Lyrics and Translations (Studio48)

It's "todokeru" 屆け 《verb stem》 屆ける : 届ける(P); 屆ける(oK) 【とどける】 (v1,vt) (1) to deliver; to forward; to send;

The first line it's used in would be something like "tonight I wanna deliver my feelings to you"

I think the line you translated as "tonight I wanna be sad" is the same line though. And "yakusoku shite hoshii", when we use hoshii it is wanting someone else to do something, so "I want you to make a promise with me"

I expect nekkoya means something in Korean, but I don't speak Korean so I don't know. Maybe something like "say I'm yours". Anyone know?

I think you did a good job on the translation

 

Nekkoya or 내꺼야 means Mine / My thing / possession.
Na ya na or 나야나 means something like me, it's me

 

Oh, thanks! That's good to know.

 

(a bit late but...)
naekkeo (내꺼) means "mine" where nae (내) = my and kkeo (꺼) is probably derived from geo (거) = thing, fact, etc. 내꺼야 = you're/that's/it's mine (where 야 is similar to だ in Japanese)

 

Thank you so much for your suggestions!!

I almost thought it means something in Korean too and I tried to put it into Google translate, but my Korean knowledge stops at reading Hangul and putting 네꼬야 (I have to admit I never know whether to use ㅔorㅐ) gave me "Your name". I thought I'd rather put Nekkoya in there instead of smth entirely wrong ^^;

Thanks to @sakurazaki and @BadIcecream for clarifying!!

 

Here are the rest of the songs on Glass wo ware!

Mou mori e kaerou ka? (Shall We Return to the Forest Now?)

Spoiler

Shall we return to the forest now?
There was nothing for us in the city
It was really quite different
From the world we had imagined

There’s neither earth nor greenery
In this cramped space
I wonder what makes people decide
To start living in a place like this?

Amidst the bustling noise
Even if they speak to each other of love
All the steel and concrete
Can never convey warmth for them

They’re brainwashed by a rumor on the wind (brainwashed)
About a dream that doesn’t really exist

Shall we return to the forest now?
I don’t mind going back empty-handed
What utopia really means to us
Turned out to be escape from reality
Being forced to (being forced to)
Compete with others (compete with others)
Living like that (fruitlessly)
Isn’t what I want (goodbye)

For some reason the sky isn’t even blue
It’s gotten all filthy
Ever since we came to the city
I haven’t been able to take a single deep breath

Everyone has gathered here
Aiming for the exact same place
Thinking that surely there must be
An ideal happiness to be acquired

Bound by rules and the laws of time (bound by them)
How much have the inhabitants of the city given up?

I want to go back to that forest
I realized how far away from it we are
The world we always believed in
Turned out to be a fake
Hiding the truth (the truth)
From each other (each other)
For what reason (are we crying?)
I’m just so sorry (in sadness)

Where can I find myself?
O sun in the sky, please tell me

Shall we return to the forest now?
We changed our minds so many times
But the place we’re trying to go
Is a place we can’t seem to find
Standing here (standing here)
When we look back (when we look back)
We see our shining (hometown)
It is that forest (utopia)

Yoake no kodoku (The Solitude of Daybreak)

Spoiler

At daybreak I leave the house
I’ve already thrown the past away
But the sound of my own footsteps
Chased me all the way here

Without anyone even realizing
I want to completely fade away somewhere
In a city still dim
Enough that no shadows are cast

Ooooooo
There’s nothing anymore
Ooooooo
Nothing to hold me back

To live is to sometimes become lonely
Don’t rely so much on love
If you’re protected by being part of the crowd
You’ll never ever be able to find
The true path

Every kindness someone gives me
Has started to feel like a heavy weight
And so I ignore them
In hopes they’ll start to hate me

Ooooooo
Living so shrewdly
Ooooooo
Ah, I just can’t do it

I wonder what it really means to live?
For whose sake are we doing so?
I wonder how I should make my way forward
While I search for the answer
I make progress

