thank you masa for the translation

Thanks for repeating something that was already posted later? X_X?

And it's not my translation. I think it's Delerium-Zer0's (?) but with the choruses fixed up by me.

soo beautiful!!
they're really great!
thanks ^^

her lyrics to this song is too beautiful. thanks for sharing.

It's chocopockymaster's... there are tiny bits of input from me in another thread but I don't know if those lyrics reflect them at all.

you mean "with cold air", you can't put "a" in there. that's just not gramaticly correct, right? :P

and i agree, everyone should STOP the whole translation compareson stuff.
masa did an awesome job as always, his lyrics are always natural, the other version posted by chocopockymaster were a little bit idk how to say it... let's just say, modified to look more artistic & beautifull.

You can. It would change the meaning though. 'In the cold air' would literally describe it as the surrounding air actually being cold while 'with a cold air' would be figuratively used to give the appearance of the coldness of an action with disregard to the actual air temperature. I believe in this case the former would be the more appropriate wording.

'with a cold air' in english would most likely be interpreted as 'uncaring' or 'uncompassionate' though, not as dignified or in a solitary state.

They're okay I suppose, a little cookie-cutter now. She's done much much better in the past.

uwaaa... this is soo beautiful *___*
i'm shivering when i read it =__= ~~
thx for sharing...!!!

What beautiful lyrics! Thanks so much for sharing them with us all, masa~!! ^_^

thanks for translation. beautiful lyrics

The more people can translate something, the better... that way you get more interpretations. Especially with a language like japanese, where context is very important - things like subjects being omitted, words having totally opposite meanings depending on the sentence they're in, words having different meanings depending on their kanji but they're written in hiragana so you don't know for 100% what the writer meant...

Not to mention different translation styles. You get some people who translate word-for-word, leaving metaphors & idiomatic expressions intact even if they don't make sense in english; or you get translators who translate the metaphors & idioms. Each translator will specify a different subject when subjects are omitted, too.

Japanese to english is REALLY tricky and it's nearly impossible to get 100% correct, especially when "correct" has different meanings for different people.

So the more translations we get of any one song's lyrics, the better. When we see many interpretations, we can get a better of idea of what Ayu may have realy been talking about.

She's amazing!

I don't know if someone already posted the Japanese here but:

光り輝いて凛とした木々たちが
身を隠すように色を消していく
希望へつながる何もかもを遠ざけて
ぬくもりを怖がる私のように

あの人の笑顔がもう
眩しくて優しすぎて
弱さ見せてしまいそうで
泣き出してしまいそうで

☆触れた指の先から
想いが溢れ出しそうに
なったあの瞬間から
この恋に気付きました

どうして人は心のままに従い
歩いていくのが難しいのだろう

本当はきっとずっと
わかってたはずなのにね
現実に目をそむけた
真実を否定してた

★見つめるその先には
愛しいあの人の姿
風が変わる頃には
この想い伝えようか

☆★

再び芽吹いた木々たちが色付いたら
今より素直な笑顔見せたい

This song is so fresh and amazing. <3 Thank you so much for the translation!

Shouldn't the him's be removed? She (almost?) never talks about a him or her but speaks in general or about a you. And with the PV it's not even sure she's talking about a him or her so I think that changing it would it better. ^^ What do you think masa?

Ima yori sunao na
Egao mise tai

It's true that she doesn't say in this part that she wants to show her smile to "him". But this is a love song to a particular person, and I think it's unnatural to interprete that she wants to show her smile to "everyone". So I added "him" to my translation.

thanks so much

^Melrose understands what happened and so does everyone else. It was something of a misunderstanding.

There was no need for you to bring it up at all. Agreeing with Deli is fine, but singling him out, is rude. It's over, and it's not like he kept doing it or anything. He even sent masa a PM about it. A big chunk of your very long post in unnecessary.

but anyway...
Thank you for your new version. The English does flow very well, but I think you should be careful if you move away from the literal translation, of how you structure it. I think it would look and sound better if some things weren't in four line stanzas.

But that's just my opinion.

Hmm, okay. But I think you should consider just leaving it out. For any song it's strange to put in a word that isn't really there, and with this song especially it's strange as it's not necessarily directed at a male person.

You can say 'I want to show my smile' without meaning specifically everyone and him. it gets the idea across.

the lyrics are really great! thanks! :D

To: Melrose
OK. I take your suggestion.

I want him to see my smile --> I want to show my smile

Thanks for sharing^^ Nice lyrics!!

Thank you ^^~

Oh, one question

Is it really that and not "BEFORE staring at my dear person"? Before your translation there was this whole translation discussion going on where the word "before" was present. I wonder what happened to that. :S I like yours better, I'm just wondering what happened with the "before" (saki ni).

"Saki" is not "before" in this case but like "end" or "goal". She (the narrator) is staring. And the goal point that her look reaches is "saki".

In japanese songs, they almost never actually say "him."
It's so weird to say that one.

