Translation notes +α on ORβIT's debut album "00"

See the ENG/ROM color coded lyrics videos playlist here.

As a media translator, I try to grasp the meaning behind the diction in a song and to convey it in a different language in the closest way possible. However, since there are complexities in Japanese that are harder to translate concisely, here are some notes I took in the process. (Some are just the lyrics I liked personally.)

1. UNIVERSE

I didn't translate this song since they gave us an official translation and the translation looked great already. The song starts in darkness and ends with a "light". It's a hopeful and powerful song that looks towards the future - ORβIT's path.

Don't look back, sketch out the scenery we want to see
We can't run away, cut open a path into the future

2. Crazy Love

If "UNIVERSE" is the "start/awakening" of ORβIT, then "Crazy Love" is the morning after the wake-up... or still dreaming. It's a bright and young love song with playful lyrics. I guess you could say they are dreamy as well. The lyrics sound like the protagonist is telling all these secrets to the addressee:

逆さま浮かぶ月は　手が届きそう
The moon hanging upside down looks like I could reach out for it
ここは誰も見てないから
Here nobody's looking
大胆になれそうなんだ　秘密だよ 
So I feel like I can become daring, it’s a secret

This "it's a secret" actually sounds more like "it's a secret between you and me, don't tell anybody okay?". I think the overall tone of this song is so cute because it sounds like the two are going on an adventure together in a dream-like setting, away from anybody else.

3. Bloom

Going on to "Bloom", the protagonist cannot be with the addressee. 

会いたいと願ってみた I tried wishing that I want to see you
叶うような気がした I felt like it would come true
Oh 夢に見た景色の先に Oh At the end of the scenery I dreamt
君がいたね You were there

The addressee is there, but only "at the end of the scenery I dreamt". So they aren't able to meet, wishing to see each other but only being able to dream about it. Yet, it's a very romantic song that talks about love differently from "Crazy Love". "Crazy Love" is the process of falling love (getting into the dream), while "Bloom" is being helplessly in love and not being able to be next to each other (wanting to meet outside of the dream). 

4. MOONCRYSTALPOWER

I didn't translate this song myself, since I have no Korean skills, but after seeing Japanese and English translations, I can see that this one is a love song again. It's not as explicit as "Crazy Love" or "Bloom", but it's definitely a song of separation. Here, there is a definite separation between the protagonist and the addressee - the song is about remembering the memories of love. It's interesting how it connects to the 2 previous songs too:

The dream-like memory of the moment that bloomed for me.

5. Show Off

This song is mostly written in English actually, by our trilingual rapper Jun. I really like Jun's choice of language when writing songs. The English parts were written in English because they had to be written that way. Translating to Japanese is almost impossible because of the tone he is using in this song, it would not give the same feeling when translated. (Honestly, Jun's English is so native that I have a hard time translating to Japanese more than anything else... but that's another story.) Anyhow, the language choices he makes in his lyrics can only be done because he is skilled in both Japanese and English. I also really like the way he makes the Japanese parts fit in the lyrics. It's natural, and it just flows so well.

6. Serenade

Serenade is a really sad song. I'm sure if you read the translation, you already know. My personal focus was on the chorus:

優しすぎた貴方は何も言わず You were too nice, not saying anything
微笑みながら As you smiled (yeah)
子供じみた言葉を受け止めては And accepted these childish words
心で泣いていた But you would cry in your heart

The word used for "you" here, "anata", which could be a more formal and mature way of addressing a lover, implies that the protagonist has matured since the time when the addressee accepted "these childish words" (assuming that the protagonist said them). It is also the only song in the album addressed to "anata". Another thing to note would be the use of "smile" here, 微笑み is not exactly a big smile with teeth showing, but rather a softer smile, maybe only bringing up the lips a little bit. 

The last point is the fact that it rains throughout the song:

響いてる雨音は　心の涙の音 (yeah)
The echoing rain sounds are the sounds of the heart’s tears (yeah)

It starts off with rain sounds and ends with "Serenade of rain". The protagonist is still in the rain (tears).

7. Mizutamari. (Water puddle.)

Now why it's important to point out the rain sounds in "Serenade" is because it connects to "Mizutamari." (in my opinion). This is the start to "Mizutamari."

雨の匂いが染み付いたアスファルト The asphalt clenched with the smell of rain
泪で濡れた花 The flowers wet with tears
傘を叩く雨音に夢中で I was too much into the rain sound hitting my umbrella
空を仰ぐこと　忘れていた That I forgot to look up to the sky

Placing these two songs back to back is intentionally carrying on the idea of "rain". There is a lot of mention of sky and clouds throughout the album, but rain only appears in these two songs. While "Serenade" expresses rain sounds as the "sounds of the heart's tears", "Mizutamari." reminds the protagonist to not only focus on the rain but to focus on other elements of the sky. The sky is a reflection of emotions in "Serenade" (sadness), while the illustration of the sky here is mostly looking at the future, pushing away the past. If you read the lyrics, you can understand that "Mizutamari." is essentially a song after the rain and it ends with a "smiling bridge across the sky after the rain (雨上がりの空に微笑んだ架け橋)", a rainbow. Other than that, words such as "future", "tomorrow" and "advance" make it clear that this song is looking towards the future.

Another thing I personally noticed while translating is how playful Yugo is with writing lyrics. As Shunya said, these lyrics are very much "Yugo-like": the most noticeable example is in the chorus.

It shines bright like Cobaltblue
so blue 今 in my Cobaltblue so blue 今　いま

今 (now, presently) reads as "ima", playing with the words "in my". He is also good at drawing scenery with words. I think it's very cute and these lyrics really sound like him.