To live is to sometimes become lonely
I wonder what I should cast aside
While letting the rain soak me through
Today, more than yesterday
I become stronger

Ima Ni Mite Iro (The Color You See Right Now)

Spoiler

One day the adults suddenly asked us
“Don’t you want to give it a try?”
What do they expect from us? We’re all cowards

Of course right now it’s impossible for us
Everyone knows that as a matter of course (haa)

And yet for some reason in that place
We nodded our heads and accepted the challenge
We have no choice but to do it, we’re straightforward

I’m sure that we’re being tested
Being pushed into doing something unreasonable
We’re absolutely going to say we give up…

But to those who watch over their shoulders
As the world passes them by
There’s a rule saying you can’t pass
When you turn finally comes

The color you see right now, what color is it?
It’s the color of biting your lip while you do your best

Deep in my heart I whispered many times
What color are those words? A color I would see someday

The real thing turned out to be
Even bigger than the dreams we once had
We are timid people who shied away from it

“If only we had a little more time”
We might even want to say like sore losers (haa)

We have to surpass everyone else
Within each of us there is a bridge
Now, let’s cross it, all of us cowards!

We may say that no one will blame us
But excuses like that are ugly things
It’s better to walk away wordlessly

Instead of never leaving safety
And ending up regretting it
If you happen to get hurt
At least have a front row seat to cry in

The color you see right now, what color is it?
It’s the color of those dreams we always dreamed while suffering
The things we wished for will certainly be granted
What color are our feelings? Being able to say “told you so”

The told us we were being impulsive
But there’s no way we can run from it now
In a world as wide as this one
We are going to sing

The color you see right now, what color is it?
It’s the color of biting your lip while you do your best
Deep in my heart I whispered many times
What color are those words? A color I would see someday

Zenmaijikake no yume (Clockwork Dreams)

Spoiler

You stood on the edge of the train platform, waving a lengthy goodbye
That sight of you in your final school uniform comes to my mind
Since then, a whole year of seasons has come and gone
But the cherry blossoms in the city I live in still haven’t bloomed

For what and for whose sake am I attending this college?
Today I skipped lectures again and slept all day in my apartment

Please just forget about a guy like me…
Because I’ve woken from my clockwork dreams

You made a solemn vow that you would come to pick me up
As you sprinted beside the train with tears in your eyes
Even when you text me, I just can’t find the words
To cover up the truth with lies, so I never did reply

What about the future? What about my life? These things don’t go as planned
I work and then I party til morning, and I might’ve done something a little bad

Please forget me and keep your good memories…
I’m not that guy anymore, just an empty husk

No matter what happens, you’re going to keep living in our hometown
Please find someone much more wonderful than me and marry him
The stars in the sky are beautiful because we can’t ever reach them
What’s most important is a love that will always stay by your side

Please just forget about a guy like me…
I’m defective goods whose springs have worn out

Bathroom Travel

Spoiler

Sinking into the bubbles in the bathtub
I stretched my arms and legs and took a deep breath
I’ve gotta relax or I’ll stop being cute
A face wrinkled in worry is every girl’s enemy

Right when I closed my eyes, suddenly
I started feeling incredibly sleepy
From the faucet I didn’t turn off properly
The sound of dripping worked its hypnotism

The stopper must’ve come loose at some point…
The water goes swirling around and around
And everything in the past gets swept away
Down the drain…
It would be funny if that really happened
I privately daydreamed to myself
But what if even I got sucked down the drain?
To go on a wondrous journey

Usually I only take a quick shower
It’s always over in the blink of an eye
But tonight at least I’ll sit and bathe
And maybe think about the person I like

Sliding down the narrow pipeways
I wonder where I’m going to end up
Coming out at a river, heading towards the sea
This is the beginning of a new world

But if it hadn’t come out of the pipes back there
The hot water would just keep building up
It happens around the time I shampoo
The same every night
Impossible things somehow start happening
My life is anything but boring
Because I get sucked down the drain while bathing
Waterslider

