//beconfused

I won’t be posting Japanese music lyric translations for a while. I sort of ended my run too. I planned to post 10 of these. I post every Friday until the there are 10. The feedback has been quite positive so far, but last week, I posted number 10.

So this week, there’s nothing. I decide to post some credits instead.

I listen to some Japanese songs, some of which have rather strange lyrics, so I posted them. I never did translations, I do not understand Japanese. I took lyric translations from fan pages etc. Sometimes, the web fails me and I ended up typing the lyrics out by copying the subtitles from the video clip.

The songs come from different sources, I shan’t talk much about it, lol. Some came from video clips. I use m&g Software’s AVI to WAV extractor 3.5 to extract out the sound from the video. [The software is free by the way.]

For song cropping, normalizing of volumes and fading in and out, I use either Ahead Nero Wave Editor or Sonic Foundry Sound Forge. Both are good programs, I use the latter more though.

Songs are encoded in Windows Media Audio 9 for smaller downloads at a quality loss. I use Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 Series to encode all my music. [This is a free software too.] Windows Media Audio sounds best at lower bit rates as compared to other formats.

Some posts include still image captures, these are captured by Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series. [This is another free software.] Images are later cropped or edited by Macromedia Fireworks. [Photoshop committed suicide, great..]

These are the past postings [Most of the music are removed already, sorry.]

# music//ichi [Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me]
# music//ni [Yukino Satsuki - Densetsu no Onsen GAME (Legendary Hot-Springs Turtle)]
# music//san [NICEGUYJIN - Hai, Irasshai! (Hello, Welcome!)]
# music//shi [Funta - Wake Up Angel ~ Negaimashite wa Mugen Nari ~ (Wake Up Angel ~ Wishing for this is unlimited ~)]
# music//go [Aoi Tada - Wo Qui Non Coin]
# music//roku [Yuuichirou Sakuraba - Hitoribocchi no Haburashi (Lonely Toothbrush)]
# music//shichi [Gackt - To build a fire (To feel a fire)]
# music//hachi [Judy and Mary - Kujira 12 gou (Whale #12)]
# music//ku [Maki Goto - Genshoku GAL Hadeni Ikube! (An Authentic GAL Should Be Bold)]
# music//ju [MiniMoni - Okashi Tsukutte Okassui (Making Sweets: Strange)]

I enjoyed posting these. I’ll do these weekly posting thingy in future too.

Yesterday, I posted a quote that has been posted a day before. I forgotten to change it to a new one in my template. Opps.

This has got to be one of the silliest songs I heard. I especially like the bass of this track. It’s rather “rockish” in a childish way.

The song is called “Okashi Tsukette Okassui”. [I searched and found several similar Romanized names like "Okashi Tsukette Okkasi" and "Okashi Tsukette Okassi".] I can’t find the title translation for this song so I translated the title myself to be something like “Making Sweets: Strange” or something. I don’t learn Japanese so I may be wrong. Can someone tell me the correct translation of the title?

MiniMoni members – Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, Ai Kago and Mika Todd – starred in the movie – MoniMoni The Movie: The Great Cake Adventure a couple of years back. I first heard that song from this film.

The movie’s about MiniMoni members running a confectionery that does wonderful cakes. Just hours before their shop’s anniversary, an evil queen sought to destroy the cakes they made. Just when things go bad, their sizes got reduced. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

I have encoded 56sec sample in WMA file proprietary (Windows Media Audio 9; 48 kbps, 44 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR) for you people. This is the best quality I have encoded again, at the expense of file sizes again.

Download the sample from here (355 KB). [In Internet Explorer, right click on the link and choose the option "Save Target As...". Download it quick, as I'll remove it on February 23.]

Okashi Tsukutte Okassui
[Making Sweets: Strange]
Oide yo! Oide yo! Oide yo! Oide yo!
[Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!]
Oide yo! Oide yo! Oide yo! Oide yo!
[Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!]

