中島みゆき　夜を往け

Nakajima Miyuki - Yoru wo yuke

(Nakajima Miyuki - Into the night)

A translation of the lyrics of Nakajima Miyuki

http://www.oocities.org/gregsharp.geo

Version 1.0: April 2, 2006

English translations by Greg Sharp <gregsharp@oocities.com>

Spanish translations by Néstor Singer <nesinger@vtr.net>

Some translations are a bit rough, so please give me your suggestions!

======

夜を往け

Yoru wo yuke

(Into the night)

======

追いつけないスピードで走り去るワゴンの窓に
憧れもチャンスも載っていたような気がした
あれ以来眠れない　何かに急かされて
走らずにいられない　行方も知れず
夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け
At a speed, can’t be caught, from the window of a wagon

I felt that chance and desire would align

Since then, I can’t sleep, urged on by something

I gotta run, no matter where

Into the night, etc.

砂の風吹きすさぶ乾いた道端にたたずんで
親指を立てながら待ちわびるだけだった昨日
憐れみのドアが開く車を見送って
ナイトニュースを聴くだけの昨日を捨てて
夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け
The sandy wind howling as I lingered by the wayside

As I waited with my thumb outstretched, yesterday

If the car door opens out of pity, let it pass me by

Take away yesterday, when the nightly news kept me company

Into the night, etc.

遠ざかる街の灯はまるであの日の夢のようだ
恋人よ　あの愛と比べるものがあり得たのか
蒼ざめた微笑みが瞼をよぎる
出まかせのなぐさめが心をなぶる
夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け
The lights of the distant city are like a dream I had the other day

I was in love, could anything compare with that love?

A pale smile crosses my brow

And the comfort of random thoughts hurts my heart

Into the night, etc.

なにも見えない夜の彼方からむせび泣く口笛が聴こえないか
忘れられない夢のカケラが数えきれない星くずを鏤める
夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け
夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け　夜を往け

From the other side of a pitch-black night, can’t you hear a sobbing whistle?

I dwell on the fragments of a dream, studded with stardust

Into the night, etc.

======

ふたつの炎

Futatsu no honou

(Two flames)

======

みつめあうことだけが大切なことじゃないと
あなたは首すじから私の腕をほどく
むさぼり合った季節は過ぎて
信じ合える時が来たんだと
あなただけが大人になったように私を諭す

When I say you shouldn’t pay attention when they stare (1)

You unfasten my arms from your neck

When I say the season I met greedily is over

And it’s time we trusted each other

You lecture me as if I were a child

[Chorus]
ふたつの炎が同じ速さで燃えはしない
いつまでひとつが哀しく燃え続けていても
Two flames won’t burn at the same speed

No matter how long one might keep burning alone

ほどける糸のように今　愛が終わってゆく
憎み合うこともなくただ愛が終わってゆく
不思議だった女が消えて
届かなかった女が消えて
すがるだけの追わなくても手に入る女になった
Love ends, like a thread coming undone

Love ends, without mutual hatred

The strange woman goes away

The unreachable woman goes away

I’ve become a woman who clings and chases, but cannot reach you (2)

[Repeat chorus x2]

======

3分後に捨ててもいい

Sanpungo ni sutetemo ii

(Just three more minutes and you can leave)

======

３分後に捨ててもいいよ　通りがかりゆきがかり
知らない話にうなずいて　少しだけ傍にいて
身代わりなんかじゃないけどさ　似てる人を知ってるわ
恋と寂しさの違いなど誰がわかるのかしら

Just three more minutes and you can leave

Passing by, by chance

Just nod at the words you don’t understand

Just stand next to me a little while

You’re not a substitute, but

I know someone who looks like you

Who could understand

The difference between love and sadness

[Chorus]
あぁ　流れてゆく車のヘッドライトは天の川
あぁ　流れてゆく人の心も天の川
３分後に捨ててもいいから　いまだけ傍にいて
Ah, the car headlights, they flow like the Milky Way

Ah, our hearts, they flow like the Milky Way too

Just three more minutes and you can leave

But stay with me now

コンパクトに映して見れば　時計はみんな昔回り
二度と戻らない人ばかり　浮かんでは消えてゆく
If I look in my mirror

The clocks all turn back in time

People who I’ll never meet again

Float by and disappear

ねぇ　子供の頃あたし星を見てるのが好きだった
ねぇ　子供の頃あんたどんなふうだったの
３分後に捨ててもいいから　いまだけ傍にいて
Hey, when I was a child, I liked to look at the stars

Hey, when you were a child, what were you like?