But then I came to a realization
I was actually completely naked
Not wearing a scrap of clothing
I gotta put some clothes on
But it’s only a dream, so…

The stopper must’ve come loose at some point…
The water goes swirling around and around
And everything in the past gets swept away
Down the drain…
It would be funny if that really happened
I privately daydreamed to myself
But what if even I got sucked down the drain?
To go on a wondrous journey

Bathroom travel

Hanbun no kioku (Half of the Memories)

Spoiler

Swept away by the crowd, where are they taking me?
Though I love you this much, I’ve lost sight of you
I chased after you, called out your name, and ran around looking for you
But in this city lit by twilight, everything’s faded to dark

Is this goodbye?
It’s all my fault
The tiny beginning of a tear
Ripped our hearts into pieces
I didn’t make it on time

Love is something our feelings forgot
And now you aren’t here with me anymore
Memories slowly but surely crumble to dust, into the darkness
I thought the sadness of imagining it would make you stay
But the reality I’m faced with is that I’m the one to blame
Will you (forget me) will I (forget you)?
I want to ask you if you’ll be able to forget
Your half of the memories

Color returns to the city just as night falls
And for some reason I’m so angry with you, I start to hate you a little
You’re so selfish, doing things your way, being impossible to deal with
I spilled out all my complaints onto the shadowless asphalt

Can’t you apologize?
It’s all your fault
Just a small misunderstanding
But we can’t ever come back from it
Can’t return to before

A kiss is something our passion searched out
Suddenly I learned the texture of your lips
I believed that we shared the same set of values
An argumentative happiness is what we supposedly attained
But I wasn’t actually happy, I just couldn’t say no to you
My kiss (in the past), my kiss (in the future)
I wanna know if it told you how I felt
My half of the melancholy

Love is something our feelings forgot
And now you aren’t here with me anymore
Memories slowly but surely crumble to dust, into the darkness
I thought the sadness of imagining it would make you stay
But the reality I’m faced with is that I’m the one to blame
Will you (forget me) will I (forget you)?
I want to ask you if you’ll be able to forget
Your half of the memories

 

Urfgh sorry for disappearing before finishing Sayanee’s album. Finals month hit me like a truck (and yes, it is a whole month if you’re an art student :’D).

Anyways, I just finished Kassai (Applause). This one is definitely the hardest I’ve done so far, with a lot of words and expressions I’m unfamiliar with. Feedback is appreciated~ :3

Spoiler

Surely the one who can do it well will have the last laugh
Even so I want to be righteous, I want to be noble even if I look stupid
This doubtful life is decided
It’s a straight one-game match

People are talking in unity, sneering as if they spoke the truth
They’re swarming eyesores, let go of that hand

So I want to spit out almost everything I swallowed
Yes, yes, raise it up with a “hear! hear!” now
From the very start, I never felt like obeying you
Yes, applause. The usual farce is magnificent, magnificent isn’t it?
Are you satisfied with this?

Face right and what’s after that, devotion to you at any price?
The pestering is annoying, from the corpses you’ve raised
In your pre-established harmony*

You speak loudly, getting worked up shamelessly
Don’t push your luck, shut your careless mouth

So I conceal in obscurity almost everything I swallowed
Bye bye. I’m sick and tired of cramming things down
From the very start, did you continue to follow it?
That see-through theatre show played out to your heart’s content

On the stage I was supposed to have chosen
To display my love for someone, my love for you
My voice won’t come out, I can’t breathe, at least just now I…

I want to spit out almost everything I swallowed
Yes, yes, raise it up with a “hear! hear!” now
From the very start, I never felt like obeying you
Yes, applause. The usual farce is magnificent, magnificent isn’t it?
Are you satisfied with this?

TN: The “pre-established harmony” is a philosophical theory about causation by Gottfried Leibniz, stating that all substances appear to interact causally even though there is no direct communication between them.

 

@Silenka, the line in Glass wo ware "今あるしあわせにどうしてしがみつくんだ?" doesn't that mean "Why are we holding on to the happiness that we have right now?" instead "How can we grab hold of the happiness we could have?"