Issho ni okashi!
[Together: Sweets!]
Issho wa okassui~!
[Together: Strange~!]

Okashi wa itsudemo SHAI dakara
[Because sweets are always SHY]
Hotondo kaiwa mo nai keredo
[They don't really have very much to say]

Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okassui~!
[So strange~!]

Okashi wa itsudemo mirokuteki!
[Sweets are always fascinating!]
Shotaimenna noni oishisou
[They look so good at just the first glance]

Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okashi fushigi!
[Sweets wondrous!]
Okassui~!
[So strange~!]

Source: The movie itself

After I watched the film, the words “okashi fushigi” still rings in my mind. I watch it last time by the way. So it proofs how addictive this tune is to me. Okassui, isn’t it?

Here are some still shots from the movie itself. I used to host it in another location, but I have consolidated all the images into this host. [Updated: May 2007]

Looks strangely like Teletubby land.

Mari Yaguchi holding a cake or keiki as they call.

MiniMoni’s new Ai Takahashi.

The thing about this movie is that it seems to be a satire of the actual MiniMoni group. In the end of the movie, Yaguchi left the confectionery she started and appointed Mika Todd to be the manager. Takahashi then joined the lovely cake-making crew. Yaguchi left to take care of the 4 kids as part of the story.

Yaguchi indeed left MiniMoni. With the addition of Takahashi and a new leader, MiniMoni also changed their styles. Yaguchi went on to manage Hello! Project Kids.

I am a day late again. Maki Goto started her career in Morning Musume, now she has gone solo. [Still under same record company.] I featured Maki Goto before in one of my themes in the past.

I listen to her album PAINT IT GOLD some time back and really like this track -Genshoku GAL Hadeni Ikube!. Without knowing the meaning of this song, I went on to listen. It’s a good walking song ya’know, it’s fast so it kinda sets a pace for me to walk fast too.

I tried to find the translation of Genshoku GAL Hadeni Ikube! for some time. It was until a couple of days ago that I chance upon it on the very site I’m viewing. Even so, I have difficulty understanding which English translation belongs to which lines. If the translations are incorrect, it’s likely that I have pasted the lines wrongly.

The translations seems generally accurate but some phrases are rather strange..

I have encoded 1min 06sec sample in WMA file proprietary (Windows Media Audio 9; 40 kbps, 32 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR) for you people. This is the best quality I have encoded, at the expense of file sizes.

Download the sample from here (343 KB). [In Internet Explorer, right click on the link and choose the option "Save Target As...". Download it quick, as I'll remove it on February 16.]

Genshoku GAL Hadeni Ikube!
[An Authentic GAL Should Be Bold)]
Lyrics & Music : Tsunku
Arrangement : Takahashi Yuichi

Hitori no shuumatsu tte shinnjirannai hodo; Maji yabaissu!
[A weekend alone is so bad that you won't believe it!]
Kedo kono toki to bakari onna wo sora migaki makutte (Maji yabaissu!)
[But in this time I polish the woman in me]
“Kareshi ga dekita toki” Sonna yume ga
["When I get a boyfriend" That's the dream I have]
Dome no gobaibun
[It's five times the size of the Tokyo Dome]
Kitto mawari ga hiichau kurai LOVE LOVE ni nacchau mon!
[We'll be in love so much that the people around will take a step away!]

Tomodachi ttara
[All my friends,]
Nuke kakeshite ikachii koi
[they all stole away to have romantic relationships]
“Watashi ga saigo no kareshi nashi!” kka
["I'm the last one without a boyfriend!"]
Iinda mon Naite nai!
[I don't care! I'm not crying!]
“Eeeeeen”
["Eeeeeen" *cries*]

Genshoku gyaru wa hade ni ikube!
[An authentic gal should be bold!]
Shumi wa ryouri de ika ga?
[Is it okay if my hobby is cooking?]
Genshoku gyaru wa hade ni ikube!
[An authentic gal should be bold!]
Otsuke mono mo hade yo!
[My pickles are also bold!]
Supootsu taipu mo hade ni ikube!
[The sporty type should go bold!]
Michibata taipu mo hade ni ikube!
[The side-of-the-road type should go bold too!]

