Nov 12, 2011

“Separation” Translation and Explanation

The lyrics to this song are really deep, and the subject in all of the lines seem kinda vague, so please do read my explanations and interpretation at the bottom to understand why I translated it the way I did. This song is half the meaning of the words, and half the interpretation of the listener, so after reading the explanations, you can form your own ideas about the song as well! (And please tell me what you think because this one is so subjective to those listening to it that the meaning could be changed any time :good )

YUI – Separation

lala lalala
Separation

勝手なこと言わないで
katte na koto iwanaide
Don’t just say things for your own benefit[1]

覗き込む
nozoki komu
Looking in

その目を避けた
sono me wo saketa
I avoided those eyes

Easyな受け売りなら
Easy na ukeuri nara
Because if it’s just an easy second-hand story [2]

聞きたくないから
kikitakunai kara
Then I don’t want to hear it

How Crazy Are You?
I wanna say Yes or No…Crazy

わからないの
wakaranai no
Don’t you know?

I am a baby

あなたと一緒は・・・カナシイ
anata to issho wa…kanashii
Being with you is… sad

未熟なだけなの?
mijuku na dake na no?
Is it just that I’m immature?

電話のベルさえ
denwa no beru sae
Even the ringing of the phone,

イヤだわ
iya da wa
I hate it

背を向けるの
se wo mukeru no
Are you pretending not to see?

同じような事
onaji you na koto
Are you just going to repeat the same kind of thing

繰り返しているの
kuri kaeshiteiru no
over and over again?

lala lalala
Separation

返事ならしたはずよ
henji nara shita hazu yo
If it’s an answer you want, I should’ve already given you one [3]

話すことはないわ
hanasu koto wa nai wa
I have nothing to say to you [4]

How Crazy Are You?
I wanna say Yes or No…Crazy

許すだとか
yurusu dato ka
“Forgive me” you say

そんなんじゃないの
sonnan janai no
But that’s not the problem

誤解だったとか・・・アタシ
gokai datta toka…atashi
“It was a misunderstanding” you say… but for me

どっちでもいいのに
docchi demo ii no ni
it doesn’t matter either way [5]

会いたいと言えば
aitai to ieba
If you ask me if I want to see you

ユラユラ揺れるだけ
yurayura yureru dake
I just waver and sway back and forth [6]

キレイな離別を
kirei na ribetsu wo
I want you to be the one to commence [7]

仕掛けて欲しいわ
shikakete hoshii wa
a complete separation [7]

Oh きっと触れるだけで
Oh kitto fureru dake de
Oh, I’m sure that just by touching you

すぐに懐かしい
sugu ni natsukashii
It will instantly become nostalgic

痛みを思い出しちゃうから
itami wo omoi dashichau kara
because I’ll remember all the pain

留守番電話の
rusuban denwa no
Even to the gentle voice

優しい声にさえ
yasashii koe ni sae
on my answering machine,

油断出来ないの
yudan dekinai no
I can’t let my guard down

繰り返しちゃダメよ
kuri kaeshicha dame yo
I can’t be repeating this cycle

終わりにして
owari ni shite
Let’s end this [8]

次のドアを開けたいの
tsugi no doa wo aketai no
I want to open the next door

いっそ傷つけて
isso kizu tsukete
Rather than hurting myself [9]

戻れない過去を捨てるの
modorenai kako wo suteru no
I’m throwing away the past that we can’t go back to

lala lalala
Separation

lala lalala
Separation

lala lalala

Explanation:
[1] – 勝手なこと言わないで (katte na koto iwanaide)
–> so 勝手 (katte) means to do things at your own convenience, or at your own pace, without thinking of other people’s opinions or whether or not doing something would affect other people, so in a way it is being “selfish,” but it’s a little less severe than “selfish (自己中 -jikochuu)” in my opinion. So I wasn’t sure how exactly to translate it, but it ended up as saying things “for your own benefit.”
–> 言わないで (iwanaide), I think, should be a command from the speaker meaning “Don’t say…..” I thought about it for a long time, and to me, it makes more sense for it to be a command, and it also sounds more natural to me to interpret it as a command. I get yelled at in this format by my supervisor all the time: 「バカなこと言わないで」 (Baka na koto iwanaide!) – “Don’t say such stupid things”.

