2015/02/02

Awadama Fever

Released on 2015 Aug. 14th, included in the member's limited live BD "LEGEND '2015'",
Included in "METAL RESISTANCE" (released on 2016 Apr. 1st).
Lyric: MK-METAL, KxBxMETAL / Music: TAKESHI UEDA / Arr.: TAKESHI UEDA

Awadama Fever

If we open the secret box,
we can fly off anywhere.
It's a mint-flavored time machine.
We can go anywhere.

Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Our bubblele, bubble ball fever.
Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.

Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!  [Oh yeah.]

If we open the secret lock,
we can fly off anywhere.
With the swelling dream, riding on the wind,
we can go anywhere.

Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Our bubblele, bubble ball fever.
Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.

Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!  [Oh yeah.]

  [One, two, three, four.]

  [One, two, three, four.]
  [One, two, three, four.]
  [One, two, three, four.]
  [One, two, three, four.]

If we open the secret room,
we can fly off anywhere.
In the dream, in the dream,
we can go anywhere.

Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Our bubblele, bubble ball Po! Po!
Our hour, bubble ball fever.
Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.

Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!  [Going now.]

Ah Yeah! Chewing, chewing, chu, chu, chewing gum.  [Oh yeah.]
Ah Yeah! Bubble, bubble, bap, bap, bubble gum.  [Oh yeah.]
Ah! Dreamer.
Ah! Dreamer.



  ROMAJI LYRIC AND NOTES ARE BELOW.


[i] About the Release of This Tune.

This tune was performed for the first time on 2014 Dec. 20th. Since then, it had been tentatively called "Bubble Dreamer", etc. It was included in the live BD "Legend '2015' -Shinshun Kitsune Matsuri-" which is "The One" (de facto official fun club) members' limited edition and has already been sold out. Finally, it is included in "Metal Resistance" released on 2016 Apr. 1st.

[ii] About the Lyric of This Song.

Finally I've got the official lyric of this song included in "Metal Resistance". I want to translate the lyrics with the help of the official lyrics that are usually contained in the CD package. It is in order to distinguish homonyms and to get the information that can't be got otherwise. This often happens about Japanese songs (e.g. writing "the present" and reading it as "here" in Megitsune).

From the first performance, most fans guessed this tune was composed by Takeshi UEDA who also composed "GimiChoko" because the melody lines (5-#5-6) & the chord sequences are almost the same at "Ah yeah. Tondeke..." and at "Check-it-out chocolate, chocolate...". I revised the author credits on 2015 Oct. 16th (thanks to sanga san on 2015 Oct. 15).

[iii] About Singing Along

In the concerts in Japan from 2015 Jul. 28th until 2016 Sep. 20th, SU-METAL has asked the audience to sing "ah yeah" of the second & third choruses (4+4+2 times in total), saying "sing it!", etc.


Awadama Fever

Romaji LyricEnglish TranslationNotes
 
Himitsu no hako akete mitara If we open the secret box,1,2,3
doko ni datte tonde ikeru. we can fly off anywhere.3,4
Minto aji no taimu-mashin It's a mint-flavored time machine.
doko ni datte ikeru yo. We can go anywhere.3
 
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.5,6,MY
OUR AWAWA awadama fiibaa. Our bubblele, bubble ball fever.7,MY
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.MY
Awadama awadama fiibaa Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.MY
 
AH YEAH! Tondeke, chu chu chuuin gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
8,9
AH YEAH! Ikoo ze! GO GO GOING UP!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!
    [Oh yeah.]
10
AH YEAH! Tondeke, ba ba baburu gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
9
AH YEAH! Ima sugu GO GO GOING NOW!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!
    [Oh yeah.]
 
Himitsu no kagi akete mitara If we open the secret lock,11
doko ni datte tonde ikeru. we can fly off anywhere.
Fukuramu yume kaze ni nosete With the swelling dream, riding on the wind,12
doko ni datte ikeru yo. we can go anywhere.
 