But it's faithful to the song.
She is a woman, she is Ayumi Hamasaki, and we know she is singing to a boy.
And she mentions in the beginning how his smile is so sparkles and kind
So I think its better to say "to him", because it loses the comparison if you dont... =\

^

.....We know she's singing to a boy? How?

I think it's actually not faithful to Ayu's music if you translate it to an actual him or her, as she I think has always avoided that? (May miss a song or so.) But artists like Kumi Kuu do have some really directed stuff like "hey boooyyy".

Also, it already says "him" in the chorus.

@masa: Oh, okay. That's cool. I like it a lot more. ^^

we don't know...just look at the PV....

besides, the song might not necessarily be "her" singing...it could just be a song that tells a story...

better to keep it unspecific, especially as the original is.

^

Yea..exactly. ^^ That way it makes the song more applicable for straight guys too. Moreso than a song with lyrics "I love him oh he's so sweet", you know?

It is really implied because she is a woman singing about a lover.
Until Ayumi can say otherwise, it is usually that she is singing about a boy when she is singing those love songs?
She always performs with Shuya about those love songs..

And again I said, it's really awkward in Japanese songs to use the word for boy or man. Actually, to say "かれ" (kare) when referring to someone is a bit rude.
She has never used the words (kare) when referring to someone she is singing a love song about.
However, neither has most other Japanese singers.
She doesn't use the word "him" in the chorus...
She uses the word "person."

Just because Midoring played the boy part in the PV, doesnt mean we should assume she is singing to a girl.
We dont actually know the story about Midoring, so until she specifically says Midoring is a girl in the PV, most Japanese people are saying Midoring is a man.
We translate the song to mean that she is singing to a boy.
It's so weird for her to sing that kind of song to a girl... =\
Because we know she is not lesbian or gay or whatever you call.
We know she was going with Nagase.

In Japan, you just know.
Boy sings to girl,
Girl sings to boy.
The only time it is different is when it is really obvious.
There is not the same sense of gay and straight in Japan.

But yeah, for the sake of preserving the comparison of smiles, it's better to say "him," or if it is actually that bad for you to say it, at least "person."

I dont really get why people dont wanna put "him."
I really, really don't.
It's not being faithful?
Then you must go back to each and every Ayumi song, and everytime someone translating something as him, then change it. （￣〜￣；）？？

Lesbian or bisexual love? @_@

We can't assume anything in this case of the song. For all you know, she did really write it with a female person in mind.

It seems more like you're awkward with the thought of a bisexual person?

But really, it's best to just stay true to the original lyrics and leave it out at the end. It's pretty obvious that it's about a loved person, without defining the gender. Like I said, it makes the song way more applicable to both genders that are straight. You already have it in the chorus so I don't see what the discussion is about here? S_S

Staying true to the original lyrics is so that no one's personal taste interferes with the translation. ^^ Then you don't have to make any assumptions either that aren't verified (though most likely she IS singing about a man, that's not the point..). ^^

As I already wrote before, I personally feel "him" to be too direct. Also translating it as "that person" lets straight boys/men relate easier with the lyrics, specially if they don't know Japanese and can only take translations for reference.
The songs lyrics are subtle, like probably all love songs by ayu. It has a lot of images, so the usage of "him" seems even more direct and upfront. "That person" also leaves it open, if she's refering to a certain person or someone she has not yet met.

Have what in the chorus?

Do not assume to know what I am awkward or not awkward about.
I am saying that one because it is very weird for all of a sudden for her to sing about woman.

If you want to say girl, then go ahead.
I have no problem with you thinking about that lesbian or bisexual love.
However, I am stating the fact about the song, and about japanese songs in general.

I was just saying how it is better to have a person in the end..
So it's better then if you say "When the budding trees return to colour, I wanna show that person a smile more innocent than now."

I didn't mean to offend you if you were offended ~~ sorry.

I just feel like I dont understand why we gotta to debate who she is singing to...

Yeah, totally agreed. "Him", or any specification of any gender in Ayu's songs just seem to... direct. If there's REALLY a gender to be specified, well let's say it's very obvious and the pronoun she would use in such songs are 'you' anyways. (@ untitled ~for her~, for example.)

thanks for the translation! I think the meaning of the lyrics fit perfectly with the PV!!

perhaps just use "them"....?
although this is only used to refer to a single person if the gender is not known, or the speaker does not wish to reveal it...so it wouldn't work very well in a love song...same for "that person" though. you would only use this if you did not know the gender or you did not wish to reveal the gender (, or if you were leaving it deliberately ambiguous for the sake of making a love song singable by different genders/sexualities)

not mentioning the subject loses some of the sentence's meaning and feeling.

Which means it has to be him or her, and I'd have to choose him.

Again, it's a shame that the japanese can't be more directly translated without creating this kind of problem....

stupid english...>.<

Thanks!!!

thank you!!! i've been searching for this too many minutes....