2015/03/26

Prolog to Summons Ceremony

Included in "LIVE AT BUDOKAN" (released on 2015 Jan. 7th).
played in "Black Night" concert on 2014 Mar. 2nd.

Prologue to Summons Ceremony   in "Black Night"

[Doomsday
Summons]
On the night when the crimson flame burns down everything
    and this land is enveloped by the jet-black darkness,
finally the time of fate comes,
towards the end of the Metal Resistance...

On the morning of the day when they depart for the new stage,
like the sound of a small bell gradually changes into the sound of a big bell,
BABYMETAL are going to be summoned into the giant magic circle.

The Fox God said
"Because there is an end, there is a beginning".
And then the sound of the bell that tells the end of the Metal Resistance
and tells the opening of the new legend
resounds from the giant magic circle.
Long ago, the Godmother who is the mother of the Fox God said
"It is you who shall ring that gong".



  • The text enclosed in [   ] was not narrated, only displayed on the screen.

  ROMAJI TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES ARE BELOW.


[i] About Summons Ceremony

Exactly speaking, this is the prologue for the encore of "Black Night". BABYMETAL performed "Doki Doki * Morning" & "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" as encore. At the end of "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!", SU-METAL rang the gong, and the picture story for the summons ceremony started.

Though it was clearly said in the epilogue for Legend "1997" that the Fox God would summon BABYMETAL on Black Night, fans could not understand what it really meant. Some fans guessed the backing band would become the official members of BABYMETAL, some fans guessed some girl(s) would join BABYMETAL. Probably no fan would expect such a "summons".


Prologue to Summons Ceremony   in "Black Night"

Romaji TranscriptionEnglish TranslationNotes
 
[DOOMSDAY [Doomsday
Shookan] Summons][i]
Kurenai no honoo ga subete o yaki-tsukushi shikkoku no yami ni kono chi ga tsutsumareru yoru On the night when the crimson flame burns down everything and this land is enveloped by the jet-black darkness,
tsuini unmei no toki ga otozureru, finally the time of fate comes,
Metaru Rejisutansu no shuuen ni mukete... towards the end of the Metal Resistance...
 
Aratana suteeji eto tabidatsu hi no asa On the morning of the day when they depart for the new stage,
chiisana suzu no ne ga ookina kane no ne to kawatte-iku yooni like the sound of a small bell gradually changes into the sound of a big bell,1
kyodai mahoojin no moto eto BABYMETAL wa shookan sareru no da. BABYMETAL are going to be summoned into the giant magic circle.[i]
 
Kitsune sama wa itta, The Fox God said
"Owari ga aru kara hajimari ga aru no da" to. "Because there is an end, there is a beginning".
Soshite Metaru Rejisutansu no shuuen o tsuge And then the sound of the bell that tells the end of the Metal Resistance
aratana densetsu no makuake o tsugeru kane no ne ga and tells the opening of the new legend
kyodai mahoojin yori nari-hibiku no de aru. resounds from the giant magic circle.
Sono mukashi Kitsune sama no haha de aru Goddo Mazaa wa itta, Long ago, the Godmother who is the mother of the Fox God said2
"Ano dora o narasu no wa anata". "It is you who shall ring that gong".2
 

Notes

  1. "Suzu" refers (usually) to a bell that has a roughly spherical shape and pellet(s) inside. It is typically small (e.g. a jingle bell), but there are big suzu in Japanese shrines. "Kane" refers usually to a bell-shaped bell which is typically large. Grammatically it would be better to understand as "the small sound of suzu (= small bell) gradually changes into the big sound of kane (= large bell)".
  2. The word "Godmother" is used only to refer to a singer Akiko WADA a.k.a. "Goddo Neechan" (= God (Older) Sister), and her most famous song (1972) is titled "Ano Kane o Narasu no wa Anata" (= It Is You Who Shall Ring That Bell). She has no relation with the Fox God & BABYMETAL.
        Now she is famous as a bitter commentator in TV shows, but she is a good soulful singer. This song has been covered by many singers. Its lyrics are like: "I am happy to meet you. / You have a smell of hope. / Though failing, getting hurt and crying, / there is a refreshing smell of hope. / The city is now in sleep. / It is you who shall ring that bell. / People are all in worry. / It is you who shall ring that bell." It is often sung to cheer up people in difficulty, and I wish my translation with "shall" taken in such a way.

3 comments :

  1. For your entertainment and perusal--

    BABYMETAL Doki Doki ☆ Morning (English Captions Intro – Budokan Black Night) [Prolog to Summons Ceremony]
    https://youtu.be/VKMd0IFQdAA

    \m/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for subtitling & uploading.
      Listening to this narration, I wonder why the story after Budokan was not given another name, "the Metal Renaissance" or something.

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    2. Couldn't agree more--after reading the translation I was left wondering the same thing.

      My guess is the song "Road of Resistance"...perhaps the Fox God thought why mess with a theme. But I'm with you. "Renaissance" would be most appropriate. "The Metal Wave" would also work...

      But it's been a party watching for the past five years in awe and astonishment as they've set the world on Fox fire. I envy your viewpoint, and North America seems increasingly lame, Japan icreasingly more colorful and compelling.

      As usual, we'd be lost without your translations. \m/

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