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.MY
OUR AWAWA awadama fiibaa. Our bubblele, bubble ball fever.MY
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.MY
Awadama awadama fiibaa Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.MY
 
AH YEAH! Tondeke, chu chu chuuin gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Ikoo ze! GO GO GOING UP!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Tondeke, ba ba baburu gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Ima sugu GO GO GOING NOW!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!
    [Oh yeah.]
 
  [ONE TWO THREE FOUR.]   [One, two, three, four.]
 
  [Ichi nii san shii.]   [One, two, three, four.]13
  [Ichi nii san shii.]   [One, two, three, four.]
  [Hii fuu mii yoo.]   [One, two, three, four.]13
  [Hii fuu mii yoo.]   [One, two, three, four.]
 
Himitsu no heya akete mitara If we open the secret room,
doko ni datte tonde ikeru. we can fly off anywhere.
Yume no naka de yume no naka de In the dream, in the dream,
doko ni datte ikeru yo. we can go anywhere.
 
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.MY
OUR AWAWA awadama PO! PO! Our bubblele, bubble ball, Po! Po!14,MY
OUR HOUR awadama fiibaa. Our hour, bubble ball fever.MY
Awadama awadama fiibaa Bubble ball, bubble ball fever.MY
 
AH YEAH! Tondeke, chu chu chuuin gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, chu, chu, chewing gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Ikoo ze! GO GO GOING UP!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Let's go! Go, go, going up!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Tondeke, ba ba baburu gamu!
    [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Fly off, bap, bap, bubble gum!
    [Oh yeah.]
AH YEAH! Ima sugu GO GO GOING NOW!
    [GOING NOW.]
Ah Yeah! Right now, go, go, going now!
    [Going now.]
15
 
AH YEAH! CHEWING CHEWING
    chu chu chuuin gamu!  [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Chewing, chewing,
    chu, chu, chewing gum.  [Oh yeah.]
16
AH YEAH! BUBBLE BUBBLE
    ba ba baburu gamu!  [OH YEAH.]
Ah Yeah! Bubble, bubble,
    bap, bap, bubble gum.  [Oh yeah.]
17
AH! DREAMER. Ah! Dreamer.18
AH! DREAMER. Ah! Dreamer.18
 