It’s a rather kawaii [Japanese for "cute"] song, isn’t it? Goto singing about her not having a boyfriend. I guess I just have to sacrifice myself to be hers. I’m very noble.

I first saw Maki Goto is Morning Musume when they are performing Mr. Moonlight. She really stood out that time, partly because of her wardrobe. There is no wardrobe malfunction during her performance though, lol. [Tribute made to Janet Jackson's left breast. Justin wants to "get you naked by the end of the song".]

Some phrases are rather strange as I said (before the lyrics). I wonder what’s “my pickles are also bold”. In fact when “Genshoku GAL” is translated to be “Authentic GAL”, I don’t feel it’s right. Maybe it should be “Real GAL” or something. I can’t decide, I can’t read Japanese.

I captured from screens from the promotional video too:
Goto on stage view from afar
Goto gets the crowd ready
Goto smiles showing teeth
Goto looks pissed
Goto “Eeeeeen” [crying sounds]
Goto slight smile
Goto jumps with guitar
Goto looks scary [too scary that I removed, lol]

[removed after March 12]

She looks pretty, doesn’t she? This song reminds me of Ayaya [same record company]. My favorite picture? I like the pissed look, she looks best when she’s pissed, hahaa. Having said that, I wonder ifGoto will be pissed when she reads this.

Every time I post something, I always want to put a title for my post. Most of the time, the title is determined before I start typing. However, there are exceptional cases. Either way, it works. A title is given just to identify the post. Obviously, it should do well suggesting the content of the post.

The same thing for songs I guess. A title well chosen is just as important as producing a good track. Judy and Mary released their 11th single in 1997 titled “Kujira 12 Gou” which means “Whale #12″. It’s a nice song, with a strange title. I read the translated lyrics and still have no idea why’s it called “Whale #12″. In fact, “kujira” (whale) is only mentioned twice. There’s no mention of the number 12 too.
Well, at least there’s mention of dolphins. I can’t say it’s positive though.

Now to think of it, Judy and Mary is a name of a band that has 3 guys and a girl.

I have encoded 1min 40sec sample in WMA file proprietary (Windows Media Audio 9; 20 kbps, 16 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR) for you people.

Download the sample from here (260 KB). [In Internet Explorer, right click on the link and choose the option "Save Target As...". Download it quick, as I'll remove it on February 09.]

Kujira 12 gou
[Whale #12]
kurakkaa to chiizu to wain de furu kaiten no sukuryuu wa guu
[crackers, cheese, and wine, the full revolution propeller screams]
suraidaa de jippaa wa hazumu hai bakkari no sora wo mite iru
[sliding undoes my zipper, and I see only ash in the sky]
kondo koso te ni iretai koboresou na yoru ga sameteku
[I have to really try this time, the falling night is coming]
imiteeshon no daiya de uso bakkari no koi ga shitari wa
[an imitation diamond of lies is the love I want]
koibito ga sarawarete akuma no shiro kara tasukedasou
[I'll save my lover who was abducted to the demon's castle]
dakishimete te ni iretai kirameku hoshi no aitemu wo
[hold me while I try to touch the twinkling stars]

ougon iro no tabibito ga matteru
[a golden traveler is waiting]
monogatari e isogou
[I'll hurry into the adventure]

taiyou ga mezametara ano fune de yukou
[when the sun opens its eyes we'll go by the ship]
yorisotte yukidoke wo oyogu kujira mitai na
[drawing close and swimming in the melted snow like a whale]
mada daremo shiranai ano sora no hate wa
[to the edge of that sky that no one knows]
kitto mabushisugiru garasu no tobira
[a dazzling door of glass]

dorufin kikku de shibirete mitai na
[I want to kick like a dolphin until I'm numb]

Source: Natsuki of Sweetusagi.com
I only include a portion of the lyrics, minor amendments have been made too.