[2] – 受け売り (ukeuri) – literally means, “receiving and selling” but is used as an expression to describe stories/opinions/knowledge that is passed down from one person to another (they “receive” and then they “sell” the information). So the “easy” in English is used to describe these “second-hand stories” and I think that she means that they’re “easily made up second-hand stories,” but I left the English in there to keep true to YUI’s English usage ^^

[3] – 返事ならしたはずよ (henji nara shita hazu yo)
–> なら (nara) after a noun phrase means “if ____” and then usually refers to something that has already been mentioned before. So “henji nara” would mean “if it’s an answer,” but that doesn’t really make sense in English, so I took the part of “nara” that refers to something that has been mentioned before, meaning that the speaker was probably asked for an answer, and so in return she says “If it’s an answer you want…. ”
–> したはずよ (shita hazu yo) – はず(hazu) has the meaning of “should” as in “I should do something” or “It should be there” etc… Which is why the translation becomes: “I should’ve given you one(an answer) already.”

[4] – 話すことはないわ (hanasu koto wa nai wa) literally means “there’s nothing to say,” but if we take it in context of the song, he’s asking for an answer, she says she’s already given him an answer, and so “there’s nothing left to say,” on her part at least, so I translated it as “I have nothing to say to you”

[5] – 許すだとか (yurusu da toka) そんなんじゃないの (sonnan janai no) 誤解だったとか・・・アタシ (gokai datta toka… atashi) どっちでもいいのに (docchidemo ii no ni)
–> ~とか(~toka) usually expresses that you’re stating an example, so like “I like flowers. Such as roses (toka), daisies (toka), lillies (toka) etc… So in this case, the nuance that I can get from the sentence seems like the speaker/YUI’s character is listing things/excuses that the other person has said such as “Forgive me” and “It’s a misunderstanding.” Based on the context of the song, I took it to be that the guy is asking YUI’s character for forgiveness. Both do make sense in that the Japanese –> English would be right in different context though. This would be based on your own interpretation.
–> どっちでもいいのに (docchidemo ii no ni) いい (ii) in Japanese has very strange uses, in that it can both mean “fine/good” and “no, I’m satisfied” depending on when you use it. It holds the meaning of being “satisfied” such as 私はいいです (Watashi wa ii desu) “I’m okay (meaning I don’t want/need anymore)” So I think that in this case the lyrics mean that “either way, she’s satisfied” or “either way, it doesn’t matter to her” because she’s already over and done with it. Again, open to interpretation… >.>

[6] – 揺れるだけ (yureru dake) literally means to sway in the physical sense, but it also holds the meaning of wavering in the emotional sense, as if you can’t make up your mind. The expression 心が揺れている (kokoro ga yureteiru) – “my heart is wavering” comes to mind when I read this line and I think that it means that YUI’s character does not know whether or not she wants to meet the guy.

[7] – キレイな離別を (kirei na ribetsu wo) 仕掛けて欲しいわ (shikakete hoshii wa)
–> キレイ(kirei) does mean “beautiful” or “pretty” in the visual sense, but it also means that something is “cleanly/completely done” (ex: That saw made a clean cut in that piece of wood). In this sense, YUI’s character is asking for a clean cut/complete separation. But I’m sure that YUI used this word so that it includes the meaning of a “beautiful” separation, perhaps in that she wants it done spectacularly.
–> 仕掛けて (shikakete) simply means to get something done/set something in motion.

[8] – 終わりにして (owari ni shite) kind of implies that she wants the guy to end it because it is in command form. But the fact that she’s asking for this means that she wants to end it too. And based on the last few lines of the song, it seemed to make more sense to translate this as “Let’s end this” (in the sense that, “I want you to agree with me that this needs to be over”) as opposed to “Please end this.” What do you think? :O?

[9] – 傷つけて (kizutsukete) simply means to hurt/injure someone/something. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s another person, but without context, this sentence could mean to hurt someone else or to hurt yourself. Both are correct in terms of the Japanese –> English, so it’s up to the reader/listener to determine who they think is being hurt. Based on the context, I think it is YUI’s character.

Interpretation:
So basically, based on my interpretation, this song is about a guy, who cheated on his girlfriend (YUI’s character), and got caught, but is asking for forgiveness and saying that everything is a misunderstanding. And it seems to be implied that he’s cheated multiple times, but even so, YUI’s character is a little confused and her heart is wavering because somewhere inside, she still loves him, but she’s being hurt, so she wants him to be the one to start the break up. It’s a little different from how azmikun took it (where YUI is the one hurting the guy and she’s the one who needs to be forgiven), but both interpretations are possible depending on who you place as the subject of each sentence, but putting the whole song together, it made more sense that YUI was the one being hurt (and I could never picture her in a cheating role anyway)

Credit to : Hatsumichan @ YL

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