WHAT A GROOVE! うわっ、凄くいいグルーヴ!

I’m lucky enough to have tickets to go and see Glim Spanky in November with a friend. They’ve been on my ‘to see live’ list for a while now and after watching an online concert of theirs that desire only intensified. Their music harks back to 60’s/70’s rock whilst maintaining a fresh feel. Their vocalist, Remi Matsuo, has an incredible voice that Janis Joplin would surely be proud of. To say they’re unique for Japanese music would be an understatement and I can’t recommend them enough.

僕はラッキーだ。11月に友達と一緒に「Glim Spanky」のライブを見に行くつもりだ。二年間で「自分の見に行きたいライブ」リストの一つのバンドだ。コロナ時代にオンラインライブを見て、そして見に行たい気持ちが深まった。彼らの曲は新しいようで60代・70代のロックを思い越こさせる。歌手・松尾レミの素晴らしい声は「ジャニス・ジョプリン」を連想させる。 

I’ve been listening to them loads recently and noticed they had a new song out, “Jyounetsu” (“Passion” in English). From the first listen I was blown away. It has a groove that I can’t help but move to and the rhythm of the singing is so perfect it feels like I’m hearing puzzle pieces fall into place. It reminds me of “Hey Gringo” by “Kaleo” which I’ve also been addicted to recently. I’m the type of person that’ll listen to a song on repeat if I love it enough and it’s a good sign that I listened back-to-back maybe 6 times last night! The guitar lines, the horns, the singing, my god I love it all.

最近沢山聴いて、そして「情熱」という新しい曲が公開されたのを気づいた。初めて聴いて感心した。この曲はグルーヴに揺れずにはいられなくて、パズルのピースを位置にはめるような完璧な歌い方に満足する。思い出させるのは最近ハマっている「Kaleo」の「Hey Gringo」だ。僕は曲が好きなら連続に何回も聴けるタイプだから、昨日の夜に連続に6回聴いたのはいい兆候だ。素晴らしいギターメロ、ホーンズ、歌い方、驚く程好きだ。

You HAVE to listen to this if you’re into groovy rock and roll. As always, the translated lyrics are below if you’d like to check them out.

グルーヴのあるロックが好きなら聴いてほしい。いつも通り、下に訳した歌詞があるので是非見てほしい。

 

オリジナル歌詞

訳した歌詞

サビ

きっと涙は
音もなく流れるけれど
赤裸々(せきらら)に頬濡らし
心まで溶かしはじめる

 

こわれるくらい
抱きしめてほしかったけど
想い出に笑われて
足跡も傷跡かくす

 

Aメロ

遠い昔の夢は
怖いくらいに広く
こぼれそう(likely means to show)に蒼(あお)ざめた
空に二人抱かれて
遠回りして
あとずさりする
雲を撫でて
ほらね眠りの森が見えた

サビ

Bメロ

遠い昔の夢は
甘いくらいに赤く
可哀相な太陽と
光る蕾(つぼみ)隠して
欲張りなだけ
臆病(おくびょう)なだけ
鍵をかけた
いつもあなたの森は遠い

 

サビ

もう戻れない
情熱を両手に抱いて
孵(かえ)らない想い集めて
サヨナラの口づけ(kiss)しましょう

そうね誰より
抱きしめてあげたいけれど
切なさ(せつない painful)にさらわれて (さらう to be swept away/to be kidnapped)
冗談がやけにむなしい

Bメロ

愛しても愛し切れない夜に
疲れすぎたけど今日もまた
答えのない疑問を抱いて
まぶしい朝日を待ってる

一番目のサビ

二番目のサビ

Chorus

My tears don’t make a sound,

They just wet my cheek,

And start to melt my heart

 

I wanted you to hold me,

Until the breaking point,

Now the memories mock me,

I hide my footprints and scars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Verse 1

I had this dream from a distant past,

Scarily expansive,

You could see how pale I became,

In the sky 2 people are in an embrace,

Taking a detour,

Stepping back,

Caressing the clouds,

I can see the sleeping forest

 

Chorus


Verse 2

I had this dream from a distant past,

With a sweet, red glow,

A pitiful sun,

Hiding the glowing buds,

It was just greed,

Or maybe I was a coward,

I turned the key,

But your forest was always far away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chorus

I’m not back yet,

I’ll hold you with both hands,

Whilst collecting thoughts that just confuse me,

Should we have one last kiss?

 

I want to hold you more than anyone,

But I’m being swept away by the pain,

Even jokes feel empty now

 

Bridge

Even if I love you,

On this loveless night,

I’m so fucking tired,

But,

I’m also suffocated by anxiety over what you’ll say,

I’m waiting for the blinding morning sun.

 

www.youtube.com

 

As always I have to thank Kenji Komatsu for his help with my Japanese. Things I learned from his edit included:

  • Horns are referred to as ホーンズ in Japanese and not 吹奏.
  • "Puzzle pieces falling into place" is 「パズルのピースを位置にはめる」and doesn't make use of "falling" like in English.
  • 「思い起こさせる」is like "makes you think".
  • I made a clunky sentence using 「最近の聴きやめられない」but this is better as 「最近ハマっている」.
  • In the lyrics one bit says 「思い出に笑われて」which I wrongly translated to "Now I laught at the memories" but actually it refers to the memories laughing at the speaker (poetic language is difficult!).