FMA lyrics.
I've looked and I've looked, and I've Googled incessantly, but the only hit I can turn up on a translation of either of the first two themesongs of FMA is a rough translation of "Melissa" on a messageboard somewhere. Not satisfactory. So I transcribed the AF-F/Sonchou and the ANBU/Anime-Keep translations for each, and I patched together a personal translation out of those. Eventually, I may do the other themesongs, but the first set is my favorite (although the second set is growing on me more and more as I listen to it). And Winry's new rack notwithstanding, I loathe the new ending theme.
This doesn't include the lyrics that aren't included in the short versions, alas; I don't have the raw translations for that.
Melissa
Porno Graffiti
AF-F/Sonchou translation:
Cut it up with your hands, memories of the old days.
Stop the breath of sadness. Please...
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
Looking at the sky, tomorrow is suppose to come.
Unable to control the doubtful heart.
The bird beside me flapped its wings,
did it find a light some where?
Hey will you let me on your wings?
Leave me at the highest place and
take me far from kind hearts.
Cut it up with your hands, memories of the old days.
Stop the breath of sadness. Please...
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
ANBU/Anime-Keep translation:
Please rip apart the old memories with your hands
And stop sadness completely
Now pierce through my heart which is in love
I look up at the sky where tomorrow should arrive
Looks like I cannot use my heart well, for it is full of worries
A bird near me flew
I wonder if it was able to find light
Will you let me ride on your back?
Then leave me behind at the world's highest
Place and keep me away from kindness
Please rip apart the old memories with your hands
And stop sadness completely
Now pierce through my heart which is in love
I'm fond of the literalism of parts of the Sonchou translation (something that works to its advantage for the songs, not so much for the dialogue): the reference to 'breath of sadness,' 'pierce through the heart burned by love,' 'take me far from kind hearts.' That is, I assume it's literalism; for all I know, they may have added those bits in a fit of poetic license. In which case...they get tossed out of my personal translation.
My translation:
Cut up the old memories with your hands
And stop the breath of sadness, please--
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
I look up at the sky and know tomorrow should arrive,
But I can't control my doubting heart.1
A bird beside me flapped its wings and flew away,
I wonder: did it find a light somewhere?
Will you let me ride on your back as you fly?2
Drop me off at the world's highest place,
Far away from kind hearts.
Cut up the old memories with your hands
And stop the breath of sadness, please--
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
1These two lines have always bothered me--I'm not sure whether they're connected thoughts (and thus warrant the use of a conjunction between them rather than a sentence break), or just random rambling.
2Sonchou's translation here is awkward, but ANBU's leaves out the 'wings' entirely, and if the Japanese mentions wings, I want to keep that general idea in the translation.
Kesenai Tsumi
Nana Kitade
AF-F/Sonchou translation:
You're right there in my sight as usual. I can breathe.
For me that's all the happiness I ever needed, but
Little me making the same mistakes all over again.
How much power do I need to gain so that I wouldn't have to hurt anyone anymore?
Let's go forward without hesitating, trusting love all the way.
Holding tight onto the unhealing wound.
The two of us keep walking because we still can't go back to morning.
Although the painful sin deep inside my heart will not be erased, darling.
ANBU/Anime-Keep translation:
Whenever you are in my sight, I can breathe
That alone should satisfy me, but...
Since I am so petty, I keep making the same mistakes
How strong must I become so that no one will be hurt?
I believe in this love without a question and live
Embracing the wound that will never heal...
...the two keeps walking...
...because they cannot go back
Their hearts deep inside...
...still hurt from the inerasable sin
Darling
Here I prefer the ANBU translation for the first paragraph (the separation between the second and third lines is a lot clearer, and it's not so needlessly wordy) and the Sonchou for the second paragraph (besides the grammar error and the awkwardness of the switch from first to third person in the ANBU translation, I also like the addition of 'to morning' in the Sonchou version, although again, I don't know how literal that is).
My translation:
You're in my sight as always--I can breathe.
I should need no more than that to be content, and yet...
I'm so small and petty, always making the same mistakes.1
How strong must I became before I stop hurting anyone?2
We'll go ahead without question, without doubting love at all.
Embracing the wound that never heals,
The two of us keep walking,
Because we can't go back to morning.
But deep inside my heart,
I still ache with the inerasable sin,
Darling.
1I don't know which is more accurate, 'small/little,' 'petty,' or something else (immature? childish?), so I'm going with both for now.