8. Beautiful Butterfly

Continuing on from "Mizutamari.", another song with great imagery. It's just so straightforward romantic, but also a lot more mature than for example "Crazy Love".

焦らされる　そのたび The more you play hard to get
嵌ってゆく　もっと The more I get hooked
閉じ込めたい　いっそ Might as well lock you up

9. Kimihe (To you)

First, I think it's worth mentioning that this song is the only song written fully in Japanese and it is written by Heecheon. While Younghoon writing his song in Korean is great because he chose the language he is the most comfortable with, I think it's important to point out how much Heecheon likes and respects the Japanese language. He has been in Korea this whole time during the pandemic having little contact with Japanese, but he definitely keeps improving.

I was impressed by the phrasing in these lyrics because I can see that he is trying to sound as native as he can. Just like Jun said, this song starts off with a very depressive tone, but the singing voice has a soft, guiding tone that lifts up this sad vibe. In this song, it is "you" who is sad, and "I" am telling "you" that "you" can overcome it and let go. It isn't hard to assume that he is writing this to his past self, but the fact that Heecheon, who is always putting others first, wrote a song entirely for himself is a lot. I think I really understand why he said "please just listen" without commenting about this song. (Also why he said he will do all his deep talks via music instead of talking. - see Q&A)

10. Ready to burn

I saw a video analyzing this song, but I guess the feeling I had about Jun's use of English and Japanese was right. One example in this song could be the repetition of "high" in English and "灰” (hai - ashes).

Burn oh burn 見失うことはない Burn oh burn won’t ever lose sight
ただ果たすgo on Just fulfilling it go on

Actually, this could've been translated to "just getting it done, go on" as in it's just about getting it done and nothing else. But since 果たす means fulfilling, I kept it this way. It did remind me of Heecheon often saying that he doesn't focus much on the reason why he has to do something, but he just does it because it's his duty to. Might be related but might be just because I'm Heecheon-biased. 

11. Showersnow

Tomo is really romantic, a lot more than I imagined. I think this was the hardest to translate to English because it's very poetic. (Actually, I didn't do it mainly, someone helped me out.) I've always liked the way Tomo speaks in Japanese - I'm not sure how to explain it, but he speaks the most "textbook" Japanese. (That also means it's the hardest to translate.) I think this appears nicely in the lyrics - he uses verbs without a subject or an object often, so it's left to the listener to interpret. 

eheh ガランサスの花　eh eh a snowdrop flower
眺めているだけなのか　Am I just going to look at you
赤、黒のDressが似合う　You who suits red, black Dress
(got love you girl love be mine)

Actually, the first time I listened to it I thought that the snowdrop flower was something the addressee was looking at and that's why he talks about the person who suits the dresses. In the end, we went for the understanding that the snowdrop flower represents the addressee - it's interesting because the translation would've been completely different depending on the interpretation. There really isn't an exact right way to translate it. Also, I just really liked the way he incorporated English words in the song.

One more thing is how the rest of the song is addressed to "君" (kimi, you in kanji) while the chorus uses "キミ" (kimi, you in katakana). Honestly, you cannot translate this difference because it's the same word but formatted differently most probably to make you feel a "difference" in feeling (and I've also heard singers sing it differently depending on the formatting.) My interpretation of this is that "君" is the person the song is addressed to, but in a more strict, serious, and emotional way. Meanwhile, キミ is addressing the physical form of the addressee in a more playful, less serious way. It is the only time in the song where he is addressing the addressee in a tangible form. (In the dress part, there is no subject in the Japanese original lyrics.) The use of katakana makes it lighter, but he probably did not use hiragana because that would make it childish. It's done on purpose, and nicely. 

キミに触れてみたいよ I want to feel you closer

One more note is how this part actually translates directly to "I want to touch you", but we went for this translation to adjust to the overall tone of the song. "Touch" could've been emotional (get closer) or physical, and we chose the first option.

12. Double 20

Another song written by Jun, his solo song... This was actually mostly in English, so it didn't have much to translate. I think the highlight of this song personally is 

しょうもない年 that's all fact
Year full of crap that's all fact

Originally, I intended to translate this as "Stupid year that's all fact". In fact, しょうもない could be the equivalent to many words in English so it's left to the person to feel how "strong" it was meant to be. I do think "full of crap" suited more the overall tone and it also coincidentally rhymed with "fact" so I guess it worked out.

One more thing I noticed is this:

好き放題やりな　Do all you want (woah)
言われてI'm over　When someone tells me that I’m over (woah)

My understanding is that this is referring to Heecheon saying "you can do things as you want" when it comes to Jun (in his Q&A, I think) because he trusts him and his sense of music and rap. That's why he's "over" - he can now do what he wants as he wishes and he got over whatever was bothering him before. I think it connects with Heecheon making a guest appearance in this song:

文句電話？give me a phone call
Complaint call? give me a phone call

Meaning, Heecheon will take the complaint calls and let Jun do whatever he wants in his music, whether it is saying 2020 year is a "year full of crap". 

13. Lazurite

I did translate this a while ago, but I think it has an official translation now. This song really does feel like "home", after listening to 12 new songs it feels like I was just brought home. While "UNIVERSE" is a declaration of ORβIT's start to the world, I think this song really is a song meant for EαRTH.

Final thoughts

Overall, I really like the structure of this album, it really makes me feel like this is a live event condensed into an album. The way songs connect is interesting too, although I wasn't able to interpret everything. The use of weather and space metaphors really gives it depth and it's an album that I find something new about every time I listen to it. I'm really proud of ORβIT.

I apologize for the long dragging text, I wrote this right after hours of translating and I didn't bother editing it. Thank you for reading!!