Notes

  1. The lines marked with "MY" and the phrases enclosed with brackets [---] are sung by MOAMETAL & YUIMETAL (added on 2017 Mar. 26).
  2. At first I thought I heard "(himitsu no) mado" (= (secret) window), but Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16th suggested "ha(a)to" (= heart), and newcommer san on 2015 Aug. 23rd & kamijyo san on 2015 Sep. 15th suggested "hako" (= box). It seems to have been not "m" but "h" from the first performance, and it sounded to me "t" rather than "k" in the earlier takes (including SSA's BD take) .
        I have found, however, in this part of the choreography, they make horizontal lines by their both forearms and then rotate their forearms upward. It seems to express the opening of the flaps of the box (and in the second they insert & turn the key, in the third they open the door of the room). They should touch their chests and then rotate their forearms forward if they open their hearts, so I have revised the transcription of the lyric from "ha(a)to" (= heart) to "hako" (= box). (Revised on 2015 Sep. 23, thanks to newcommer san & kamijyo san.)
  3. This "mitara" (= miru) is a subsidiary verb expressing "to try ---ing". There's no substantial difference between "--- mitara" and "--- mireba". Both mean "if (someone) try ---ing, then...".
  4. There's no grammatical subjects for "open", "fly" & "go". I take the inclusive "we".
  5. "Ikeru" in the second line is a subsidiary verb expressing "(go) from here to (somewhere)".
        I thought I heard "yukeru" (another pronunciation of "ikeru") in the second line, but it too seems to be "ikeru" (appended on 2015 Aug. 21, thanks to Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16).
  6. I take "awaa" as "awa" and translate it to "bubble", but it may be the English word "our" or "hour".
        As expected, some "awaa" are written as "Our" or "hour" in the official lyric (appended on 2016 Apr. 1).
  7. "Awa-dama" (= bubble ball) is not a popular Japanese word, not found in my dictionary. "Fuusen gamu" is used for bubble gum (fuusen = a toy balloon), "shabon-dama" for soap bubbles, and "mizu-tama" (= water drops) for polka dots. I find "awadama" is only used for some bubbles in ice, glass, etc. or used as some jargons, but it is also used for a brand name of sparkling candy (thanks to Nena Arindrasari san on 2016 Mar. 14).
  8. Probably "awawa" is a word play of "awa", or it may possibly be an onomatopoeia expressing the state of a person who is upset and can't speak words well.
  9. "Tondeke" is a contraction of "tonde ike/yuke".
  10. "Chu" & "bap" are mere reduplications (without meaning) of the succeeding words. I thought I heard "バン" (ban), but it is "バッ" (ba) in the official lyric. (Revised on 2016 Apr. 1.)
        (Unnecessary addition: I write "チュッ" & "バッ" as "chu" & "bap". This small "ッ" usually comes in the middle of a word. It is called "促音" (sokuon) or a geminate consonant. For example, "キッタ" (kitta) and "キタ" (kita) are regarded as different words because "キッタ" (kitta) has a short silence before "t" and is regarded as three mora word. If small "ッ" comes at the end of a word like this case, one stops (a voice &) an airflow by closing one's vocal tract in some way (it is called "unreleased stop" or "glottal stop" or something). It makes no difference of meaning in Japanese, but it can be heard and is often written like this to express speaker's surprise, anger, joy, etc. There is no standard romaji notation for this case. I hope "bap bap" can convey the difference between "バ" and "バッ". Added on 2016 Apr. 16.)
  11. I thought I heard "again" instead of "ah, yeah" in the second line and probably in the fourth line of these sections because SU-METAL's pronunciations sounded different to me, but they too seem to be "Ah yeah" (revised on 2015 Aug. 21, thanks to Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16).
  12. "Kagi" means "key" and "joo" means "lock", but "kagi o akeru/kakeru" is used for "to open/set the lock".
  13. Literally it is "letting the swelling dream ride on the wind" or "floating the swelling dream in the wind", but I think that not only the swelling dream but also we ourselves ride on the wind.
  14. In Japanese, each number has two (or more) readings: native "hii, fuu, mii, yoo, ..." or "hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, yottsu, ..." and those borrowed from ancient Chinese "ichi, ni(i), san, shi(i), ...".
        (Unnecessary addition: In Japanese, one-mora phrases are prolonged, but this rule is rarely applied in Eastern Japan because words are usually accompanied by particles, for example, (my) tooth hurts = haa itai (in Kyoto & Osaka) / ha ga itai (in Tokyo).)
  15. "Po!" is a mimetic word that expresses popping up or blushing (of faces).
        I thought I heard "pon pon" which is a mimetic word that expresses the bounding of a gum ball, etc. (revised on 2016 Apr. 1.)
  16. In the concerts until 2015 Dec., this chant seems to have been "Oh, yeah", too. In the studio version and the concerts thereafter, it is "Going now". I'm sorry for late update. (Added on 2017 Mar. 26.)
  17. I thought I heard "chumi", but as Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16 suggested, it is "chewing" in the official lyric. Anyway I think they are mere reduplications (without meaning) of the succeeding words. (Revised on 2015 Aug. 21, on 2016 Apr. 1.)
  18. I thought I heard "Ban ba ban ban ban ban", but it seems to be "babu babu ban ban" (actually "bubble, bubble, ba, ba" in the official lyric) (appended on 2015 Aug. 21, thanks to Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16, updated on 2016 Apr. 1).
  19. I thought I heard "screamer" in some takes, but they seem to be "dreamer" (revised on 2015 Aug. 21, thanks to Anonymous san on 2015 Aug. 16).

