Released on 2014 Oct. 29th, included in "LIVE - LEGEND 1999 & 1997 APOCALYPSE",
recorded on 2013 Jun. 30th at Legend "1999" concert.
Lyric: TSUNKU / Music: TSUNKU
Sung by MOAMETAL for her birthday celebration (originally sung by Morning Musume. in 1999).
LOVE Machine
I'm too good for you. [fuh fuh]
I've really got a nice body.
Saying so by myself
is free of charge, isn't it?
If it's hot, we should cool it down. [foo foo]
If feeling lonely, everybody...
Nobody knows [fuh fuh]
when a romance flares up.
It's dynamite. Love is dynamite.
However deep the economic depression is,
romance is in inflation.
As you treat me so tenderly, I become indecent.
I hope to be employed by a bright future.
The future of Japan... [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
The world would envy us. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah]
Let's have such romances! [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Dance! Dancing all of the night.
-------
Somehow I feel unsatisfied. [fuh fuh]
Wherever we are, I want you to love me.
Telling you this by myself
makes me shy, you know.
We are an ideal pair. [husband and wife]
We are admired by everybody.
Nobody has noticed yet [fuh fuh]
romance is a pitfall in dream.
It's a mystery. Love is a mystery.
It's unnatural that you do such things.
You're the insider of romance.
However, as you do all skillfully, my heart becomes naked.
Should I enter the waiting list for the days of happiness?
Your smile... [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
The world would envy you. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah]
You have such a dream, don't you? [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Dance! Dancing all of the night.
Love, love, love machine. [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Love, love, love station. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah]
Love, love, love factory. [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Love! Love is so wonderful.
The future of Japan... [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
The world would envy us. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah]
Let's have such romances! [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Dance! Dancing all of the night.
Morning Musume. too. [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
You too, me too. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah]
Everyone too, Mr. Boss too. [Wow, wow, wow, wow]
Dance! Dancing all of the night.
ROMAJI LYRIC AND NOTES ARE BELOW.
[i] About Morning Musume.
"モーニング娘。" (= morning girls) is a famous girl idol group formed in 1997. In a TV audition show, Tsunku (one of the judges, from a rock band "Sharam Q") formed it from five runners-up of an audition (except the winner). He became the producer of Morning Musume., later added new members to it, and also formed several sister groups. This family was named "Hello! Project". Tsunku has written most songs of whole Hello! Project. ("。" is the end mark of the sentence mistakenly added but became a part of the official notation.)
Before the release of "LOVE Machine", Morning Musume. was famous only among young people. There are, however, such factors in the lyric and the music of this song that the song and the group appealed to people of all generations. This song is their greatest hit, and they got the national popularity by this song. Miss Yui said she got the toy refrigerator with the brand of Minimoni (one of the sub units of Morning Musume.) when she was very young.
Many girls have joined and left Morning Musume. The number of the members has ranged 5 to 16. Roughly speaking, they joined the group in their early teens, and many left in five years or so, some continued for about ten years. On leaving the group, many started their solo careers and some left the entertainment business.
[ii] What do the World Envy?
The grammatical structure of the chorus sections is ambiguous on whether the second line is predicated to the first or attributed to the third. I can't find any reliable information about this.
If it is predicated to the first line, the first chorus says "The world envy the future of Japan. Let's have romances.", and the second chorus says "The world envy your smile. You have a dream, don't you?". Many Japanese think this way, and the sentences are grammatically complete. But the world would not envy the future of Japan because Japan was in the midst of a long economic depression in 1999.
Some (including me) think the second line is attributed to the third. This needs grammatical complementing. The second chorus would say "Your smile [shows that] you have a dream that the world would envy, doesn't it?" The Japanese lyrics are not bad for this meaning. The first chorus would say "[For the sake of] the future of Japan, let's have romances that the world would envy". This interpretation is somewhat unnatural because there's no Japanese element corresponding to "for the sake of".
The lyric writer Tsunku may have intended both. Anyway, the chorus section was sung to cheer up all Japanese people, to revive the people in the (economic) depression by the power of love, dream, and dance. When this song was played, many Japanese sang along the chorus (at least "wow wow ..." & "yeah yeah ...").
(The arranger "Dance * Man" said there was only the melody one week before the deadline for pressing and Tsunku wrote the lyric during the arranging and the recording of the backing.)