Just three more minutes and you can leave

But stay with me now

こんなビルの隙間にも　白いカモメが飛んでいる
紙きれみたいな人生が　ねぐら探している
Even in the cracks in the building

There are white gulls flying

Our lives, like scraps of paper

Search for a place to rest

[Repeat chorus x2]

======

あした

Ashita

(Tomorrow)

======

イヤリングを外して　綺麗じゃなくなっても

まだ私のことを見失ってしまわないでね

フリルのシャツを脱いで　やせっぽちになっても

まだ私のことを見失ってしまわないでね

If I remove my earrings and become ugly

Don't look away

If I take off my frilled shirt and become skinny

Don't look away

カーラジオが嵐を告げている

２人は黙りこんでいる

形のないものに　誰が

愛なんてつけたのだろう

The car radio is talking of a storm

The two of us remain silent

This shapeless thing we have

Who called it love?

[Chorus A]

教えてよ

もしも明日　私たちが何もかもを失くして

ただの心しか持たないやせた猫になっても

もしも明日　あなたのため何の得もなくても

言えるならその時　愛を聞かせて

Please tell me

Tomorrow, if we lose everything

Like a scrawny cat with nothing left but a heart

Tomorrow, even there is no benefit for you

If you can speak such things, let me hear words of love

抱きしめれば２人は　なお遠くなるみたい

許し合えば２人は　なおわからなくなるみたいだ

ガラスならあなたの手の中で壊れたい

ナイフならあなたを傷つけながら折れてしまいたい

When we embrace, it seems we become farther apart

When we accept each other, it seems we understand each other less

If I were a glass, I want to shatter in your hand

If I were a knife, I want to break while wounding you

[Chorus B]

何もかも愛を追い越してく

どしゃ降りの１車線の人生

凍えながら２人共が

２人分傷ついている

We have gone too far chasing love

In this raining, one-track road of life

Freezing, we two are

Hurting each other as much as two people can

[Repeat Chorus A]

[Repeat Chorus B]

[Repeat Chorus A]

======

新曾根崎心中

Shin-shinozaki Shinjuu

(Another Shinozaki Shinjuu (3))

======

無駄だとわかってやめられるのなら
恋わずらいとは呼ばないのよ、ボク
夢だとわかって目が醒めないから
夢中と呼ぶのよ　覚えときなさい

If I could stop when I saw it couldn’t be

They wouldn’t call it love sickness

I know it’s a dream, so I don’t open my eyes

Remember, they call this a delusion

二人きりにしてください
二人きりでしかできないことがあるから
I want to be alone with you

There’s something we can’t do unless we’re alone

[Chorus A]

親しんで楽しんでいとしんで愛（かな）しんで苦しんで
ただ愛のもくず
親しんで楽しんでいとしんで愛（かな）しんで苦しんで
ただ愛のもくずね
Intimate, pleasurable, lovely, bittersweet, painful

It’s just love’s tragedy

Intimate, pleasurable, lovely, bittersweet, painful

It’s just love’s tragedy

枕もおよばぬ絆の脆さ
義理でもふりでも愛よりは確か
肌身に離さぬおまえの気配
恩より親よりおまえが恋し
There is no pillow, with its fragile bonds (4)

Duty and appearance are more dependable than love

You only think about your neck

Worth more to you than family or responsibility

[Chorus B]

二人手をとって行こうか
二人きりでしか行けない憂き世の浄土、さァ

Let’s go holding hands

We can’t leave this wretched world until we’re alone

[Repeat chorus A]

[Repeat chorus B]

[Repeat chorus A x2]

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君の昔を

Kimi no mukashi wo

(Your past)

======

君の昔を誰にもらおう

言葉途切れるこの夕暮れに
君はうなじを頑なにして

過ぎた景色に戸を閉ざす

Let’s hear about your past

Tonight, without interruptions

But you turn away

And shut the door on the past

戻れるものなら戻りたいですか
必ずそらす話がきまってあるよね
今も誰かと比べてるみたい

If you could go back, would you?