24 comments :

  1. Thank you for you continued work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We have an official title now, from the tracklist of the announced LEGEND "2015" New Year Fox Festival Blu-ray at www.asmart.jp/p_10011805

    あわだまフィーバー or "Awadama Fever"

    ~ AnonyMetal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment and sorry for my late updating.

      Delete
  3. Now that the pro shot video has spread all over the internet, is the translation going to have any refinements?

    I heard the first line as Himitsu no HAATO akete mitara
    I heard the verbs pronounced as IKERU.
    Additionally, I heard the Ah yeah, oh yeah and again as AH YAY.

    Other lines I heard

    AH YAY CHEWING CHEWING chew chew chewing gum (AW YAY)
    AH YAY BUBBLE BUBBLE BU-BU-bubble gum (AW YAY)
    AH, DREAMER
    AH, DREAMER

    Otherwise, I commend you for the amazing first hand translation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment.
      It seems to have been not "mado" but "ha(a)to" (= heart) from the first performance.
      It seems to me there are two types of pronunciations, but both may be "ah, yeah".
      I took "screamer" because I heard "s" at the beginning, but it may have been a breath noise or something.
      I will also examine other four points and I will revise my transcription.

      Delete
  4. 「秘密の『箱』」じゃありませんか?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your suggestion.
      It may possibly be "hako" because it is better than "haato" with respect to the number of morae, but it sounds "t" rather than "k" to me in all takes at hand, and it doesn't seem that SU-METAL's "k"s that come in the middle of a word sound like "t" to me as far as I have checked several other songs.

      提案ありがとうございます。
      音数に関しては「箱」のほうがいいので、ひょっとしたら「箱」かも知れませんが、私には手元の全テイクで"k"よりも"t"に聞こえましたし、他の数曲をチェックした限りでは、SU-METALの語中の"k"が私には"t"のように聞こえる、ということもなさそうでした。

      Delete
    2. 音数もそうですが、二番以降が「鍵」「部屋」という具体的な実体であるのに、一番だけが「ハート」というのは考えにくいと思います。それよりは「箱」「鍵」「部屋」というのが「開ける」という動詞にふさわしいと思います。

      Delete
    3. Thank you for your comment.
      If the lyrics were (1) open the lock, (2) open the window/door, (3) open the room, they might form a well-formed triplet. Old Japanese songs were generally so formed, and we could expect the missing part should be XXX.

      BABYMETAL's songwriters, however, seem not to care about such coherency(?). "Heart", "key/lock" & "room" may be a strange ordered triplet, but "box", "key/lock" & "room", too. "Key/lock" is different from the rest in nature, and the relation between the box and the room is unclear, so I can't imagine what story is formed from them. It is "box" if the songwriter says so, and it is "heart" if the song-writer says so. I have given up guessing.

      I will again check whether SU-METAL really sang "ha(a)to" or I just misheard "hako" as "ha(a)to".

      コメントありがとうございます。
       もし歌詞が、(1)鍵を開ける (2)窓/扉を開ける (3)部屋を開ける、だったら、きれいな組合せだったかも知れません。昔の日本の歌はだいだいそういう作りだったので、聞こえない部分は○○のはずだ、と予期できました。
       しかしベビメタの作家は、そういう一貫性(?)は気にしていないようです。「ハート」「鍵」「部屋」の並びは奇妙かも知れませんが、「箱」「鍵」「部屋」もそうです。鍵だけ他の二つとは異質ですし、箱と部屋の関係が不明で、どういう物語になるのか想像できません。作家が「箱」と言えば箱ですし、「ハート」と言えばハートです。私は推測することを諦めました。
       SU-METALが本当に「「ハ(ー)ト」」と歌ったのか、それとも私が「ハコ」をそう聞き間違えただけなのか、もう一度確認します。