LOVE Machine
| Romaji Lyric | English Translation | Notes |
| Anta nya mottai-nai. [FU-FU-] | I'm too good for you. [fuh fuh] | 1 |
| Atasha honto NICE BODY BODY BODY. | I've really got a nice body. | |
| Jibun de yuu kurai | Saying so by myself | |
| tada ja nai! Ja nai? | is free of charge, isn't it? | 2 |
| Atsukerya samaseba ii. [fuu fuu] | If it's hot, we should cool it down. [foo foo] | 3 |
| Samishikerya EVERY BODY BODY BODY. | If feeling lonely, everybody... | 4 |
| Dare nimo wakara-nai, [FU-FU-] | Nobody knows [fuh fuh] | |
| ren'ai-tte itsu hi ga tsuku no ka. | when a romance flares up. | 5 |
| DYNAMITE. Koi wa DYNAMITE. | It's dynamite. Love is dynamite. | |
| Donna ni fukeiki datte | However deep the economic depression is, | |
| koi wa infureeshon. | romance is in inflation. | 6 |
| Konna ni yasashiku sarecha midara. | As you treat me so tenderly, I become indecent. | |
| Akarui mirai ni shuushoku kiboo da wa. | I hope to be employed by a bright future. | 7 |
| Nippon no mirai wa. [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
The future of Japan... [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| Sekai ga urayamu. [YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH] |
The world would envy us. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah] | [ii] |
| Koi o shiyoo ja nai ka! [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Let's have such romances! [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| DANCE! DANCIN' ALL OF THE NIGHT. | Dance! Dancing all of the night. | |
| -------- | 8 | |
| Nandaka monotari-nai. [FU-FU-] | Somehow I feel unsatisfied. [fuh fuh] | |
| Doko ni itatte aishitete hoshii wa. | Wherever we are, I want you to love me. | |
| Jibun de tsutaeru no | Telling you this by myself | |
| hazukashii ja nai! | makes me shy, you know. | |
| Risoo no futari da wa. [fuufu] | We are an ideal pair. [husband and wife] | |
| Akogare yo EVERY BODY BODY BODY. | We are admired by everybody. | |
| Dareshimo kizuite-nai, [FU-FU-] | Nobody has noticed yet [fuh fuh] | |
| ren'ai tte yume no otoshiana. | romance is a pitfall in dream. | 5 |
| MYSTERY. Koi wa MYSTERY. | It's a mystery. Love is a mystery. | |
| Sonna no fushizen datte. | It's unnatural that you do such things. | |
| Koi no insaidaa. | You're the insider of romance. | 9 |
| Soredemo joozu ni sarecha arawa. | However, as you do all skillfully, my heart becomes naked. | 10 |
| Shiawase kuru hi mo kyanseru-machi na no? |
Should I enter the waiting list for the days of happiness? | 11 |
| Anta no egao wa. [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Your smile... [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| Sekai ga urayamu. [YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH] |
The world would envy you. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah] | [ii] |
| Yume ga aru nja nai ka! [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
You have such a dream, don't you? [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| DANCE! DANCIN' ALL OF THE NIGHT. | Dance! Dancing all of the night. | |
| LOVE LOVE LOVE mashiin. [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Love, love, love machine. [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| LOVE LOVE LOVE suteeshon [YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH] |
Love, love, love station. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah] | |
| LOVE LOVE LOVE fakutorii. [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Love, love, love factory. [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| LOVE! LOVE IS SO WONDERFUL. | Love! Love is so wonderful. | |
| Nippon no mirai wa. [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
The future of Japan... [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| Sekai ga urayamu. [YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH] |
The world would envy us. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah] | |
| Koi o shiyoo ja nai ka! [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Let's have such romances! [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| DANCE! DANCIN' ALL OF THE NIGHT. | Dance! Dancing all of the night. | |
| Mooningu musume. mo [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Morning Musume. too. [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | |
| Anta mo atashi mo [YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH] |
You too, me too. [Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah] | |
| Minna mo shachoo san mo [WOW WOW WOW WOW] |
Everyone too, Mr. Boss too. [Wow, wow, wow, wow] | 12 |
| DANCE! DANCIN' ALL OF THE NIGHT. | Dance! Dancing all of the night. | |
Notes
- "Mottai-nai" means "(everything is) too valuable to waste". Sometimes it is used to show one's humbleness: "watashi ni wa mottai-nai" (= too valuable for me).
