平沢進 -「賢者のプロペラ-２」/ Hirasawa Susumu - "Philosopher's Propeller-2"
The melody of "Philosopher's Propeller-2" is almost identical to that in the instrumental track "Albedo" on the same album. Both songs have what sounds like the chanting of some kind of sutra in the background, though it sounds more like a group of many people in "Albedo" and more like one single monk in "Philosopher's Propeller-2." (No idea what's actually being chanted, though.)
To go back to the alchemical background to this album, albedo (or "whitening") would be the second stage on the way to creating the philosopher's stone or (on a psychological level) transforming the self into something resembling enlightenment. Albedo is a stage where the individual comes to terms with the male and female aspects of their unconscious, and gets rid of "inflated ego and unneeded conceptualizations." (That might be part of the reason "Albedo" has no lyrics--they're unneeded. "Philosopher's Propeller-2" also has rather sparse lyrics and mentions getting rid of "today" and the past it's connected to.)
As this page notes, in albedo:
[A] white light appears. [...] The alchemist has discovered within himself the source from which his life comes forth. The fountain of life from which the water of life flows forth giving eternal youth. The source is one: male and female are united.
But enough. Let's look at the lyrics!
平沢進 -「賢者のプロペラ-２」
赤色の塔を削る風は吹き
キミの空に塵と舞い 誰も見ぬ
意匠で語り 胸打つ程の 遠くから
応えよと届く
群れ立つ塔は ただ時を浴びて
夕日を背に淡々と 宇宙を掘る
風車を見たか？ 鞭打つような賢者と
人知れず今日も
聞こえるか？
空を鳴らし
生まれる
今日の音
過去に忍ばせた今日を送り出す
胸打つ程古の 知恵を掘る
賢者を見たか？鞭打つような姿で
人知れず今も
聞こえるか？
空を渡り
生まれる
この音
Hirasawa Susumu - "Kenja no Puroperaa-2"
Akairo no tou o kezuru kaze wa fuki
Kimi no sora ni chiri to mai dare mo minu
Ishou de katari mune utsu hodo no tooku kara
Kotae yo to todoku
Muretatsu tou wa tada toki o abite
Yuuhi o se ni tantan to sora (uchuu) o horu
Fuusha o mita ka? Muchi utsu you na kenja to
Hitoshirezu kyou mo
Kikoeru ka?
Sora o narashi
Umareru
Kyou no oto
Kako ni shinobaseta kyou o okuridasu
Mune utsu hodo inishie no chie o horu
Kenja o mita ka? Muchi utsu you na sugata de
Hitoshirezu ima mo
Kikoeru ka?
Sora o watari
Umareru
Kono oto
Hirasawa Susumu - "Philosopher's Propeller-2"
The wind blows, whittling down the red tower*
And dancing in your sky with the dust
And speaking through a device no one sees
From heartbreakingly** far away, you hear:
"Answer."
The many towers simply endure time
Did you see the windmill plowing through the sky,***
Silhouetted against the sunset?
Together with an empowering philosopher****
It goes unobserved again today
Can you hear it?
Making the sky ring out
As it is born
The sound of today
Send away this day concealed in the past
Did you see the philosopher digging up
Heartbreakingly ancient knowledge? With his empowering figure,
He goes unobserved even now
Can you hear it?
Crossing the sky
As it is born
This sound
Translation Notes:
* The stage after albedo is rubedo ("reddening"). The distant red tower probably represents the goal of reaching rubedo.
** I use "heartbreakingly" though it's not necessarily sad, just very moving or poignant.
*** He sings "sky" but the lyrics for this line say "cosmos" or "space."
**** This albedo stage seems to correspond to Jung's idea of the shadowy opposite-sex self in the unconscious taking the "role of the guide, or mediator, to the world within and to the Self." The unobserved philosopher here may well be that guide deep in the singer's unconscious.
- Lost in translation is some nice wordplay between "heartbreakingly/poignantly" (mune utsu) and "empowering/encouraging" (muchi utsu).
This entry was originally posted at http://phonon-belt.dreamwidth.org/17833.html.
To go back to the alchemical background to this album, albedo (or "whitening") would be the second stage on the way to creating the philosopher's stone or (on a psychological level) transforming the self into something resembling enlightenment. Albedo is a stage where the individual comes to terms with the male and female aspects of their unconscious, and gets rid of "inflated ego and unneeded conceptualizations." (That might be part of the reason "Albedo" has no lyrics--they're unneeded. "Philosopher's Propeller-2" also has rather sparse lyrics and mentions getting rid of "today" and the past it's connected to.)
As this page notes, in albedo:
[A] white light appears. [...] The alchemist has discovered within himself the source from which his life comes forth. The fountain of life from which the water of life flows forth giving eternal youth. The source is one: male and female are united.
But enough. Let's look at the lyrics!
平沢進 -「賢者のプロペラ-２」
赤色の塔を削る風は吹き
キミの空に塵と舞い 誰も見ぬ
意匠で語り 胸打つ程の 遠くから
応えよと届く
群れ立つ塔は ただ時を浴びて
夕日を背に淡々と 宇宙を掘る
風車を見たか？ 鞭打つような賢者と
人知れず今日も
聞こえるか？
空を鳴らし
生まれる
今日の音
過去に忍ばせた今日を送り出す
胸打つ程古の 知恵を掘る
賢者を見たか？鞭打つような姿で
人知れず今も
聞こえるか？
空を渡り
生まれる
この音
Hirasawa Susumu - "Kenja no Puroperaa-2"
Akairo no tou o kezuru kaze wa fuki
Kimi no sora ni chiri to mai dare mo minu
Ishou de katari mune utsu hodo no tooku kara
Kotae yo to todoku
Muretatsu tou wa tada toki o abite
Yuuhi o se ni tantan to sora (uchuu) o horu
Fuusha o mita ka? Muchi utsu you na kenja to
Hitoshirezu kyou mo
Kikoeru ka?
Sora o narashi
Umareru
Kyou no oto
Kako ni shinobaseta kyou o okuridasu
Mune utsu hodo inishie no chie o horu
Kenja o mita ka? Muchi utsu you na sugata de
Hitoshirezu ima mo
Kikoeru ka?
Sora o watari
Umareru
Kono oto
Hirasawa Susumu - "Philosopher's Propeller-2"
The wind blows, whittling down the red tower*
And dancing in your sky with the dust
And speaking through a device no one sees
From heartbreakingly** far away, you hear:
"Answer."
The many towers simply endure time
Did you see the windmill plowing through the sky,***
Silhouetted against the sunset?
Together with an empowering philosopher****
It goes unobserved again today
Can you hear it?
Making the sky ring out
As it is born
The sound of today
Send away this day concealed in the past
Did you see the philosopher digging up
Heartbreakingly ancient knowledge? With his empowering figure,
He goes unobserved even now
Can you hear it?
Crossing the sky
As it is born
This sound
Translation Notes:
* The stage after albedo is rubedo ("reddening"). The distant red tower probably represents the goal of reaching rubedo.
** I use "heartbreakingly" though it's not necessarily sad, just very moving or poignant.
*** He sings "sky" but the lyrics for this line say "cosmos" or "space."
**** This albedo stage seems to correspond to Jung's idea of the shadowy opposite-sex self in the unconscious taking the "role of the guide, or mediator, to the world within and to the Self." The unobserved philosopher here may well be that guide deep in the singer's unconscious.
- Lost in translation is some nice wordplay between "heartbreakingly/poignantly" (mune utsu) and "empowering/encouraging" (muchi utsu).
This entry was originally posted at http://phonon-belt.dreamwidth.org/17833.html.