Released on 2015 Feb. 1st as download-only single [LiveMV],
(released on 2015 Jan. 7th as the downloadable bonus of the CD "LIVE AT BUDOKAN -RED NIGHT-"),
(included in "METAL RESISTANCE" released on 2016 Apr. 1st).
Lyric: KITSUNE of METAL GOD, MK-METAL, KxBxMETAL
/ Music: Mish-Mosh, NORiMETAL, KYT-METAL / Arr: Kyôtô.
Road of Resistance
Dying the eastern sky true red,
the light of signal fire
tells the end of the darkness of solitude.
It's a new guidepost.
Even if you are crushed, again and again,
burn your flame of heart!
Now is the time! Is the time!
This moment right now.
Is the time! Is the time!
Living together.
Just now is the time! Is the time!
I sing for the you of tomorrow.
Now the time has come.
Go for Resistance! [Resistance!] Resistance! [Resistance!]
Wow wow wow wow wow.
Our hearts are one.
If you believe in your way,
go on even the way without a path!
Forever! [Forever!] Forever! [Forever!]
Wow wow wow wow wow.
In the depths of our heart,
the hot Metal spirit is burning.
It is our Resistance.
Wow wow wow wow...
As long as life continues,
I will never turn my back to reality.
Today makes tomorrow.
Yes, it's our future. On the way, [ah.]
Resistance! Resistance!
Stand up and shout! [Shout!]
Justice forever!
If you believe in your way,
go on! The answer is here.
Forever! [Forever!] Forever! [Forever!]
Wow wow wow wow wow.
In the depths of our heart,
the hot Metal spirit is burning.
Our Resistance.
ROMAJI LYRIC AND NOTES ARE BELOW.
[i] About the Writers and the Lyrics of This Song
This tune was released on 2015 Feb. 1st as download-only single at Recochoku & iTunes Store. It was already released as the downloadable bonus of the limited edition of CD "LIVE AT BUDOKAN -RED NIGHT-". The official lyric was released on 2016 Apr. 1st (included in "Metal Resistance").
When this tune (tentatively called "The One") was performed for the first time on 2014 Nov. 8th (in London), many people thought it was written by DragonForce (a British power metal band) because it resembled DragonForce's tunes too much. The fact, however, is that Sam TOTMAN & Herman LI, the guitarists of DragonForce, took part in the studio recording of this tune.
According Herman's interview in 2015 June by Scuzz TV, Sam & Herman wrote (= arranged) the guitar parts (appended on 2015 Aug. 29, thanks to Dean san on 2015 Aug. 3).
The music and the lyrics of this song are typical of the theme songs of Japanese battle animes (i.e. they resemble DragonForce's songs). Someone said this song might have something to do with a famous Japanese manga & anime "進撃の巨人" (Shingeki no Kyojin; Attack on Titan), but it seems wrong for now. Someone said this lyric is too straightforward as BABYMETAL's song (e.g. "IJIME, DAME, ZETTAI" has a kind of comical taste in Yui&Moa's chants).