There are always some things you won’t discuss

It’s like you’re still comparing me with someone

[Chorus]
妬んでいる　君と会って君を去った古い仲間を
妬んでいる　君を愛し君を去った古い女を
妬んでいる
I envy them, the friends who met you and left you

I envy them, the girls who loved you and left you

I envy them

君の昔は君に優しい

他人（ひと）を寄せずに君に優しい
君の隣は夢でふさがり

風は私の上に吹く
Your past was kind to you

It was kind to you; you didn’t accumulate anyone

There is no space left next to you, it’s filled by dreams

And the wind blows above you

サヨナラ私は　今日という日だって
悪くはないよって言いたかっただけだよ
いつも誰かと比べていたね
Good bye, today

I only wanted to say it wasn’t so bad

But you were always comparing me to someone

[Repeat Chorus]

いつも誰かと比べていたね
You were always comparing me to someone

[Repeat Chorus x2]

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遠雷

Enrai

(Distant thunder)

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「このままでいいじゃないか」　あなたの煙草
切り札を躱されて　わたしの煙草
唇で溶けあって　そこからMidnight
こぼれるのはため息ばかりの遠雷の夜
答えなどを求めないそんな女はいないわ

“Let’s keep going the way we are,” you smoke

Evading my trump card. My smoke

Melts on my lips, and it’s midnight

A night of distant thunder, but only sighs fall

There are no women who don’t want answers

[Chorus]
あぁ今夜もほだされて舞い戻る腕の中
せつなく乱されて遠ざかる雨の音
Ah, I’m moved by affection, back into your arms

But the sound of the distant rain is oppressive and disturbing

後ろ手の置き手紙　ちぎれてMidnight
もう一夜　なりゆきにまかせてMidnight
これ以上は望み過ぎなのね　遠雷の夜
いとしさがきわまって何かしでかしそうなのに
Midnight, tear up this letter with my hands tied behind my back

Midnight, again I leave tonight up to you

I can’t hope for anything more than a night of distant thunder

The end of tenderness, and I feel I’m the guilty one

[Repeat chorus]

ガレージの車には違う口紅がある
見ないふりするのもこれまでよ　言いかけたのに
There’s another shade lipstick in your car in the garage

This is the last time I pretend not to notice

I almost say out loud

[Repeat chorus x2]

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ふたりは

Futari ha

(Two of us)

======

「ごらんよ　あれがつまり遊び女（め）って奴さ
声をかけてみなよ　すぐについて来るぜ
掃除が必要なのさ
この街はいつでも人並みに生きていく働き者たちの
ためにあるのだから」
“Watch out, she’s a prostitute

If you talk to her she’ll follow you around

We gotta clean this place up

This area is here for working class men”

街を歩けば人がみんな振り返る
そんな望みを夢みたことなかったかしら子供の頃
街じゅうにある街灯に私のポスター
小さな子でさえ私のこと知っていて呼びかけるの
「バ・イ・タ」
When I walk through town, everyone looks back at me

As a child, I never dreamed it would be like this

My poster is hung on streetlights throughout the city

Little girls know me, and call me “Bitch”

「ごらんよ子供たち　ああなっちゃ終わりさ
奔放な暮らしの末路を見るがいい
近づくんじゃないよ　病気かもしれない
耳を貸すんじゃない　呪いをかけられるよ」
“Watch out kids, you might end up like that

Look at the end of the road, after an extravagant life

Don’t get too close, you might catch something

Don’t listen to here, she’ll put a curse on you”

緑為す春の夜に　私は
ひとりぽっちさまよってた
愛だけを望む度
愛を持たない人だけが何故よびとめるの
On a green spring evening

I walked along, alone

Why, when I only hope for love

Am I only stopped by men who have none?

「ごらんよ　あれがつまりごろつきって奴さ
話はホラばかり　血筋はノラ犬並み
掃除が必要なのさ
この街はいつでも人並みに生きていく働き者たちの
ためにあるのだから」
“Watch out, she’s a criminal

She lies; she’s a junkyard bitch

We gotta clean this place up

This area is here for working class men”

街じゅうにあるどんな店に入っても
誰かがきっと席をあけて招いてくれる　おとぎばなし
夢は叶って　誰もが席をたつ
まるで汚れた風を吸わぬために逃げだすかのように急いで
I can enter any shop in town