I do not see the link in the lyrics. One moment it says “I’ll save my lover who was abducted to the demon’s castle”, then it’s followed by “hold(ing) me while I try to touch the twinkling stars”.

My favorite part of the lyrics – I want to kick like a dolphin until I’m numb. At first glance, I thought it’s “I want to kick a dolphin until I’m numb”, which is rather amusing.

This is a feel good song, I listened to it, I felt good. A peep at the translations once again verify the fact that a good song doesn’t need smart lyrics. Doesn’t need smart song titles too.

So one of my favorite Japanese artists sang an English song. However, I’m not too eager to support him. He is known as Gackt, full name [so he claims..] is Camui M. S. Gackt (ç¥?�? 楽æ??, Kamui Gakuto). He claims his birthday to be July 4, 1540, that makes him over 400 years old. He must be thinking that I’m a 3-year-old to believe him.

Gackt was part of Malice Mizer before he went solo. His shoe size is 25.5 cm, 10 inches or size 8. [What the hell am I thinking to give shoe sizes..] So anyway, Gackt sang an English song. In _Engrish_ to be exact.

Japanese pronounces English with much difficult, so speaking in English is quite a problem for them and now Gackt sang the entire song in English, correction, _Engrish_. Pronunciation problems are arose from different stress in vowels etc.

I included a portion of Gackt’s song “To feel the Fire” and the lyrics for that portion. “To feel the Fire” is a song written by Stevie Wonder for a Kirin beverage commercial called “Fire”. [Okay, "Fire" supposed to be some coffee brand..]

The lyric part with the italicized squared parenthesis [like this] is the actual lyrics. Those without are just lyric that sounded like what Gacktis singing.

I have encoded 1min 30sec sample in WMA file proprietary (Windows Media Audio 9; 32 kbps, 32 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR) for you people. This is the highest quality I encoded so far, it’s 32 kHz too! [Previously was 16]

Download the sample from here (374 KB). [Download it quick, as I'll remove it on February 02.]

To build a fire
[To feel a fire]
’cause when I look inside my yard and I tell that toast to me
['cause when I look inside my heart and I tell the truth to me]
Loudly to my zoo I come, we stop upon the sea
[Loud and clear my soul cries out with total honesty]
I need the fire, fire, fire to keep me warm
[I need the fire, fire, fire to keep me warm]
I’ve got to build a fire
[I've got to feel the fire]

Your smiling face, me enough to warm a sign
[My smiling face, with laughter on the side]
You say “no duh”, I get butt-sore every night
[You'd say no doubt I get passion every night]
But if you don’t die, your underwater dive
[But if in our bed your arms don't hold me tight]
Means you leave much to be desired
[Means it leaves much to be desired]

’cause when I look inside my eye and I tell the two’s too mean
['cause when I look inside my heart and I tell the truth to me]
Loud and cold my soul I come with stuff that rhymes with ‘C’
[Loud and clear my soul cries out with total honesty]
I need the fire, fire, fire to keep me warm
[I need the fire, fire, fire to keep me warm]
I’ve got to fear the fire
[I've got to feel the fire]

And if you look into my eye and the toad does something dude
[And if you look into my eyes and you told yourself the truth]
You can make a bunny hop if you don’t ride the goose
[You can't make a body hot if you don't light the fuse]
I need the fire, fire, fire to keep me warm
[I need your fire, fire, fire to keep me warm]
I’ve got to build a fire
[I've got to feel the fire]

Source: Misheard lyrics taken from The Japanese Flannel, actual lyrics from Sawasdee Gackt: Lyrics ~ Gackt ~� I only include a portion of the lyrics, minor amendments have been made too.

Just take a listen to the song and you’ll realize that Gackt’s lyrics sounds more like The Japanese Flannel‘s version.