Road of Resistance
| Romaji Lyric | English Translation | Notes |
| 0 | ||
| Higashi no sora o makka ni someru | Dying the eastern sky true red, | 1 |
| noroshi no hikari ga | the light of signal fire | 2 |
| kodoku no yami no owari o tsugeru | tells the end of the darkness of solitude. | |
| aratana michishirube. | It's a new guidepost. | |
| Kujikete mo nando demo | Even if you are crushed, again and again, | 3 |
| kokoro no honoo o moyase! | burn your flame of heart! | 4 |
| NOW IS THE TIME! IS THE TIME! | Now is the time! Is the time! | 5 |
| Ima kono shunkan o, | This moment right now. | 6 |
| IS THE TIME! IS THE TIME! | Is the time! Is the time! | |
| tomo ni ikiru. | Living together. | 6 |
| JUST NOW IS THE TIME! IS THE TIME! | Just now is the time! Is the time! | 7,MY,S |
| Ashita no kimi ni utau yo. | I sing for the you of tomorrow. | 8 |
| Saa toki wa kita. | Now the time has come. | |
| GO FOR RESISTANCE! [RESISTANCE!] RESISTANCE! [RESISTANCE!] |
Go for Resistance! [Resistance!] Resistance! [Resistance!] | |
| WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. | Wow wow wow wow wow. | |
| Kokoro wa hitotsu. | Our hearts are one. | |
| Kimi ga shinjiru nara | If you believe in your way, | |
| susume, michi-naki michi demo! | go on even the way without a path! | 9 |
| FOREVER! [FOREVER!] FOREVER! [FOREVER!] | Forever! [Forever!] Forever! [Forever!] | |
| WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. | Wow wow wow wow wow. | |
| Kokoro no oku ni | In the depths of our heart, | 10 |
| moeru atsui haato. | the hot Metal spirit is burning. | 11 |
| Sore ga bokura no RESISTANCE | It is our Resistance. | |
| WOW WOW WOW WOW... | Wow wow wow wow... | 12 |
| Inochi ga tsuzuku kagiri | As long as life continues, | |
| kesshite se o muketari wa shi-nai. | I will never turn my back to reality. | 13,14 |
| Kyoo ga ashita o tsukuru-nda. | Today makes tomorrow. | |
| Soo bokura no mirai. ON THE WAY, [AH.] | Yes, it's our future. On the way, [ah.] | (s) |
| RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE! | Resistance! Resistance! | |
| STAND UP AND SHOUT! [SHOUT!] | Stand up and shout! [Shout!] | |
| JUSTICE FOREVER! | Justice forever! | 15 |
| Kimi ga shinjiru nara | If you believe in your way, | |
| susume! Kotae wa koko ni aru. | go on! The answer is here. | |
| FOREVER! [FOREVER!] FOREVER! [FOREVER!] | Forever! [Forever!] Forever! [Forever!] | |
| WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. | Wow wow wow wow wow. | |
| Kokoro no oku ni | In the depths of our heart, | |
| moeru atsui haato. | the hot Metal spirit is burning. | |
| Bokura no RESISTANCE. | Our Resistance. | |
Notes
- The sound which is heard in the break of the introduction is that of "horagai". It was used for signalling (e.g. to start an attack) in ancient battle fields, etc. It is (made of) a large conch shell, and its sound producing mechanism is the same as trumpets.
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th lines as a whole mean "The light of signal fire that dyes the eastern sky true red is a new guidepost which tells the end of the darkness of solitude". I, however, translate line by line because I think the sequence of images of the lyrics is more important than such a big grammatical structure.
(Unnecessary addition: That structure can be decided only after we find 5th line is in another sentence. In fact, 1st, 2nd & 3rd lines form a complete sentence. 4th line is included only because including is better than leaving it as isolated noun phrase.) - "Noroshi" means a method of long-distance communication using some smoke (during the day) or some fire (during the night), so I translate it to "signal fire". It, however, can color only a small part of the sky, so I guess the lyric writer(s) may refer to "shinonome" (= pink dawn). And nowadays "noroshi" also means (figuratively) an action (or event?) that becomes the beginning of a big movement. I don't know whether they really saw a signal fire or they really felt like the sky at dawn looked as if colored by a signal fire or they just associated the sunrise with the word "noroshi" in that new meaning.
- "Kujikeru" (kujiku) has another meaning "sprain". My J-E dictionary tells me "be discouraged" for mentally "kujikeru", but I feel it is a bit weak in this context, so I take "be crushed" though it may be a bit strong.
- By "kokoro no honoo" (= flame of heart), most Japanese image a heart as a flame rather than "a flame in a heart". In other words, a heart as mental activity itself rather than the place where mental activities occur.
- "The time has come" comes at the end of section. After all, "now is the time" to "go for resistance" (in the next section). And I hear several death shouts saying "it's time" in this section, but I'm not sure.
- English phrases are contained in some Japanese songs, they are often treated as if interjections, and the Japanese sentence continues jumping over them. In this song, "(...) ima kono shunkan o (...) ai to tomo ni ikiru (...) ashita no kimi ni...". The former two together mean "live this moment right now with love". There's no grammatical subject. Maybe it is "I" (= "I live this moment..."), but this phrase may be an adnominal and modifies "kimi" (= you). Then it should mean "you live this moment...".
