The GIFT lyrics
 

My roommate did this by ear based on the PV.
Anyone willing to make a nice translation would be appreciated!


The GIFT
Kanji
鳥たちは祝福のさえずり
花びらは祝いのシャワー
その先に見えるのは愛するあの人

これまでの記憶が一気に
蘇って胸締め付ける
決して平坦な道のりじゃなかったね

今日から二人は新しい人生の階段を上る
一歩一歩大切に踏みしめて行こうと誓い合った
ah−永遠に

乗り越えた全ての悲しみや涙は
このためだったねと今ならわかるから

今日から二人はお互いを世界で
一番幸せにするために
生きていくんだよ

だってこの愛は神様からの
世界にひとつのギフト

鳥たちは祝福のさえずり
花びらは祝いのシャワー
その先に見えるのは愛するあの人


Romaji
Tori tachi wa shukufuku no saezuri
hanabira wa iwai no shawā
sono saki ni mieru no wa aisuru ano hito

kore made no kioku ga ikki ni
yomigaette mune shimetsukeru
kesshite heitan na michinori janakatta ne

kyō kara futari wa atarashii jinsei no kaidan wo noboru
ippo ippo taisetsu ni fumishimete ikou to chikaiatta
ah- eien ni

norikoeta subete no kanashimi ya namida wa
kono tame datta ne to ima nara wakaru kara

kyō kara futari wa otagai wo sekai de
ichiban shiawase ni suru tame ni
ikite ikunda yo

datte kono ai wa kamisama kara no
sekai ni hitotsu no gifuto

tori tachi wa shukufuku no saezuri
hanabira wa iwai no shawā
sono saki ni mieru no wa aisuru ano hito

Thanks!

* Kami are kind of like gods or spirits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami

/crawls back to work/

Very sweet lyrics but it feels somewhat... recycled?

Meh. They're nice lyrics but I guess cuz I cannot relate to it whatsoever I have no real feelings for it at all. Everything about this song is just kinda... there lol Thanks though :)

Meh. I'm actually getting married later this year and I'm still just like "Oh, this is kinda nice." lol...

These lyrics contribute very little to the world of marriage songs. "Dearest" felt more honest, "Virgin Road" had a more interesting approach by singing a "thank you for raising me, but it's time to pass the torch" song to one's mother/parents rather than an "I love you" song to the person one is marrying.

There's nothing wrong with "The GIFT" at all - it IS very sweet and quite lovely, but I still think the tension created by the piano intro & outro are probably the best & most interesting aspects of this particular song.

Thanks for the translation!

Well, the song and the lyrics are way too kitschy for me...

Thank you!!

it means something to Ayu at least :)
she could see happiness in the song..unlike other ballads like Zutto..
which is nice

This is a song for REmarriage. Thats what's different about it.

But would you have any idea about that reading the lyrics on their own? No. Is there anything that makes the song sound like it's about remarriage specifically as opposed to marriage in general? Not even kinda. Which to be honest makes me see it even more as a missed opportunity lyrically.

The song speaks in terms that are vague, which is nice for general public palatability, sure. These lyrics could apply to ANY marriage that happens after years of struggle or drama - neither my boyfriend nor I have ever been married before, but I can absolutely identify with this song because we each had a ton of drama in our lives before we met each other.

By keeping the song vague and palatable to the general public, she certainly creates something that's sweet and appealing for a large number of people, and tons of people will be able to play it at their weddings, but it lacks that personal "oomph" that her more specific (and more puzzling) songs have. She's going with "pleasant for most people" here rather than "fascinating & amazing for a small number of people." And it's fine, but there's nothing here that really grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you and makes you say "oh WOW" like some of her stronger songs do.

I actually love these. Thanks

Thanks for the translation.
I thought it was supposed to talk about how Ayu grew from a girl next door to a superstar... Sure doesn't sound like it, but still nice.

She doesn't say Kami tho, she says Kami-sama. Kami-sama is understood to refer to the individual. Its like the different being God and a god. Japan knows about non-Japanese concepts of God, and refer to their understanding of a God in Heaven as Kami-sama, they aren't oblivious. And for correctness, 'western concept' is also incorrect, they come directly from middle eastern areas or Asia.

