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If I recall correctly, Mr. Hirasawa mentioned somewhere that he had a moment in Thailand where he saw many elegant SP-2s (the male-to-female transgender women he's friends with) walking through the neon-lit back alleys of a city in Thailand one night. The whole atmosphere was so surreal that he thought he was in a sci-fi movie where beautiful androids roam about a futuristic artificial city or something. (If I find the source I will link to it here later.) My impression is that this is (roughly) the concept behind the Sim City album from 1995, which is HEAVILY influenced by Mr. Hirasawa's post-1994 impressions of Thailand.

So let's take a look at this song from Sim City (and the later tribute album Switched-On Lotus. It seems to be about Malaysian androids who are too beautiful and too powerful to resist...

平沢進 - "Archetype Engine"
Japanese lyrics. )


Romaji lyrics )


Hirasawa Susumu - "Archetype Engine"
My English translation. )

Translation Notes: Sorry these are so long... )
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In some random interview I read that Mr. Hirasawa sometimes tries to use music to place the listeners in a situation outside of reality or everyday life. The goal is to make the listeners ask themselves how they would react in such a situation. "Echoes" strikes me as that kind of song. Read more... )


平沢進 - "Echoes"
Japanese Lyrics )


Romaji lyrics )



Hirasawa Susumu - "Echoes"
My English translation )