Refrain - Lyrics and Translation
Interesting. . . I'd originally thought the title "Refrain" was referring to the term in a musical sense -- a line or phrase that's repeated over and over in a song. But after translating this, I'm thinking the "refrain" being used means "to hold back".
The song is subtle and gorgeous. . . but it was harder than usual to render well into English due to the differences between Japanese and English sentence structures and semantics. *sigh* I'm looking at my translation and wincing at all the fugliness I see in the wording. I don't think I've done the song the justice it deserves, but the gist of it is there. I need to do a really good set of translation notes later for this, as I don't think all the subtleties come across in the translation.
*** Do not use or repost without permission or credit ***
リフレイン - Refrain
巡り巡る この街で 巡り会えた この奇跡
今も君は この胸の奥にいるよ
meguri meguru / kono machi de / meguri aeta / kono kiseki
ima mo kimi wa / kono muni no oku ni iru yo
Circling, I search, / coming across / this miracle / in this town
Even now, you / remain deep within my heart
降り出した雨に 消えないように
二人強く手を 握り締めてたのに
抱き締めるたびに 切ない心は
雨に打たれたままで
furidashita ame ni / kienai you ni
futari tsuyoku te wo / nigiri shimeteta no ni
dakishimeru tabi ni / setsunai kokoro wa
ame ni utareta mama de
Even though / we held hands tightly
So as not to disappear / with the beginning of the rain
Every time I held you tight, / the rain continued to beat down
Upon my pained heart
あの日の僕たちは 素直になれなくて 君の横顔ずっと
見つめたまま季節は 過ぎたね
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
いつかの「愛してる」 言葉に出来なくて
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
こらえた涙 零れ落ちて 風に包まれていた
ano hi no boku tachi wa / sunao ni narenakute / kimi ni yokogao zutto
mitsumeta mama kisetsu wa sugita ne
(me wo tojireba setsunaku itoshii yo)
itsuka no "aishiteru" kotoba ni dekinakute
yawaraka na kioku wa (kagayaku yo)
koraeta namida / kobore ochite / kaze ni tsutsumarete ita
Because the "us" from back then / wasn't able to be truthful / The seasons passed,
As I remained staring at your profile, didn't they?
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
I couldn't say it, that "I love you" I was supposed to say "someday"
These tender memories (They shine)
The tears I held back / spilled over / and were hidden by the wind
何もかもが きらめいて まるで時間が 止まるよう
いつも二人 終わらない夢を見たね
nanimo kamo ga / kirameite / marude toki ga / tomaru you
itsumo futari / owaranai yume wo mitane
Each and every thing / sparkles. / It's as if time / has come to a stop.
And the two of us had / always dreamt that it wouldn't come to an end, hadn't we?
重なる影が 離れないように
何も言わずただ 寄り添っていたのに
胸を締め付ける 儚い思いは
言葉に出来ぬままで
kasanaru kage ga / hanarenai you ni
nanimo iwazu tada / yorisotte ita noni
mune wo shimetsukeru / hakanai omoi wa
kotoba ni dekinu mama de
So that our overlapping shadows / wouldn't part,
Wordlessly, / we'd just stayed close
These fleeting feelings / made my chest tighten,
And I remained unable to express how I felt
心にいつまでも 消えない痛みさえ 君を思い出せば
優しさに包まれる 今でも
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
心はいつまでも どれだけ離れても
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
この空の下 出会えたこと 確かに刻まれてる
kokoro ni itsumademo / kienai itami sae / kimi wo omoidaseba
yasashisa ni tsutsumareru / ima demo
(me wo tojireba / setsunaku / itoshii yo)
kokoro ha itsumademo / doredake hanarete mo
yawaraka na kioku wa (kagayaku yo)
kono sora no shita / deaeta koto / tashika ni kizamareteru
Even this ever-present pain / in my heart, / When I think of you,
Is wrapped in tenderness, / even now
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
My heart will always. . . No matter how long we've been parted. . .