 

I think I outsmarted myself on this one. Because doushite can also mean "how can [we]"... and I thought I was so clever since it kept with the theme of wanting more You're right though, thanks for pointing it out. I'm changing it now~

 

Thank you! This song is pure fire.

 

Nekkoya is now translated by the official Mnet Channel. At least the Korean version, but I'm sure they're similar enough.

Spoiler

This moment that I've been dreaming of
(Dreaming Dreaming)
My heart towards you is about to explode
(Shining shining)

I can't hide it anymore
Look into my eyes
You will be mine from today
And so on

Can you feel me, who is filled with you?
(Feel me, feel me)
Hug me and give me tingles
(Hold me, hold me)

Don't stop
I will save you
In my heart
You will be mine from today
And so on

If you trust me, would you take my hand?
Hold tightly and don't let go
Cuz you're my star

Now I will be the star of your mind
I want you pick me up

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine, definitely mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (Superstar)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, definitely mine
Please tell me, pick me up

Tonight I hope my heart (hey hey hey)
Reaches you, me, it's me
Promise me, right in this moment (hey hey hey)
You're mine, definitely mine, you're mine

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (you're mine)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine (oh, oh, oh)

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (definitely mine)
Please tell me, pick me up
(Pick me up)

This is the beginning of the story of you and I
(Tell me, tell me)
I'll show you now, just for you
(Pick me, pick me)
Don't stop if this time passes by
You might miss me (hey hey hey)

Twinkle twinkle by your side
(If we look into each other)
I'll be a star for you
(You've already fallen for me)

You are a growing light inside of me
I promise you
You will be mine from today and so on

If you trust me, would you take my hand?
Hold tightly and don't let go
Cuz you're my star

Now I will be the star of your mind
I want you pick me up

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine, definitely mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (Superstar)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, definitely mine
Please tell me, pick me up

Tonight I hope my heart (hey hey hey)
Reaches you, me, it's me
Promise me, right in this moment (hey hey hey)
You're mine, definitely mine, you're mine

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (you're mine)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine (oh, oh, oh)

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (definitely mine)
Please tell me, pick me up
(Pick me up)

Now I hope your heart (hey, hey, hey)
Reaches me, me, it's me
Promise me, right at this moment (hey, hey, hey)
You're mine, definitely mine, you're mine

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (you're mine)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine (oh, oh, oh)

Starting today, you're mine, you're mine
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine (you're mine)
You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, you're mine (oh, oh, oh)
Please tell me pick me up

Pick me up oh oh oh oh
Pick me up Pick me up

The word "you're" has lost all its meaning to me now and it looks super wrong when typing it

 

Would it be OK if I translate a couple of songs here and there... I don't think I'm up to translating whole singles or albums like you awesome people but maybe just a few songs I like that I see no translation on Studio48 yet...

Anyway I'm submitting one here first. Buranko from Nogizaka's 16th single. I'm open to comments and criticism.

Buranko (Swing)

Spoiler

I misunderstood you
I thought you didn’t know me
Although I’ve planned to keep our distance
In fact I’ve always been seen by you
When the swing had an empty seat
By chance you sat down like wind
Swung a little
And said, ‘You’re always here’

Swing, swing, since you’re swinging
Your voice sounds like
It has been taken in by the evening glow
Now, as I’m also
Swinging back and forth slowly
I want to go after that
Just a little

After this
We won’t need any words
Swinging back and forth
We’ll simply swim in the sky

Although both my reflection about love
And my thoughts about how lovely you are
Have turned into a little sigh
I want to talk to you someday…
At the end of autumn, when fallen leaves danced
No matter how many times I walked on the way to home
When I saw you on that bench waiting for someone
I would always look at you from afar

Why do you look somewhat sad today?
As your long hair flutter
You look like a sketch drawn by someone
Without company
Your heart is not riding on the swing
It is walking
On that road…

Look, the starry sky
Is spreading out at our feet
If you’re fine with me
I’ll stay by your side like this

After this
We won’t need any words
Swinging back and forth
We’ll simply swim in the sky

Now, in the middle of dreams
The river of time flows inaudibly
And there is only one swing
That is moving here

 

I think this is a great translation I’ve only just started translating myself, but I think every bit of help counts~

Just finished Riku no Sakana (Fish on Land) ^_^

Spoiler

When I realized I can’t breathe
Anywhere but a single place somewhere
It was like I understood why I would die
And I became extremely scared

If I set out from here
Will I not be myself anymore?