I think I hear "ai to" (at least "aa"), but the official lyrics lack it. Then, "with love" turns into "together" and the former two lines together mean "live this moment right now together", and this phrase probably modifies "kimi" (= you). (Revised on 2016 Mar. 31.) - I think I hear "Just a it's the Time", but the official lyrics are "Just now is the time" as some persons heard (revised on 2016 Mar. 31).
MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL sing "Just ??? the time", and SU-METAL sing "the time. Is the time", so I mark this line with "MY,S" (appended on 2017 Mar. 26). - I changed the translation from "tomorrow's you" to "the you of tomorrow" on 2015 Feb. 4th (thanks to Asher Asher san on 2015 Feb. 1st).
- "Michi-naki michi" is literally "path/way without path/way". It means "unbeaten path", "uncharted path", etc. It is also the object of "shinjiru" (= believe in) in the previous line.
It is a familiar expression in Japan, and there is also a famous pair of lines from a Japanese poem: "There is no path ahead of me. The path is formed behind me." ("Dootei" by TAKAMURA Kootaroo). It seems to me that "michi-naki michi" represents such a groping process without a manifest destination, but the lyric writers may have thought differently. (Appended on 2015 Aug. 29.) - The school Japanese grammar tells these two lines form a noun clause "the hot Metal spirit which is burning in the depths of heart", but I think it's more natural to take it as an inverted sentence than a stand-alone noun clause, and so I translate.
- Usually both "kokoro" and "haato" are translated to "heart", but "heart in the depths of heart" seems strange. Probably it means "the hot heart which burns in the depths of our chests", or "the passion which burns in the depths of our heart", or a better pair.
Japanese lyric writers often use unusual combinations of kanji and readings such as "情熱" and "ハート" (= writing "passion" and reading it as "heart"). Such a combination is very likely to come here, so I've been deadly waiting for the official lyric. (Appended on 2015 Aug. 29.)
As expected, the official lyric is "鋼鉄魂 (アツいハート)", that is to write "steel spirit" and to read it as "hot heart", so I have revised the translation to "the hot Metal spirit" (appended on 2016 Mar. 31). - In the live performances, SU-METAL prompts the audience to sing this part by saying "Singing!" or "Sing it!".
In the live MV (2015 Jan. 10), the audience sang without accompaniment and speeded up but BABYMETAL couldn't adjust to the audience because they performed synchronously with the playback tracks (death growls, synth sound, etc). In later concerts, the accompaniment continues on in order to keep the audience in tempo. (Appended on 2015 Aug. 29.) - There's no grammatical subject. It may be an inclusive "we". Then it would mean "we should never..." rather than "we will never...".
- The original line has no object to which "I turn my back", but I complement the sentence with the most suitable word "reality" in order to avoid the readers taking "life" as the object.
- I think I hear "for the (justice)" or something, but the official lyrics lack it.
Notes no.5. After reading your translation, now I hear
ReplyDelete[Just love... It's the...] Time. It's the time.
Thank you for your comment, and I'm sorry for shifting that note to #6.
DeleteI thought I heard Su-Metal saying "Sing it!" rather than "Singing!" but that's just me thanks for the commentaries.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I've revised note #10 a bit.
DeleteThis happened also about "GimiChoko" in the summer of 2014. At first I too thought it was "Sing it!", but other Japanese said it was "Singing!", and the Japanese usually pronounce "t" of "it" more clearly. The Fox God may have taught SU-METAL his special English.
Hello! Thanks for the new song translation :) I have a couple of suggestions:
ReplyDeleteLine 2: use the article "a": "the light of a signal fire"
Line 6: say "burn the flame of your heart" instead of "burn your flame of heart" (this is how native speakers would say it)
Line 12: say "I sing for the you of tomorrow" instead of "I sing for tomorrow's you" (this is how native speakers would say it)
Line 21: I suggest translating "kokoro" as "spirit" because she refers to many people (but even if you do keep it as "heart", it must be the plural "hearts" because it refers to many people) and I feel it is a more precise word for what she's singing about: "in the depths of our spirit"
Line 22: I recommend using the article "a" and also keeping "moeru" as an adjective: "is a burning hot heart"; this is a more literal translation, and I think it feels more natural to native speakers to phrase it like that too
I hope my suggestions make sense and are helpful! I feel those will sound natural to native speakers and still translate accurately. Otherwise, this translation is perfect as always! ^_^ Thanks again for your hard work. Let me know if you have any questions or want help with anything! I love grammar, English, Japanese, translating, and BABYMETAL! <3
(Sorry. I deleted a bit about line 21, and repost reply.)
