つまり、ギルガメシュのお友達という意味なのかもしれませんか?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is borrowed from Gilgamesh's friend's name. "Enkidu" means "God Enki's creation", so I put "Enki" into the family name box, but I don't know how to display it in family-given order, so it remains "Du Enki".
      そうです。「エンキ神が作りし物」という意味なので「エンキ」を姓にしたけど、表記を姓名の順にする方法が分からなくて、そのままです。

      Delete
  37. I just wanted to drop by and say thank you for your hard work.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Sensational work, thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thank you for all your hard work making this website. I greatly appreciate being able to learn the lyrics from the romaji! Arigatou gozaimasu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad if these help BABYMETAL's fans.

      Delete
  40. Happy Baby New Metal Year and X Holidays!
    Thank You for the support with enjoying the translations of the songs and uncover the meanings from the verses.

    Jingle Bells Jingle Bells BabyMetal Desu! (^_^)


    PS May it be a new BM's X'mas song? ください!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish you & all people
      A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
      Let's hope it's a good one without any fear.
      War is over if you want it.

      Delete
  41. Hello! Your page - http://du-metal.blogspot.ru/2014/03/on-radio-14deb21.html - with this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RSevibFgTE - has disappeared. Is this some kind of problem?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Ah, sorry, the problem is in the description of this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RSevibFgTE - link to the page with notes is wrong. This is right link - - http://du-metal.blogspot.ru/2014/03/on-radio-14feb21.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing out. I've fixed it.

      Delete
  43. Du-Enki sama, I'm a fan of your work and would like to ask for permission to use it. You see, I noticed that the Babymetal Crowd Cheer document once posted on Reddit has not been updated in a long time:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/BABYMETAL/comments/2l2vyx/crowd_screaming_for_upcoming_babymetal_shows/

    I am in the process of obtaining permission to update/expand on that project. If granted permission, I will then need to base it off of the most trusted lyrics transcription: yours! May I use your lyrics for such a project?? I will of course credit you. And I will respect your decision if you refuse. I hope you will consider it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome to use my transcription.

      I'm sorry if my romaji notation is strange or my word separation & hyphenation are non-uniform. Modify the notation if you think the modification serves for non-Japanese people to pronounce better.

      In my transcription, most "oo" are one long "o" which are distinguished from short "o" and usually written as "o" with ^ such as "こう", "そう" in kana, but there are also "oo" which are pronounced like two consecutive "o" rather than one long "o" such as "とおい"(tooi), "おおきい"(ookii). Likewise, there are one long "u/i/a/e" and two consecutive "u/i/a/e". What is worse, such a distinction doesn't always match the number of the musical note(s) assigned to the vowel(s) in the song.

      Delete
  44. Thank you! Lol I doubt my romanji transcription can be better than yours, as neither English nor Japanese are my first language. I'll stick with your scripting as much as possible~ Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Thank you, as always for your great translations :)

    ReplyDelete
  46. Happy Holidays!
    Many thanks for the support.
    May BM give lot of joy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment.
      We all wish to see Miss Yui looking well.

      Delete
  47. Any thoughts on the new songs from the 2018 US tour?
    There has been some interesting discussion about the (tentatively titled) song 'Tattoo:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/BABYMETAL/comments/8lbofs/tattoo_translated_lyrics_post_rotr_proshot/
    The song title is a bit confusing, because the lyrics don't seem to have anything to do with the most common definition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't imagine why the song is titled so.
      Generally, however, in 21st century Japanese popular music scene, the lyrics are written much later than the music, and, until the producer decides the formal title, a tune is often called by the tentative title which the music composer has given. Sometimes such a tentative title that has nothing to do with the lyrics becomes the formal title. "Robinson" (1995) by Spitz (a Japanese rock band) is known as such.

      Delete
  48. Nothing and nobody can control BabyMetal now because you are BabyMetal and we are BabyMetal.
    Enjoy the longest nights holidays.
    You are The One Du Enki!
    Happy Eve! Good Luck!!!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hello Du-Enki.

    Greetings from the UK!

    I hope you are enjoying Metal Galaxy!
    I'd like to ask when we could possibly expect translations for the new songs?
    As always, thank you for your efforts. It's deeply appreciated from all of us who are international Kitsunes!!

    Kind regards,

    Christian-Metal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment and very sorry for very very late reply.
      I'm sorry but I will not translate them for now. Please read [my post].

      Delete
  50. May true BabyMetal be with you!
    Happy eve holidays!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment.
      May true BABYMETAL be with you!

      Delete
  51. Whenever we are on your side.
    Remember always on your side.
    from 'The One'


    Wherever we are, we’ll be with you.
    Wherever you are, you live in my heart.
    from 'Starlight'


    by BabyMetal


    with love


    enjoy the longest nights holiday! Enki Du and all of You, be happy, 元気で!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Merry holidays and new year! May BabyMetal music always make you happy smile!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Happy Solstice!

    Please remember:


    'If you show true courage
    We can change the world'

    by BabyMetal


    May True BabyMetal be always with You!

    ReplyDelete
  54. I’m searching lyrics and meanings but it leaves me wondering if there are any groups that discuss putting what is said into practice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment and sorry for the late reply.
      I'm sorry but I don't know such groups.

      Delete
  55. Happy Holidays Enki Du, May BabyMetal be Always with You, Good Luck, Thank You You was a part of the BabyMetal journey, Take Care and All the Best!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for comment.
      I wish all BABYMETAL fans happy holidays and a happy new year.

      Delete