- "Tada" means "just" as adverb, "mere" as modifier ("tada no ---"), and often means "without payment". But when used for speech, etc., it means "without responsibility" rather than "without payment".
- "Fuu fuu" is an onomatopoeia for blowing the breath (to cool down something hot).
- There's no clue to complement this sentence.
- The word "恋愛"(ren'ai) consists of "恋"(koi) and "愛"(ai). Roughly speaking, it means romantic love. For the subtle difference between "koi" and "ai", see note [ii] of "Chokotto LOVE".
- Probably it means that the power of love is not suppressed by the economic depression.
- Probably it means "I hope to marry a man with (economically) bright future". In [the MV] of Morning Musume., one member wears a wedding dress after this line. It had been jokingly said "the eternal employment" for a Japanese woman to marry and become full-time housewife, in the era of "never-ending" economic growth and the low rate of divorce & employee turnover.
- MOAMETAL's version is called "-FROM HELL WITH LOVE ver.-". The second chorus & the further (below --------) are skipped.
- The word "insider" gives an impression of being unfairly-advantaged & cunning to most Japanese because it has become popular in Japan with the news of insider trading of stocks.
- There's no object of "arawa" (= exposed/naked). I complement the sentence with the most likely object from the context.
- Literally "kyanseru-machi" is "waiting for cancellation". It may suggest waiting for him to leave his former girlfriend/wife and to become her lover.
- "Shachoo" means "the president of company", but sometimes it is used to flatter the middle and old age. I changed the translation from "boss" to "Mr. Boss" on 2014 Oct. 30th.
Hello Du-Enki san,
ReplyDeletemore typo-reports (sorry I'm not finding them, they just come my way): in the romaji version you have DANCE! [b]DACIN'[/b] ALL OF THE NIGHT. It should say dancin', not dacin' obviously ;)
On the other hand, I wonder about the translation of the line: "Konna ni yasashiku sarecha midara" as: "As you treat me so tenderly, I become indecent." Are you sure 'indecent' is the right word here? I understand Momusu had some risqué lyrics and this could be an example, but a girl saying she becomes "indecent" isn't a bit too much? And, moreover, I would be surprised that Koba-san or whoever chose this song knowing it was for a 14 year old girl (Miss Moa) to sing. So, again, I wonder...
Saludos,
Fernando :)
Thank you for correcting. I've fixed them.
DeleteIn Sakura Gakuin's diary (2013 Jul. 4), Miss Moa wrote: This song was chosen from the hit songs of 1999 through the discussion including Miss Moa. She had sung "Chokotto LOVE" in Amuse's lesson before she entered Sakura Gakuin, but she had only listened to "LOVE Machine" several times. The song is a bit adult-like, but she learned a lot from singing it, and she wondered if she had a bit grown up.
"Midara" means immodesty about sexual matters, but there are similar words "midari (ni)" (= without reason; excessively) and "midare" (= disorder; confusion), so 'he' may have misunderstood the line as "I become confused" or something and OKed. In fact, it is mainly used as attributive "midara na ---" or adverbial "midara ni ---" and rarely used as predicative "--- (wa) midara (da)", so the line actually sounds not so vivid.
Hello Du Enki san,
Deletereading your explanation, I'm more convinced I was right about 'indecent' not being the best translation. Even though my cheap Japanese-Spanish dictionary translates "midara" as "obscene", which is almost the same as indecent. But in a normal situation a girl or a lady would not say about herself that she is or becomes indecent, this is very near from saying 'I become a bitch when you touch me' or something alike. Not impossible in a hard rock female band à la Runaways but... :D The problem is, I'm not sure which word in English would fit better. In this context (type of lyrics, teen band who sings for a teen [?] public), in Spanish, a good translation would be 'atrevida' or 'descarada'. Wordreference gives me in English translations as: cheeky, sassy, bold, daring.
About Miss Moa's comments: yes the song is "a bit" adult-like even if you ignore the 'indecent' part, with references to having a great sexy body, and losing manners watning to kiss in public or whatever, but if midara should be understood as 'indecent' it wouldn't be "a bit" adult, it would be "way too much" adult, I think. Anyway, a native English speaking reader could find a better word for the meaning of the word in this context.
Thanks again for your kind and clear reply!