No matter where I am I want to keep living
Even if someone laughs and says its absurd
I have to leap out of this world
Or else I’ll forever be just a fish

I peek through and show my face
Then immediately pull away, repeating this over and over
What I somehow discovered
Was that this world is not made of only frightening things

How long must I swim
To learn how to walk?

Even though I see it right there
I still can’t step forward
The feelings in my heart grow stronger as time ticks by teasingly

No matter where I am I want to keep living
Even if someone laughs and says its absurd
If I’m going to give up and die
I’ll leap from this ocean and die using up all my strength
If I don’t go forth, I’ll be just a fish

 

@firthyn Thanks a lot! It's very kind of you.

@Anyone's who has done lyrics translation
When you translate lyrics, how closely do you adhere to the line breaks of the version of original lyrics you refer to? I was translating another song today when I realised that if Studio48 (which is what I refer to when I do the translation) had divided the lines of lyrics differently, I might have phrased my translation differently as well And I have seen the same set of lyrics with different line breaks on other sites or blogs.

For example, this line from Aitakatta (obviously not the song I'm translating, but since everyone here should know this song lol) is divided as such on Studio48:
どんどん溢れ出す
汗も拭(ぬぐ)わずに

I see the Studio48 translation is following this division too:
Gradually it comes out
The swipe I don't wipe away

But it is also possible to put this all into one line:
どんどん溢れ出す汗も拭(ぬぐ)わずに

Now an alternative translation could be Without wiping away the swipe that gradually comes out? What do you guys usually do?

Spoiler: Btw regarding 'swipe'

(Actually shouldn't that be sweat instead of swipe Or does swipe mean something else that I'm not aware of)

 

@sc89

I personally tend to follow the line-breaks you find in the original lyrics quite closely, but not necessarily the order it comes in.
Either way, I don't think you need to follow it too strictly. Just whatever feels right? XD

 

@sc89
I'm gonna be 100% real here and pet the elephant in the room. A lot of translations are by non-native English speakers who sometimes get the English words/grammar wrong, or people who don't have sufficient Japanese education and end up making some mistakes in what lines in a song actually mean. I make mistakes sometimes too as you can see if you just scroll up a bit in this thread, lol. Ultimately that leaves us in a position where we shouldn't take any translation on Studio48 as gospel. Unfortunately, that leaves fans of the song a bit in the dark as to what their favorite songs might really mean. And people like to say it's "up to interpretation", but that's BS for most songs; there's really not that many different interpretations you can take as the lyrics pretty much mean only one thing most of the time. In that Aitakatta example it looks like a typo for "sweat"; being fan translations people do for fun, that sort of thing tends to happen pretty often. What I'm trying to say is that your quest for truth in how to translate AKB lyrics begins and ends with yourself, as it does for all of us.

As far as line breaks, when I started translating I tried to adhere to the line breaks pretty closely and be as literal as possible. But there's a popular saying in translation: it's either like a wife (ugly yet faithful) or a mistress (beautiful yet unfaithful) The best thing to do is strike a balance between those and make it beautiful without being too unfaithful. Literal translations are awkward and a drag to read, but stray too far to the other side and you might lose the meaning entirely. I say that because the way you translate is what's generally going to determine how you handle line breaks. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, too.