My favorite lines include “I get butt-sore every night”, “I come with stuff that rhymes with ‘C’” and “You can make a bunny hop if you don’t ride the goose”. Now I know what to do.. Since I don’t ride a goose, I’ll make a bunny hop. Gackt sure gives good advices.

I was flipping through my folders and double-clicked on “Hitoribocchi no Haburashi.wma”. It’s the song from a Japanese drama called “Mukodono” (ムコ殿) [Fuji Television, 2001], roughly translated to “Son-in-law”. This romantic drama stars Tomoya Nagase, the front man of band, TOKIO, as Yuuichirou Sakuraba (桜庭裕一郎)and Yuko Takeuchi as Arai Sakura.

It is about a popular star, Yuuichirou Sakuraba (sometimes spelt as “Yuichiro Sakuraba”), who is known for his cool personality. But he is not as cool as his fans thought when he marries into the family of his love interest, Arai Sakura. [Japanese traditions state that women marry into men's family, so the other way round is considered somewhat a disgrace.] He has to juggle with releasing of his upcoming single – “Hitoribocchi no Haburashi”, and his new and rather eccentric family.

[NOTE: All names are formated as such - First name, Last name.]

In 2001, Tomoya Nagase released a single with the song “Hitoribocchi no Haburashi” through the name “Yuuichirou Sakuraba”, his on-screen role. A photo book soon followed up, under the name “Yuuichirou Sakuraba” too. “Mukodono 2003″ (ムコ殿２００３) [Fuji Television, 2003] is released in 2003 [of course] withTomoya Nagase back as “Yuuichirou Sakuraba” and a totally new crew. Noriko Sakai plays Minami Ishihara, Sakuraba’s love interest. It’s a parallel plot, the drama lacks chemistry. The only other person that is back is Tsunkuas Takuro Komine. Tsunku [just Tsunku only] is the brains behind Hello Project which includes MiniMoni, Morning Musume and PucchiMoni.

“Hitoribocchi no Haburashi” means “Lonely Toothbrush”. “Ha” means “tooth” and “burashi” is the katakana-ized version of “brush”.

I have encoded 1min 48sec sample in WMA file proprietary (Windows Media Audio 9 20 kbps, 16 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR) for you people. Stereo is back, I encoded in mono the previous time, hehee.

Download the sample from here _(281 KB)_ [Apologies - music download has been removed.]

Hitoribocchi no Haburashi
[Lonely Toothbrush]
haburashi wa itsu mo no you ni
[Our two toothbrushes are in front of-]
kagami no mae nikko narande
[the mirror just like always.]
Ah, matsu yo ore wa matteru
[Ah, I'll wait. I'm waiting.]
shinjite matsu yo*
[I'll believe in you and wait.]

tashika ni ore wa
[I may not be-]
sonna kiyou ni konasu hou ja nai shi
[clever and]
ima demo ore wa
[I still-]
sonna jouzu ni jooku mo ienai
[can't tell jokes well.]

“aishiteru” kono kotoba ga
["I love you" I just-]
ano hi iezu ni ah
[couldn't say those words that day. Ah]
mirai made todoku you na
[I want to give you love that will-]
ai tsutaetai “aitshiteru yo”
[reach the future. "I love you."]

haburashi wa ore no dake ga
[Only my toothbrush-]
itande yuku naze nanda
[is getting worn out. Why?]
nee kimi wa ai no tsudzuki wo
[Hey, who are you-]
nee dare to shiteru?
[continuing your love story with?]

Translated by Bob; I did not include the full lyrics.

I really liked this song. I normally take less than an hour to compile these lyrics and blog them, but this time I took 2 hours. And why’s that so? I was singing along with the tune.

3 days ago, I was struggling to find some lyrics to display for my Friday slot. I can’t find any that time. This afternoon, I filtered Windows Media Player for Japanese song and random them. This song is the first one I heard. So, once again, I really liked this song. So I decided to go check out what Nagase is singing about.

About a lonely toothbrush?