F. :)
"Treat me so tenderly" doesn't necessarily mean physical touch, and the line at issue is her silent self-reflection. I'm sorry but your interpretation of the line seems to be extreme. I may be wrong, however, if having such a sweet emotion inside is never said to be indecent.
DeleteThe word "midara" is (a bit) inappropriate for Japanese teen girls, so it can be translated to (a bit) inappropriate words for foreign teen girls. In fact, the word was sung by the oldest member (26 y.o. then) in the original version, and in later concerts, young members sing the word as if they don't know its meaning. Miss diligent Moa, however, must have studied its meaning, judging from her facial expression at the moment.
I know "treat me tenderly" doesn't necessarily mean..., my "when you toch me" phrase wasn't an alternative translation, but an example of something that would have a similar calibre as "I become indecent". I don't suppose the original line is so extreme, that's precisely my point. Because "indecent" is extreme, I think other English word would fit in better. And what you say ("a bit" inappropiate, not "quite" inappropiate) confirms what I think. My problem is, I don't know which English word would be better. Maybe "impudent", it's at least a bit softer. Or "cheeky" according to wordreference, but only in UK English...
DeleteThanks for answering! Saludos :)
The key point is that love connects with sexual instincts. This is difficult for underage persons to understand, so it is inappropriate for them. The line is interpreted like "As you treat me so tenderly, (my love to you inflates to the degree that) I can't control my sexual instincts". If people interpret the words "imprudent", "immodest", etc. non-sexually, they can't connect them to love and they may improperly interpret the line like "As you treat me so tenderly, I become to take advantage of your tenderness" or something. I wish there are some words softer than "indecent" but somehow related to sexual instincts.
DeleteYes, I know that the meaning is "I can't control my sexual instincts", my point was, "indecent" is a word with ugly connotations that I doubt a young girl would normally use in English even if having those feelings. Possibly "impudent" (not impRudent! your typo I guess) is not a good translation either. I know good words in Spanish for that kind of situation but sadly your translations are not into Spanish but English! :D and my English isn't so good as being able to think of a better translation here. Hopefully someone could help sometime.
DeleteOn the other hand, I tried to find other translations of this song (after all, Momusu have fans worldwide...) and, apart from some translation into Spanish –quite bad!– I found this site, apparently it's a fansite, with English translations. My surprise was, the translator there takes the same line exactly the other way around, he/she translates: "It's indecent of you to treat me so nicely" (!). I trust your translations, so I'm only telling you this as a curiosity for your info. The link (erase it if you don't like links here, no problem): https://www.projecthello.com/momusu/machine.html
Saludos & thanks,
Fernando :)
Thank you for pointing out my mistaking of "impudent" for "imprudent", and sorry for late reply.
DeleteJapanese girls normally don't use the word "midara" for such a state of mind, too. This negative word is sometimes used somehow positively in literature like "midara ni mo utsukushiku" (= indecent and/but beautiful). This song goes along this line, but it seems difficult for young people to understand, so this may be a matter of culture rather than a matter of language.
According to old moral standards, sexual excitement is unconditionally bad (therefore "midara"). According to new moral standards, everything is not bad (therefore not "midara") unless it annoys someone. A Japanese girl who is grown with new moral standards would describe such a state of mind without any negative sense as "(metcha) moeru" (= I get (very) hot) or something like "lively", "excited", "erotic", etc. People of old moral standards, however, regard such a girl as "midara" no matter how euphemistically she expresses it because they think expressing any excitement is itself immodest.
The songwriter Tsunku was grown up with old moral standards but live not according to them. Such people like him feel deviation from old moral standards to be attractive, so he used "midara" here positively. Such a roundabout expression, however, seems difficult for young people to understand, so it is recently said more explicitly like "Nanchû midara na! Motto yare!" (= How indecent you are! Do more!), as to this song, "I get excited enough to be called indecent" or something.
Thank you for clearing it up even more than you already had! In any case, the thing that worried me was not the real meaning in Japanese (not that I'm not interested, eh? ha) but the good equivalence in English. I still think it sounds unnatural in English. Maybe "I get so hot", as you suggest, would be a better one. But I don't really know & I'm already repeating myself, so I'd better stop!
DeleteThanks!
F. :)
If the cultural backgrounds are not so similar to each other, there is no good equivalence in other languages. What British girls are likely to say in a certain situation is not necessarily the translation of what Japanese girls are likely to say in that situation because both girls don't necessarily think the same way then, so I tend to translate rather literally and to add a long note.
Delete