平沢進 - "王道楽土" / Hirasawa Susumu - "Royal Road, Paradise"

[phonon_belt]

A note about the title: the English title from the website is "Royal Road, Paradise," which comes from splitting up the Japanese title into its parts, "王道" (royal road) and "楽土" (paradise). But taken as a whole, the phrase "王道楽土" can mean something like "Arcadia" (in the utopian sense). Interestingly, the phrase was a concept Imperial Japan used when it set up the puppet state Manchukuo in the 1930s. The idea was that, instead of being governed by Western force, the area would be ruled by Eastern virtue and become a utopia--an idea that was promoted with Japanese propaganda. (In reality the goal was probably to establish a base for further military expansion of the Empire onto the continent and to secure economically valuable resources desperately needed for the growing Empire.) The puppet ruler of Manchukuo was the last Chinese Emperor, who apparently tried to flee to Japan to surrender to the Americans after the Soviets invaded Manchukuo in 1945, ended up being captured by the Soviets. While this song is probably not specifically about Manchukuo, the title and the idea of a ruler fleeing as his country falls apart may well be an allusion to it. Just a thought.

平沢進 - "王道楽土"

無き国の王　堂々の
泣き供花を踏む王道に

今も現と見まがう空には火が
疑団の火が火が

抱き　悪しき日を耐えて
湧き　武勇の士を称えた

今も現と見まがう国には火が
悲惨の火が火が

さあ　さあ　見よ　ショーを　ショーを

火よ何故民たちは走る走る
火よ思い出せない何故
火よ何故民たちは燃える燃える
火よ思い出せない何故

灰色よ降れ相応しく
何故野はいまだ咲く

いまだ現と見まがう野辺には火が
苦渋の火が火が

さあ　さあ　見よ　ショーを　ショーを

火よ何故民たちは喘ぐ喘ぐ
火よ思い出せない何故
火よ何故民たちは朽ちる朽ちる
火よ思い出せない何故


Hirasawa Susumu - "Oudou Rakudo"

Naki kuni no ou doudou no
Naki kuge o fumu oudou ni

Ima mo utsutsu to mimagau sora ni wa hi ga
Gidan no hi ga hi ga

Daki  ashiki hi taete
Waki buyuu no shi o tonaeta

Ima mo utsutsu to mimagau kuni ni wa hi ga
Hisan no hi ga hi ga

Saa saa miyo shoo o shoo o

Hi yo naze tamitachi wa hashiru hashiru
Hi yo omoidasenai nani yue
Hi yo naze tamitachi wa moeru moeru
Hi yo omoidasenai nani yue

Haiiro yo fure fusuwashiku
Nani yue no wa imada saku

Imada utsutsu to mimagau nobe ni wa hi ga
Kujuu no hi ga hi ga

Saa saa miyo shoo o shoo o

Hi yo naze tamitachi wa aegu aegu
Hi yo omoidasenai nani yue
Hi yo naze tamitachi wa kuchiru kuchiru
Hi yo omoidasenai nani yue


Hirasawa Susumu - "Royal Road, Paradise"

King of a vanished country   Magnificent
Weeping, stepping on flower offerings on the royal road

In the sky mistaken for reality even now, there's fire
Fire, the fire of irreconcilable doubt

Embracing  Enduring the evil days
Overcome with emotion  They sang the warrior hero's praises

In the country mistaken for reality even now, there's fire
Fire, the fire of misery

Well   Well   Watch   The show   The show

Oh Fire, why do the people run, run?
Oh Fire, I can't recall why
Oh Fire, why do the people burn, burn?
Oh Fire, I can't recall why

Oh ashen colors, rain down for me, appropriately
But why do the fields still bloom?

As yet, in the fields mistaken for reality, there's fire
Fire, the fire of bitterness

Well   Well   Watch   The show   The show

Oh Fire, why do the people gasp, gasp?
Oh Fire, I can't recall why
Oh Fire, why do the people rot, rot?
Oh Fire, I can't recall why

Comments

royal road paradise

[(Anonymous)]

umm.. i just wanted to comment on your post but i'm not sure if it'll be seen by you only. anyway, doesn't matter much. just wanted to thank you. this is such a beautiful blog. i, too, love hirasawa susumu, song lyrics, and enjoy translating things i like. usually i translate lyrics of hirasawa susumu's songs to my language from your translations. beautiful lyrics. and difficult to find proper english translations elsewhere. by the way, is it possible for your readers to request songs? (of hirasawa susumu of course?)

Re: royal road paradise

[phonon_belt]

Hi, thank you for commenting! My translations are full of inaccuracies, so I would recommend against translating from mine... ^^; Still, it's nice to meet another fan and translator! What's your language?

You can request songs, of course, but I can't guarantee if/when I will translate them. ;)

Re: royal road paradise

[(Anonymous)]

ahaha but these translations seems to be so well^_^ anyway, still if you reccomend me somewhere else with good hirasawa translations maybe i could use both yours and other translations as well; since his songs are so open to different interpretations. my language is turkish ^^

hmm, in fact i'm an amateur -very amateur- manga artist, and was planning to make some sort of a hirasawa songs themed online artbook, so it would be so nice to learn what the songs that i can most strikingly visualize are about. so let me request a number of songs to increase my chance and maybe you'd like to choose one or two among them if/when you feel like to translate:

-gemini
-siren *-*
-sim city *o*
-kantaiheiyou gisou mou
-love song
-denkouyoku (this and its second version will be cover and back cover probably)
-sekai turbine
-snow blind *_*
-solar ray
-and maybe soul home.

and thank you! ^_^

Re: royal road paradise

[phonon_belt]

I would love to see your artbook once it's done! Sounds amazing! Please feel free to share the link to it here when you post it online.

And, since you requested it, I thought I'd point you to the translation of the "Denkouyoku" songs I just completed.

Re: royal road paradise

[(Anonymous)]

thanks for denkouyoku! such beautiful lyrics! and siren is i guess my favorite among his albums, especially the song siren/sairen *__* -i love how denkouyoku 1's siren sounds makes the song siren start smoothly... it gives one a thrill and reminds emergency sirens and mythological sirens at the same time, with hirasawa using his voice so lovely and joyfully, as if being someone happy to live only in voice, hand in hand with siren sounds. i think i'm going off again.

anyway, i'll surely share the link when the artbook is done! ^^