Spoiler: Long rambling ahead, skip to bottom for tl;dr

Take Yoake no Kodoku for example. This is one song where I had to consider how to handle line breaks. These two lines don't flow together well in any configuration in English:

影もできない kage mo dekinai
まだ薄暗い街 mada usugurai machi

If we translate it literally it ends up being something like

Shadows can't be cast
In this city that's still dim

When you think of how that flows with the previous two lines,

Without anyone even realizing
I want to completely fade away somewhere

We'd like to keep continuity if possible, since all 4 lines are part of the same thought. After all, in the first line of the song the protagonist leaves her house, and continuing from that, now she's expressing in 4 lines that she wants to disappear somewhere, so she's going to the city at daybreak where night is still lingering. In these kinds of situations where an entire verse is one long thought, it's best to figure out exactly what that long thought is, and then configure it accordingly in English with the same number of lines. So instead of picking something faithful that doesn't necessarily flow, I chose to reconfigure it a bit to end up with

In a city still dim
Enough that no shadows are cast

The lines are essentially swapped to make more sense in English. The dim city has made its way to the 3rd line and the shadows not being cast are now in the 4th line. Up to you whether you like "enough" in the first line or second line, they work slightly differently but both still grammatically correct. I chose to put it in the second line to adhere closer to the number of syllables in the Japanese lines (that's something I've been doing that helps it feel closer while reading along with the English translation, as long as it doesn't compromise quality).

There are hundreds of examples of line break issues. Some songs are so lyrically dense that entire long verses have to be reconfigured to make sense in English. I know your question was about putting several lines all in one line to avoid that issue but ... it's my personal preference to not do that for a lot of reasons. It's harder to read the translation along to the song, harder to use the translation for song subtitles (which is something a lot of people use the site for), and I think harder to post up as a translation when the lines are all very long because of the kanji/romaji/translation column system. Ultimately it's up to you though.

I was thinking about writing up a post breaking down the process of translating songs (or at least how I do it). I thought people might not find it interesting though so I didn't do it yet But maybe it would be a good thing to do after all.

 

I try to follow the line breaks closely too, but as Silenka said sometimes it just doesn't sound right in English unless you rearrange the structure. Swapping lines is my last resort, but Japanese and English generally have opposite sentence structures, so it tends to flow more nicely if you do so Striking a balance between the "wife and mistress" so to speak is really difficult for me XD

Oh and also, a post about breaking down the process of translating songs would be greatly appreciated I've literally just been winging it lol

 

I agree with you on the most part, but literal translations actually barely ever work well for creative texts, and lyrics do fall under that. Unlike technical texts like manuals and contracts, the intent or purpose of the text is really not as clearly defined. Realistically, the only way you can be sure you have produced a faithful text is if you can talk to the lyricists themselves and know what their actual heart behind the song is which obviously most of us haven't really been able to do. Otherwise, it's really just an open game of interpretation.

For example if you're translating lyrics for one of the songs Aki-P wrote (which is majority of the stuff here), if you're hardworking, referring to his past works could be an idea. Or for people who have translated for him before, see what his recurring patterns are, and what he usually tends to try to achieve through his lyrics. Of course, he has written from a range of different topics from serious ones to nonsensical ones, but determining the mood and song type will also affect whatever choices that are made. This is a like the most prominent theory that everyone who has studied translation would bring up every single time which is the skopos theory which basically says that every translation that is done has to fit its purpose.

Another example which is what I have personally done when translating Sayaka songs especially those she wrote herself is reading up on interviews on the album-making process, and what each song means to her was very handy. That's because I could at least know what she intended each song to be, and base my translation on that. For example, she had shared Rainbow was very much just a self-expression album while to her Identity, it was mostly songs she did for others/with other people in mind. Some interviews even actually had content on each song in more detail etc. If you had access to those kinds of things, they are very very useful.

Oh one more thing, I'm both a translator and subber. And I do usually translate lyrics first (or if I'm lazy refer to existing translations) before subbing. But as a practice, I always edit the translations before I use them for subtitles. Cause I always find that I may have to divide lines differently due to confines of space. Length isn't an issue, and you can use more space in translations in order to make sure that the meaning is conveyed properly. And if you had to, you can even use translator notes. But in subtitling especially for songs, translator notes are pretty much just obstructive, and you wouldn't want that in your videos. So, I tend to go with a different strategy for that one where I actually become even more "free" with my translations, but still ensuring the overall meaning isn't lost.

