Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Sorrows by King Gnu from Japanese to English.
These lyrics have verified word for word translations. Click any lyric word to see the translation and hear the pronunciation!
yasashii uso o tsuitekure yo genjitsu wa zankoku da mono
Tell me a kind lie, 'cause reality is cruel
yoidore odore subete o wasureru made tsuyogari warau dake
Dance, you drunkard, till you forget it all, just laughing and putting on a brave face
Why don't you come back to me
(English)
sakeyou no nai itami o futari wakeaeru yo
We can share the unavoidable pain between the two of us
Cause I know you're lonely like me
(English)
kobiritsuita kanashimi o nuguisareru no
Can this sorrow caked on so deep ever be wiped away?
sasurae tomo yo umarete wa shinu dake no rinne no naka o
Wander on, my friend, through the cycle where we're only born to die
owari no nai tabiji o susume
Keep going on the endless journey
yoru ga akeru made okuba o kuishibatte
Grit your teeth until the dawn breaks
Why don't you come back to me
(English)
sasayakana yorokobi o futari wakeaeru yo
We can share the little joys between the two of us
Cause I know you're lonely like me
(English)
kono afuredasu omoi o tsutae ni iku yo
I'm coming to tell you all these overflowing feelings
Every time I feel as one sometime we feel as one
(English)
sasayakana jinsei o aiseru no nara ba
If I can love this little life of mine
Every time I feel as one sometime we feel as one
(English)
shinjiteita mono subete o tebanashita tte ii n da
It's fine to let go of everything I believed in
You always stay in my mind
(English)
I want you stay in your mind
(English)
Why don't you come back to me
(English)
kono subarashiki sekai o futari wakeaeru yo
We can share this wonderful world between the two of us
Cause I know you're lonely like me
(English)
kono mune no kurushimi to tomo ni ikiteyuku yo
I'll live on with this pain in my heart
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流離え — Wander on / Roam
流離え is the poetic imperative form of 流離う（さすらう）, meaning “to wander” or “to drift from place to place.” It gives the line 「流離え友よ」 the feeling of “Wander on, my friend,” as the song urges someone to keep moving through the endless journey of life and reincarnation.
"Sorrows" opens with a request most of us have made at least once: 優しい嘘をついてくれよ (tell me a kind lie), because 現実は残酷だもの (reality is cruel, after all). From there the song staggers onto the dance floor: 酔いどれ踊れ (dance, you drunk) until everything is forgotten, putting on a brave face and laughing. It is a hangover song that knows the laughing is an act.
What keeps it from being bleak is the word 二人 (the two of us). The pain nobody can avoid, the small joys, even 「この素晴らしき世界」 (this wonderful world) are all things the singer says the two of them can 分け合える (share). The English hook, "'Cause I know you're lonely like me," is the whole pitch: we are both a mess, so let's be a mess together.
Listen for 奥歯を食いしばって (gritting your back teeth), a very Japanese way to say "hang on through it", and for 輪廻 (the cycle of rebirth), where the singer calls life a loop of being born only to die. The last line settles on living with 「この胸の苦しみ」 (the ache in this chest) rather than curing it. Honest, and a bit stubborn.
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