      Delete
  5. Just a crazy thought based on: -I take "awaa" as "awa" and translate it to "bubble", but it may be the English word "our" or "hour".- Could "awadama" be loosely translated to "time sphere"? I was thinking about DBZ and genki-dama = energy sphere. It just seems like if you think of the "time sphere" as their time machine the song also makes sense, they travel inside their sphere (sort of like the movies the fountain or contact) and in there they chew gum. Now fever does not make a lot of sense in this context, but to me bubble ball fever is also very unusual, however if as suggested in another footnote, it is always dreamer and not fever then it seems to make a little more sense as "time sphere dreamer, fly off chewing gum". Again this is all speculation and the only japanese i know is konnichiwa ich ni san yonyon.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your interpretation.
      Such a change as "genki" + "tama" = "genkidama" (called "rendaku" or "sequential voicing") doesn't occur if people feel the words are foreign words, so "hour-dama" is hardly possible. The Japanese came to know the word "fever" by the movie "Saturday Night Fever", so, for the Japanese, it means people's excitement about something or an exciting scene of something (e.g. a gold rush, a jackpot).

      I have never thought seriously about what this time machine does because these lyrics seem to me like the dream she dreamt when she slept. Frankly speaking, many Japanese songs have dreamy lyrics. I mean, though each sentence describes one beautiful thing, I can't draw a picture based on them because they are inconsistent. People seem not to care about it if each sentence sounds beautiful. So please don't bother if you find some inconsistency in Japanese lyrics.

      Delete
    2. I love this description of Japanese lyrics: "dreamy," you can't draw a picture based on them but it doesn't matter as long as they sound beautiful. This is a wonderful way to think about lyrics, and remind me that I don't know how this would sound to a Japanese person. Thank you!

      Delete
    3. Thank you for comment. And let me write an unnecessary addition.
      With "it sounds beautiful", I also mean that it makes listeners imagine a beautiful scene. There is such a song that each line depicts a beautiful scene but as a whole it tells a bad story.

      Delete
  6. According to this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BABYMETAL/comments/3mmdcr/song_credits_for_awadama_fever_and_no_rain_no/?

    Lyrics are by MK-METAL and KxBxMETAL
    Music and arrangement is by TAKESHI UEDA

    And these are literally the same writing credits as "Gimme Chocolate!"

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment and sorry for my late update.
      This tune is definitely arranged by Takeshi UEDA, but the arrangement credit is not listed on JASRAC database, so "?" remains.

      Delete
  7. When I searched あわだま in Google Images, all I found were packs of candies with product brand name "Awadama".

    LoL :v

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    Replies
    1. Thank for information. I've revised note #6. I wonder why I couldn't find that rather famous candy on the internet.

      Delete
  8. I was at Wembley and I'm pretty sure Su changed lyrics to going home in choruses. I think it was a one off thing

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  9. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this "our hour" is here just because it sounds like "awa awa" and it don't have any meaning?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry for late reply.
      The lyric writers or the producer might possibly mean "our hour is awadama fever" or something. If this is the case, however, I can interpret it only as "we have an awadama fever hour" or something, and it is only little different from simple "awadama fever" or "it's an awadama fever". So I think it makes little difference whether it is "awaa awaa" or "our hour".

      Delete
  10. May i know what exactly the meaning of this song? I really confused with box, key/lock and room ...

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    Replies
    1. Probably there is no exact meaning of this song. Probably the main theme of this song is the feeling of flying off which is also expressed by the music and the dance. Probably the lyric-writers think it is enough if the lyrics cause that feeling in the listeners' minds. Probably the lines with "box", "key/lock", "room" are something like fragments of a night-dream and there is no consistent story which you expect or they think the listeners need not know it if there is any. I guess in this way and I hope you to imagine freely.

      Delete