DeleteThank you for your suggestion, and sorry for late reply.
I know I use many expressions that are strange to native English speakers. I am ready to change the expression that I would not use if I learned English more, but I think I would still use some strange expressions.
About my particularity about the concept "natural", please read my reply to Valeriane san on the page "Overtures".
Line 12:
I've changed the translation from "tomorrow's you" to "the you of tomorrow".
"The you of tomorrow" was my first choice, but I've searched for this on the internet and got many pages displaying the English title of Japanese manga or something. I've had such an experience many times, and I've wondered whether it is what the Japanese tend to think but grammatically unnatural to the native or it is grammatically natural but rarely found just because the native English speakers rarely think such a thing.
Line 2:
I am afraid of the excess of information.
As said in note #2, I'm not sure whether it should be singular or plural. The lyric writers may have had the image that many people raise the torches high (i.e. they have used "noroshi" as the substitution of "taimatsu"). I want to keep such ambiguity if it is grammatically allowable.
Line 6:
It is "(your) flame-of-heart", the appositive genitive (heart = flame) rather than "flame in (your) heart". I will hyphenate them if it is necessary. I would write "the flame-of-your-heart" if "your" should be there.
Line 21:
Could you kindly let me show my fear that "heart in my spirit" might be less natural than "spirit in my heart"? Google search returns less results and most of them are mere paraphrasing "in my heart, in my spirit". And I hesitate to use the plural "hearts" after the phrase "Our hearts are one".
There is a possibility of writing XXX and reading it as YYY in the official lyrics. I want to wait for the official lyric to be published for a while.
Line 22:
I'm sorry for my mistake, and I've fixed it. It is not a noun phrase "hot heart burning in the depths of heart" but a noun clause "hot heart which burns in the depths of heart".
Thanks for getting back to me! Here are my thoughts if that is okay:
DeleteLine 2: I understand your concern about if it should be singular or plural, but unfortunately with English, you have to pick one... :/ in order for it to be grammatically correct, it should be "a signal fire" or "signal fires" or "the signal fire"; however, with what you described, maybe "torches" would be more precise?
Line 6: I've never heard the phrase "flame-of-heart"; it just doesn't sound right. I think it gets the meaning across if you say "burn the flame of your heart"; I really think that "burn your flame-of-heart", hyphenated or not, doesn't seem right.
Line 21: I think the translation of "our hearts are one" from "kokoro wa hitotsu" is perfect.
Line 22: You must say "the hot heart", "a hot heart", or "hot hearts" to be correct grammar. Otherwise it's okay, but I think using the word "heart" twice sounds awkward, so I suggest using "spirit" for one of them: "In the depths of our spirit is a burning hot heart" or "in the depths of our spirit, a hot heart is burning"
What do you think?
I am sorry for my very late reply.
DeleteAbout line 2, "noroshi no hikari" (= the light of signal fire):
"Noroshi" actually means a method of long-distance communication using some smoke during the day and some fire during the night, and the word also refers to (a) particular fire/smoke used for a particular act of signalling.
"The eastern sky" suggests the light source is far from us. With some research, I have made sure that even hundreds of thousands of torches are insufficient to color the far sky while a disastrous fire can do that, so I guess the lyric writer(s) may refer to some scene that a rising sun colors the sky at dawn.
I think there is very small possibility that they really saw such a fancy signal fire, and there is small possibility that those who had ever seen a signal fire felt like the sky at dawn looked as if colored by (a) signal fire(s).
What I can imagine is:
(1) When they saw the sky just before the sunrise, they couldn't understand what turned the sky such red and guessed it would be some firelight by which someone was sending some signal (and then, they recalled such signalling was called "noroshi").
Rather than (1), I guess like:
(2) When they was/were crashed, they saw the sky at dawn being colored by a rising sun and felt like "I should go my way. My challenge starts again with that rising sun", and the word "noroshi" came to their mind(s) because nowadays the word "noroshi" also means an action (or event?) that becomes the beginning of a big movement (a metaphor has become a new meaning of the word).