These tender memories (They shine)
That we were able to meet / under this sky / is something that is etched firmly in me
一人でも 二人でも あの約束は きっと
変わらないから 今も 大切なもの(光るよ)
少しずつ 少しずつ 過ごした日々も
鮮やかに 変わってゆく
そして まだ見ぬ明日を信じてるから
hitori demo / futari demo / ano yakusoku wa / kitto
kawaranai kara / ima mo / taisetsu na mono (hikaru yo)
sukoshi zutsu sukoshi zutsu / sugoshita hibi mo
azayaa ni / kawatte yuku
soshite / mada minu ashita wo shinjiteru kara
Whether I'm on my own, / or we're together, / That promise I made,
Will never change, / for sure. / Even now, / that precious thing (It shines)
Little by little, bit by bit / the passing days
Turn / brilliant
And / I believe in the coming days I've yet to see
あの日の僕たちは 素直になれなくて 君の横顔ずっと
見つめたまま季節は 過ぎたね
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
いつかの「愛してる」 言葉に出来なくて
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
こらえた涙 零れ落ちて 風に包まれていた
ano hi no boku tachi wa / sunao ni narenaku te / kimi no yokogao zutto
mitsumeta mama kisetsu wa / sugita ne
(me wo tojireba / setsunaku / itoshii yo )
itsuka no "aishiteru" kotoba ni dekinakute
yawaraka na kioku ha (kagayaku yo)
koraeta namida / kobore ochite / kaze ni tsutsumarete ita
Because the "us" from back then / wasn't able to be truthful. / The seasons passed,
As I remained staring at your profile, didn't they?
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
I couldn't say it, that "I love you" I was supposed to say "someday"
These tender memories (They shine)
The tears I held back / spilled over / and were hidden by the wind
あの日の僕たちは... あの日の僕たちは...
素直になれなくて... 素直になれなくて...
ano hi no boku tachi wa. . . ano hi no boku tachi wa. . .
sunao ni narenakute. . . sunao ni narenakute. . .
Because the "us" from back then. . . . Because the "us" from back then. . .
Couldn't be truthful. . . Couldn't be truthful. . .
あの日の僕たちは...
ano hi no boku tachi wa. . .
The "us" from back then . . .
The song is subtle and gorgeous. . . but it was harder than usual to render well into English due to the differences between Japanese and English sentence structures and semantics. *sigh* I'm looking at my translation and wincing at all the fugliness I see in the wording. I don't think I've done the song the justice it deserves, but the gist of it is there. I need to do a really good set of translation notes later for this, as I don't think all the subtleties come across in the translation.
*** Do not use or repost without permission or credit ***
リフレイン - Refrain
巡り巡る この街で 巡り会えた この奇跡
今も君は この胸の奥にいるよ
meguri meguru / kono machi de / meguri aeta / kono kiseki
ima mo kimi wa / kono muni no oku ni iru yo
Circling, I search, / coming across / this miracle / in this town
Even now, you / remain deep within my heart
降り出した雨に 消えないように
二人強く手を 握り締めてたのに
抱き締めるたびに 切ない心は
雨に打たれたままで
furidashita ame ni / kienai you ni
futari tsuyoku te wo / nigiri shimeteta no ni
dakishimeru tabi ni / setsunai kokoro wa
ame ni utareta mama de
Even though / we held hands tightly
So as not to disappear / with the beginning of the rain
Every time I held you tight, / the rain continued to beat down
Upon my pained heart
あの日の僕たちは 素直になれなくて 君の横顔ずっと
見つめたまま季節は 過ぎたね
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
いつかの「愛してる」 言葉に出来なくて
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
こらえた涙 零れ落ちて 風に包まれていた
ano hi no boku tachi wa / sunao ni narenakute / kimi ni yokogao zutto
mitsumeta mama kisetsu wa sugita ne
(me wo tojireba setsunaku itoshii yo)
itsuka no "aishiteru" kotoba ni dekinakute
yawaraka na kioku wa (kagayaku yo)
koraeta namida / kobore ochite / kaze ni tsutsumarete ita
Because the "us" from back then / wasn't able to be truthful / The seasons passed,
As I remained staring at your profile, didn't they?