I suppose I have kind of shared on how I go through translations personally, but really rather than a guide/manual, I think there's just three things I try to adhere to for any fan translation I do really (and not just lyrics): purpose, research and context. I have talked about purpose and research above. But as for context, when I am unsure about a word, looking for their dictionary definitions isn't enough. Finding what they mean in different situations and seeing which fits the best in the given context is probably the most important part of my translations.

 

Thanks @Silenka @firthyn @convenience93 for your food for thoughts. It's certainly a great feast of ideas.

I'll just add a few ideas of mine:

• Research is important but since translation is to bridge the gap between the author and the reader, it's not enough to just research the writer (the source). Knowing the reader (the target) is also important. How knowledgeable they're of the source text / author / source culture, and how keen they're to learn about these things. To create the same understanding on different people, you need to say things differently. In extreme cases, this could be the difference between 'demagogue' and 'Trump bad man. Real bad man.' (OK, very extreme example but you get the idea. )
  • Admittedly, the biggest difficulty in knowing the target is that there is more than one reader, and each reader is different. For lyrics translation on stage48, we generally want to serve anyone looking for a translation, but that could be a very diverse group. We can be fairly certain that our readers are people who like or are interested in 48/46G and have heard the original song (MV and/or performance). Usually quite open to learning more about Japan and its culture. But they're probably very heterogeneous in other areas (e.g. what they want out of the translation - a quick idea of the song's gist? materials for making their lyrics video? a secret passage to Aki-P's heart mind palace ; prior knowledge of the Japanese language/culture... hell even of the English language).
• I believe the context for lyrics translation is not confined to the text alone. While our translation is not meant to be sung, it is still supposed to be read with how the original sound of the song in mind. So I think one should consider the 'style' of the song and try to model the translation's tone after it. A fun song with a party atmosphere may need shorter sentences and shorter words because lengthiness makes things dull. A song that 'meanders' through a story should read like that in the translation, so the average sentence length can probably be longer. To an certain extent the original lyrics should reflect the 'tone' needed already, but the music is still an important source of information due to the drastic difference between Japanese and English. My personal observation is that Japanese lyrics tend to have longer structures anyway, but it is also easier to chop them into different chunks when singing (cue line break nightmare ); English songs, on the other hand, usually sing a complete clause in one go (i.e. without breathing).
• Just sharing what my professor once said: 'The only thing that is completely same as the original text, is the original text. But translations exist because readers can't read the original text. Who needs a translator when they can read the original?' The takeaway is that by 'changing' the original text, you're also 'changing' its inaccessibility, i.e. helping people access it. So we shouldn't be afraid of making changes. It's just a matter of how.

 

@sc89

You have pretty much said everything. I have nothing much to add haha. But just some comments.

That part about the reader/target audience, it all falls under the skopos theory/purpose of the translation with the 3Ws. For who? For what? And why? If it's for lyrics, you won't need too much explanation generally speaking since we can assume most of the audience is as you said interested in idols/Japanese culture to a certain extent. However, if you find necessary, either a gloss in the actual translation or even a translator's note would suffice.

And you do have a really good point about modelling the translation's tone based on the style of the song. I did touch on that, but you've elaborated on it a lot better than I have. Haha. However, it really depends though. If you chose this strategy, you may get too fixated on having your lyrics adhere to a specific style that there is a danger of you straying too far away from the source text. In the end, it's always about balance, but that really is our biggest challenge as translators.

About your last point, yeah I completely agree. I mean at the end of the day, there's so many different strategies people could employ, and there's really neither a right or wrong just as long we can justify our methods.

And I can tell you're probably Translation major? Hahaha.
I graduated from my Masters last year, so I'm probably already getting rusty, but thanks for the revision class hahah.