It’s very creative to sing about toothbrushes nevertheless. I guess this isn’t the perfect love song to sing for a girl.

I’ll continue to sing this song, see ya. [haburashi wa itsu mo no you ni..]

You know, Singapore is being featured in episode 24 (titled _”Hard Luck Woman”_) of **Cowboy Bebop**. There is no mentioning of Singapore in that episode though. I recognize the Merlion is the Faye Valentine’s video tape. If she were to ask me where’s this _”water sploosh”_, I’ll gladly tell her the _”water sploosh”_ is in Singapore, I’ll offer her a tour around the island too. [pketh, I have finally finished watching Cowboy Bebop, it's an excellent anime, the good things are indeed at the back. Now the problem is, where do I get the movie, lol.]

Let’s dump Singapore aside, there’s something more interesting in episode 24. A song. Very soothing song that unfortunately, have less than a minute of air time. The song is sang by Aoi Tada, who voices for a character named Ed (a girl). By the way, Ed’s full name is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV.

This song is titled “Wo Qui Non Coin”, composed by Yoko Kanno.I have encoded _**3min 26sec**_ sample in WMA file proprietary _(Windows Media Audio 9, 10 kbps, 16 kHz, mono 2-pass CBR)_ for you people.

**Download the sample from here _(275 KB)_**. [Download has been removed.]

**Wo Qui Non Coin**
Boku no koinu ga
_[My puppy]_
inaku no ta
_[isn't here]_
shiroi ashi shiroi shippo_
[he has white feet and a white tail]
_zutto isshou datanoni_
[we were together all the time]

_Boku no koinu ga_
[my puppy]
_inaku no ta_
[isn't here]
_shiroi mimi shiroi senaka_
[he has white ears and a white back]
_itsumo isshou datanoni_
[even though we were always together]

_Boku wa kawaita namida de_
[My tears have dried up]
_mainichi kura shiteru_
[everyday I hope]
_hayaku_
[hurry]
_kaete kite_
[come back]

_Ame no hi mo kaze no hi mo_
[rainy days and windy days]
_mainichi sabo shite_
[but everyday I know]
_Ageru_
[I want you]

_Dakara hayaku, hayaku kaete kite_
[so hurry, come back]

_j’eu suis sa mosokona
wichet de bous sobleu
que se apusizi lepou zi ne
j’eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
hmm-hmm

j’eu suis sa mosokona
ruchet de bous sobleu
que se apusizi lepou zi ne
j’eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
hmm-hmm

adetu la mien ka fe tu notra
abelru hii ri soa
a lamour
ma-mii…
andetu la rien ka fe tu notra
abelru hii ri sora
a lamour
j’eu me tu lire ti la me tushe kyuela
j’eu suis sa mosokona
wichet de bous sobleu
que se apusizi lepou zi ne
j’eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
hmm-hmm
j’eu suis la mo saa (ahh ahh…)

Japanese portion romanized by Priya Monrad (email), translated by Chi-chan, translation further edited by Melissa.
Pseudo-French portion romanized by Tommy Pedrini.

The first time I heard this song, I thought it sounded like a sad love song. Ed must have really love the dog, Ein. Ein (Welsh Corgi) is a data dog developed at an illegal research laboratory.

This song doesn’t sound like Ed singing too. As you can see, this song is quite meaningless. And if you have noticed, only the Japanese lyrics have been translated. What’s the other language then?

French. Well, not exactly. It suppose to be French with all the _”j’eu”_ which means _”I have”_ and _”j’eu suis”_ would be _”I have am”_. It meant to sound like French, but anyone who understands French won’t get what Ed is singing about, thanks to pseudo language song writer – Yoko Kanno.

Kanno composed many of the songs in Cowboy Bebop and she probably decide to write a French song but stumble to her biggest problem – she doesn’t know French.

Basically, the reason why I chose this song is not because of the Japanese lyrics, but the Frenchlyrics. I mean, the _supposed-to-be-French_ lyrics.