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
I couldn't say it, that "I love you" I was supposed to say "someday"
These tender memories (They shine)
The tears I held back / spilled over / and were hidden by the wind
何もかもが きらめいて まるで時間が 止まるよう
いつも二人 終わらない夢を見たね
nanimo kamo ga / kirameite / marude toki ga / tomaru you
itsumo futari / owaranai yume wo mitane
Each and every thing / sparkles. / It's as if time / has come to a stop.
And the two of us had / always dreamt that it wouldn't come to an end, hadn't we?
重なる影が 離れないように
何も言わずただ 寄り添っていたのに
胸を締め付ける 儚い思いは
言葉に出来ぬままで
kasanaru kage ga / hanarenai you ni
nanimo iwazu tada / yorisotte ita noni
mune wo shimetsukeru / hakanai omoi wa
kotoba ni dekinu mama de
So that our overlapping shadows / wouldn't part,
Wordlessly, / we'd just stayed close
These fleeting feelings / made my chest tighten,
And I remained unable to express how I felt
心にいつまでも 消えない痛みさえ 君を思い出せば
優しさに包まれる 今でも
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
心はいつまでも どれだけ離れても
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
この空の下 出会えたこと 確かに刻まれてる
kokoro ni itsumademo / kienai itami sae / kimi wo omoidaseba
yasashisa ni tsutsumareru / ima demo
(me wo tojireba / setsunaku / itoshii yo)
kokoro ha itsumademo / doredake hanarete mo
yawaraka na kioku wa (kagayaku yo)
kono sora no shita / deaeta koto / tashika ni kizamareteru
Even this ever-present pain / in my heart, / When I think of you,
Is wrapped in tenderness, / even now
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
My heart will always. . . No matter how long we've been parted. . .
These tender memories (They shine)
That we were able to meet / under this sky / is something that is etched firmly in me
一人でも 二人でも あの約束は きっと
変わらないから 今も 大切なもの(光るよ)
少しずつ 少しずつ 過ごした日々も
鮮やかに 変わってゆく
そして まだ見ぬ明日を信じてるから
hitori demo / futari demo / ano yakusoku wa / kitto
kawaranai kara / ima mo / taisetsu na mono (hikaru yo)
sukoshi zutsu sukoshi zutsu / sugoshita hibi mo
azayaa ni / kawatte yuku
soshite / mada minu ashita wo shinjiteru kara
Whether I'm on my own, / or we're together, / That promise I made,
Will never change, / for sure. / Even now, / that precious thing (It shines)
Little by little, bit by bit / the passing days
Turn / brilliant
And / I believe in the coming days I've yet to see
あの日の僕たちは 素直になれなくて 君の横顔ずっと
見つめたまま季節は 過ぎたね
(目を閉じれば 切なく愛しいよ)
いつかの「愛してる」 言葉に出来なくて
柔らかな記憶は(輝くよ)
こらえた涙 零れ落ちて 風に包まれていた
ano hi no boku tachi wa / sunao ni narenaku te / kimi no yokogao zutto
mitsumeta mama kisetsu wa / sugita ne
(me wo tojireba / setsunaku / itoshii yo )
itsuka no "aishiteru" kotoba ni dekinakute
yawaraka na kioku ha (kagayaku yo)
koraeta namida / kobore ochite / kaze ni tsutsumarete ita
Because the "us" from back then / wasn't able to be truthful. / The seasons passed,
As I remained staring at your profile, didn't they?
(When I close my eyes, it's heartbreaking and precious)
I couldn't say it, that "I love you" I was supposed to say "someday"
These tender memories (They shine)
The tears I held back / spilled over / and were hidden by the wind
あの日の僕たちは... あの日の僕たちは...
素直になれなくて... 素直になれなくて...
ano hi no boku tachi wa. . . ano hi no boku tachi wa. . .
sunao ni narenakute. . . sunao ni narenakute. . .
Because the "us" from back then. . . . Because the "us" from back then. . .
Couldn't be truthful. . . Couldn't be truthful. . .
あの日の僕たちは...
ano hi no boku tachi wa. . .
The "us" from back then . . .