In both cases, the word "noroshi" is not used to refer to any particular (but indefinite) signal fire(s), but only used to explain what kind of light the light is. In other words, the phrase is abstract and I can't image any picture of (a) signal fire(s) from it. I feel like I was taught to use the word in singular form without an article (= uncountable) in such cases, but I can find no such general rule though there are several particular usages such as "go by train", "stay in bed", etc.
"The signal fire light" or "the signalfirelight" may be a correct English phrase to mean what I want to mean. I, however, find not a few native English speakers use the phrase like "the light of lamp" (without an article), and someone explains it would be a poetic way of saying "lamplight", so I keep the translation and wish the readers would feel this way.
About line 6, "kokoro no honoo o moyase" (= burn (your) flame of heart):
DeleteActually the original sentence has no element for "your", but I suplement it. With some research, I have made sure again that most Japanese think one's heart as some (complex/structured) activity and compare it to a flame. The phrase "kokoro no honoo" focuses on heart as activity rather than means "activity of a heart".
I think this difference is important. The phrase may mean something like "ardor" (4.c. of http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heart ) or "emotional strength" (5. of http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/heart ). I think that, for this meaning, "flame of heart" is better than "mental flame", emotional flame", etc., and I think I can say "your flame of heart" because not a few native english speakers say "your change of heart", etc.
About line 21&22, "kokoro no oku ni" (= in the depth of (one's) heart) & "atsui haato" (= hot heart):
As said above, "kokoro" is some structured activity. The phrase "in the depth of (one's) heart" focuses on heart as structure and "hot heart" focuses on heart as activity. I can never choose any pair of words that doesn't reflect these two aspects. My dictionaries tell me "heart" used in the aforementioned meaning is uncountable, but I add the definite article "the" because this "hot heart" is defined by previous lyrics.
Hello, I have been enjoying your lyrics transcriptions and translations for quite some time, but this is the first time for me to comment. You did a very good job with the transcription and translation of the lyrics as usual. There is just one suggestion I would make for the sake of having the japanese lyrics as precise as possible. In the line 決して背を向けたりしない I hear the 助詞「は」 between 向けたり and しない as in 決して背を向けたりはしない probably to add emphasis to the statement. Other than that great job.
ReplyDeleteV.
Thank you for your correction. I've fixed it.
DeleteI heard "wa" and wrote "は" in kana, but missed it in romaji.
Keep sharing more.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for translating these lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI don't know japanese but I know what would sound correct in english and I would say "keep the flame burning in your heart" for line 6.
I would also suggest line 18 be written as "continue on even without a path ! " instead of " go on even the way without a path! "
for lines 21 and 22 and repeated later in the song. Instead of " In the depths of our heart " " the hot heart is burning." it should be " deep in our hearts " " we feel a burning flame"
I hope this helps.
Thank you for suggestion and sorry for late reply.
DeleteAs I already explained in note 4, "kokoro no honoo" may possibly be "a flame in a heart" but it is probably "a heart as a flame".
As explained in note 9, these two lines mean "go the way without a path if you believe in it". "Michi-naki michi" is a familiar expression in Japanese. I don't know whether the lyric writer(s) implied "her/his destination is not manifest but she/he knows what she/he should do (like great originating artists)" or simply meant "her/his way is hard but her/his destination is manifest". And I'm afraid that your suggestion would support the latter more than the former.
As explained in note 11, the literal translation of the basic sentence is "the heart* is burning in a heart#". Japanese lyric writers often use unusual combinations of kanji and readings like writing "joonetsu" and reading it as "haato" (= writing "passion" and reading it as "heart"). And this is where such a combination is very likely to come, so I can change neither "heart*" nor "heart#" until the official lyrics is published.
All I want to do in this blog is to inform world-wide foreign listeners all information I can get from the original lyrics as a native Japanese listener (so I often add lengthy notes to inform the readers what can't be expressed in translation). If my translation fails to serve this purpose and there is another translation that serves better, I am ready to change my translation. I, however, dare to use some strange expression to avoid excess information if the original has some ambiguity (because the excess may be false) and to avoid loss of information which ordinary native English speakers may pay no attention. Ignoring such information is not a matter of language but a matter of culture.