And someone will get up and invite me to sit down

No, that’s just a fairy tale

If my dream comes true and everyone stands for me

They hurry off, not to breathe my dirty air

緑為す春の夜に　あなたは
傷ついてさまよってた
誰からも聞こえない胸の奥のため息が
私には聞こえた
On a green spring evening

You walked along, in pain

You gave a sigh from the bottom of your heart, that no one should hear

But I heard it

[Chorus]
緑為す春の夜に　ふたりは
凍えきってめぐりあった
与えあう何ものも残ってはいないけど
もう二度と傷つかないで
On a green spring evening

We met, frozen

With nothing left to give each other

But let’s never hurt each other again

耳を疑うほどに　他人は喜んでいた
I can’t believe how happy he is

「まとめて片付く　早く旅立つがいい」
“Hurry, let’s pack up and get out of here”

[Repeat chorus]

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北の国の習い

Kita no kuni no narai

(Northern girls’ tradition)

======

離婚の数では日本一だってさ　大きな声じゃ言えないけどね
しかも女から口火を切ってひとりぽっちの道を選ぶよ
北の国の女は耐えないからね　我慢強いのはむしろ南の女さ

It’s the got the highest divorce rate in Japan

Though I don’t want to say that in a loud voice

The girls there won’t start a fight

They’d rather hit the road alone

It’s because girls from the North Country just can’t stand it

The southern girls are more patient

[Chorus]
待っても春など来るもんか
見捨てて歩き出すのが習わしさ
北の国の女にゃ気をつけな
If you wait long enough, will spring come?

It’s their tradition to walk away and leave you behind

Watch out for girls from the North Country

[Repeat Chorus]

吹雪の夜に白い山を越えてみようよ　あんたの自慢の洒落た車で
凍るカーブは鏡のように気取り忘れた顔を映し出す
立ち往生の吹きだまり凍って死ぬかい
それとも排気ガスで眠って死ぬかい
Try and cross the mountain in a blizzard

In that fancy car you’re so proud of

The frozen curve, like a mirror

Will bring out a frightened face you’ve forgotten

You can die frozen in a snowdrift

Or die in your sleep from carbon monoxide

[Repeat Chorus x4]

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With

======

僕のことばは意味をなさない
まるで遠い砂漠を旅してるみたいだね
ドアのあかないガラスの城で
みんな戦争の仕度を続けてる
Don’t read too much in what I say

But I feel like I’m traveling through a distant desert

There is a glass castle with doors that don’t open

And everyone is getting ready for war

旅をすること自体おりようとは思わない
手帳にはいつも旅立ちとメモしてある
けれど
I don’t really mean to take this trip

Though it’s written that way in my schedule book

[Chorus]

ｗｉｔｈ…そのあとへ君の名を綴っていいか
ｗｉｔｈ…淋しさと虚しさと疑いとのかわりに
ｗｉｔｈ…そのあとへ君の名を綴っていいか
ｗｉｔｈ…淋しさと虚しさと疑いとのかわりに
ｗｉｔｈ…
With ... can I write your name next?

With ... instead of solitude, emptiness, doubt

With ... can I write your name next?

With ... instead of solitude, emptiness, doubt

With...

生まれる前に僕は夢みた
誰が僕と寒さを分かちあってゆくだろう
時の流れは僕に教えた
みんな自分のことで忙しいと

Before I was born, I saw a dream

Who will share these cold thoughts with me?

Time has taught me that

Everyone is busy with his own thing

誰だって旅くらいひとりでもできるさ
でも、ひとりきり泣けても
ひとりきり笑うことはできない
Anyone can go away alone

But even if you can cry alone

You can’t laugh alone

[Repeat chorus]

僕のことばは意味をなさない
まるで遠い砂漠を旅してるみたいだね
けれど
Don’t read too much in what I say

But I feel like I’m traveling through a distant desert

[Repeat chorus x2]

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Notes

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(1) This is tricky. I think this first line is what she says to him.

If not, my translation is totally screwed here.

(2) Duh, I must be dumb. I can’t figure out this grammar either.

(3) This title refers to a bunraku puppet play. (see

http://web-japan.org/factsheet/bunraku/sonezaki.html).

The basic idea is that this guy Tokubei wants to marry Ohatsu.

But he can’t, because he can’t return the dowry that his

family received to marry another. So Tokubei and Ohatsu

perform a double suicide (shinjuu).

(4) The pillow refers to the lovers’ bed