This is entirely appropriate given the Japanese modern cultural practice of marrying at Christian churches, even if parties are unaffiliated with the belief.

Ayu rarely is so so blunt with her lyrics. There's a story behind all of her lyrics and we all know them because we know her history. If you read most of the lyrics on their own, you would have no idea they were referring to issues such as hearing loss, divorce, her father, her grandmother, her mother, the suicide of her best friend, etc.

Of course it can apply for many situations where struggles have been experienced mutually, but the way she expresses it this time is on par with how she's always chosen to express things. There is nothing there to imply the struggles pertain to the relationship in question either. Normally, there is some sort of line like "it has a difficult road (for us), but we made it through the storm", etc. But there is clearly something different in these lyrics and lines like "The tears and sadness we overcame were all for this moment - I know this now" implies, to me, that the two experienced tears and sadness in the past, separately, but were able to overcome their individual past experiences when embarking on a new relationship together.

With her best lyrics, she uses very specific imagery and terms and is CLEARLY referring to something specific that happened to her. It's just that the details are so numerous - statements are rarely generic in most of her songs, so you end up with a pile of details (or apparent details). When you do the math with all those specific things, though, it's hard to tell what happened exactly because those details could add up to multiple situations (and sometimes she'll use words with double meanings). With "The GIFT," there are only 2 or 3 details in the lyrics that you don't hear with a lot of wedding songs - like the two you quoted. Even then, the "it's been hard but we made it here" sentiment was used in "Dearest" as well under entirely non-wedding circumstances, and most of the rest of it are sentiments used often in love songs by Ayu and others.

Ayu has other songs that could be interpreted multiple ways, but those ways are all FAR more specific than "a couple getting married after hardship in their individual lives." Ayu's past lyrics have stories that not EVERYONE can relate to, but those who can are hit VERY hard by it.

"WHATEVER," for example, could be about a writer (lyricist, poet, novelist) who's in love with her boss. To someone else it might be about someone writing a suicide note to someone they care about and reminding them to tell those THEY love that they're important. For another person it could be about an unemployed impoverished woman trying to turn off romantic feelings for the time being until after her life is in order. And the lyrics ALL sound like they could point in any or all of those directions - but those stories are all very, very specific.

Even "Dearest" could be construed as a general, safe love song, but she makes references to "what's really important" that, especially combined with the theme of freedom in the video, makes it sound like she's upset about their respective careers getting in the way of them being together like a normal couple as much as they'd like (if she's singing to Tomoya Nagase, that would make sense given their respective touring & work schedules and his status as a Johnny's Entertainment guy). This means "Dearest" is applicable to a lot of people, sure, but it's REALLY applicable to people in long-distance relationships or people who have to travel often and be away from their families because of their work.

"The GIFT" includes things like calling their love a gift from the heavens. Generic, doesn't apply specially to anyone. Life together being compared to a staircase, tons of things use that imagery, and it applies to anyone's life together. Walking down the aisle daydreaming about the times you've had together, also very general and not specific to anyone aside from someone getting married. On top of it, even if your life wasn't CRAZY hard and full of heartbreak before meeting the person you marry, your dating life was probably full of drama and tears if you're, you know, human.

There's a lot here to make me say "Yeah, that's definitely how people feel in this situation!" but nothing here to make me say "Oh my god THIS IS TOTALLY MY SONG" the way other Ayu songs have done for so many people.

Do you see the distinction I'm trying to make here?

^I agree! :yes

I think it's about expressing the more simple aspects of love, marriage.

I think if the lyrics were to be really technical and open for interpretation, it would actually lose some of itself. This is 100% a song about love and spending eternity with the person you're marrying and happiness. It's very literal. Even the length of the song is very straight to the point haha.

Whereas, yes, you're definitely right, that many of her other songs can be very open to interpretation.

But sometimes, people connect more with these lyrics than her more poetically deep lyrics.

Well yeah, I don't think the lyrics are earth-shattering by any means, lol. I do think this song is a bit unnecessary but everything about it from the moment it became an idea had to do with coming at it from an angle in which it would appeal to the masses.

Thank you guys for the lyrics and the translation! I'm absolutely in love :love

Oh, I'm also getting married this year and I'm actually like "Can I play it during my reception?" :D