Thank you for such a thoughtful and thorough translation, Babymetal lyrics are my first exposure to the Japanese language and your attention to all the nuances and complexities contained therein are very helpful and appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm glad it helps you.
DeleteHerman Li said in an interview for Scuzz TV that when they wrote the guitar parts, they made them fast as they wouldn't have to play them, then laughed because they performed at the Golden Gods.
ReplyDeleteSo Sam and Herman did help compose it as it turns out
Thank you for information.
DeleteI've tried multiple times and I just can't hear tomo ni ikiru at all
ReplyDeleteMe either. Also... too straightforward ? And what's comical about IDZ ? That comment about these lyrics is beyond me.
DeleteTo Abster Fortis san
DeleteSorry for a late reply. As said at the end of note #6, it sounds to me "ai tomo ni ikiru", but the official lyrics are "tomo ni ikiru".
To Anonymous san
DeleteIn the lyrics of IDZ:
kakure tsuzuketa (= I kept on hiding myself.)
[Mitsuke-cha iya!] (= I dislike to be found!)
akirame kaketa (= I was about to give up.)
[Poi-sute kinshi!] (= No easy throwing out!)
These [ ] enclosed Japanese phrases are somewhat comical expressions. Some people who have been bullied before feel these lines make fun of the preceding lines and complain about IDZ. Such a sense of fun was the characteristic of BABYMETAL until this song was released.
Re: note 3, I think a good translation of 'kujikeru' for this song would be 'daunted', which has both a mental connotation (like discouraged) as well as a physical/military defeat connotation (like crushed). Also, it's a bit of an older, less modern word, which gives it a connotation of medieval times, which I think suits the song well.
ReplyDeleteThere may be other, similar words that fit in this context as well.
Thank you for suggestion.
DeleteThe music may fit with some medieval stories, but I'm sorry if my translation sounds too antique. There are only two old forms "aratana" & "michi-naki", and "noroshi" is probably used just as a metaphor (note #2).
Mental "kujikeru" means to lose (almost completely) the will to do something, and it is often used in the form of "kujike soo" (= be about to be daunted?/crushed?). (I think) one needs much time to regain the will after "kujikeru", and I'm not sure whether or not those who are discouraged, daunted, etc. need much time to regain the will.
I wrote "it may be a bit strong" because I thought that it may be some exaggeration to use "kujikeru" here or the meaning of "kujikeru" might not be as strong as I think.
searching through YouTube for metal music, I stumbled upon 'BabyMetal', and thinking it a gag of some sort, gave a listen. Yes, the girls are just as cute as all get out, and yeah, they can sing. But Holy Diver Batgirl! The band that backs up these three little Japanese princesses, are of a caliber not easily believed to exist! They are simply incredible! Precise, articulate, with a skill level, I would dare say, are matched by a very rare few! With a front trio as they have (the girl's vocals are (albeit in Japanese) flawlessly delivered with excellent tone), are truly near divine perfection, and are just so well done, as to be considered 'Transcendental Metal'. I would suggest to the producers of this band, let the girls stay tight with these amazing musicians until they are well matured young women. Then hold onto your gray matter metal fans, because no more whispered chides (and you know of them) will be issued, for they will become that metal force, future female fronted Metal bands will have to reckon with! Take all, and rock on!
ReplyDeleteThank you for comment.
DeleteMany fans have wanted BABYMETAL to become a seven-member band for about three years, but that dream is difficult to come true because they are famous & busy support musicians, or some other reasons.
This is one amazing blog you made. I love the translation work and the story behind each song. I already favorited this site and looking forward when I have some free time to read through each son. THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the song resistance and it's awesome to listen to this music. I want to sing this song at starmaker,so, if there's any converted lyrics into English alphabets from Japanese alphabets.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to get just a few lines of lore from the Black Mass translated, if possible - it is the prolog to "Road of Resistance" - I have everything except:
ReplyDeleteメタルの神に選ばれし者が集い
漆黒の闇が訪れる時
いよいよBABYMETALと共に
ひとつになる時が来たのだ
And then at the end:
はっじまっるよ~
I know the online translators may not be correct.