2The differences between the two translations make it hard for me to tell if there's supposed to be a connection there: 'how powerful do I have to be before I can stop getting people hurt myself,' or just 'how powerful do I have to be before I can stop people from getting hurt at all.' I went with the former.
This doesn't include the lyrics that aren't included in the short versions, alas; I don't have the raw translations for that.
Melissa
Porno Graffiti
AF-F/Sonchou translation:
Cut it up with your hands, memories of the old days.
Stop the breath of sadness. Please...
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
Looking at the sky, tomorrow is suppose to come.
Unable to control the doubtful heart.
The bird beside me flapped its wings,
did it find a light some where?
Hey will you let me on your wings?
Leave me at the highest place and
take me far from kind hearts.
Cut it up with your hands, memories of the old days.
Stop the breath of sadness. Please...
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
ANBU/Anime-Keep translation:
Please rip apart the old memories with your hands
And stop sadness completely
Now pierce through my heart which is in love
I look up at the sky where tomorrow should arrive
Looks like I cannot use my heart well, for it is full of worries
A bird near me flew
I wonder if it was able to find light
Will you let me ride on your back?
Then leave me behind at the world's highest
Place and keep me away from kindness
Please rip apart the old memories with your hands
And stop sadness completely
Now pierce through my heart which is in love
I'm fond of the literalism of parts of the Sonchou translation (something that works to its advantage for the songs, not so much for the dialogue): the reference to 'breath of sadness,' 'pierce through the heart burned by love,' 'take me far from kind hearts.' That is, I assume it's literalism; for all I know, they may have added those bits in a fit of poetic license. In which case...they get tossed out of my personal translation.
My translation:
Cut up the old memories with your hands
And stop the breath of sadness, please--
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
I look up at the sky and know tomorrow should arrive,
But I can't control my doubting heart.1
A bird beside me flapped its wings and flew away,
I wonder: did it find a light somewhere?
Will you let me ride on your back as you fly?2
Drop me off at the world's highest place,
Far away from kind hearts.
Cut up the old memories with your hands
And stop the breath of sadness, please--
Now pierce through the heart burned by love.
1These two lines have always bothered me--I'm not sure whether they're connected thoughts (and thus warrant the use of a conjunction between them rather than a sentence break), or just random rambling.
2Sonchou's translation here is awkward, but ANBU's leaves out the 'wings' entirely, and if the Japanese mentions wings, I want to keep that general idea in the translation.
Kesenai Tsumi
Nana Kitade
AF-F/Sonchou translation:
You're right there in my sight as usual. I can breathe.
For me that's all the happiness I ever needed, but
Little me making the same mistakes all over again.
How much power do I need to gain so that I wouldn't have to hurt anyone anymore?
Let's go forward without hesitating, trusting love all the way.
Holding tight onto the unhealing wound.
The two of us keep walking because we still can't go back to morning.
Although the painful sin deep inside my heart will not be erased, darling.
ANBU/Anime-Keep translation:
Whenever you are in my sight, I can breathe
That alone should satisfy me, but...
Since I am so petty, I keep making the same mistakes
How strong must I become so that no one will be hurt?
I believe in this love without a question and live
Embracing the wound that will never heal...
...the two keeps walking...
...because they cannot go back
Their hearts deep inside...
...still hurt from the inerasable sin
Darling
Here I prefer the ANBU translation for the first paragraph (the separation between the second and third lines is a lot clearer, and it's not so needlessly wordy) and the Sonchou for the second paragraph (besides the grammar error and the awkwardness of the switch from first to third person in the ANBU translation, I also like the addition of 'to morning' in the Sonchou version, although again, I don't know how literal that is).
My translation:
You're in my sight as always--I can breathe.
I should need no more than that to be content, and yet...
I'm so small and petty, always making the same mistakes.1
How strong must I became before I stop hurting anyone?2
We'll go ahead without question, without doubting love at all.
Embracing the wound that never heals,
The two of us keep walking,
Because we can't go back to morning.
But deep inside my heart,
I still ache with the inerasable sin,
Darling.
1I don't know which is more accurate, 'small/little,' 'petty,' or something else (immature? childish?), so I'm going with both for now.
2The differences between the two translations make it hard for me to tell if there's supposed to be a connection there: 'how powerful do I have to be before I can stop getting people hurt myself,' or just 'how powerful do I have to be before I can stop people from getting hurt at all.' I went with the former.