Kafka Naru Gunjou He

·

·

3–4 minutes

Song by Yuuhei Satellite

Lyrics Context/Notes:
An arrange of
“Catastrophe in Bhava-Agra* ~ Wonderful Heaven” from Touhou 10.5, which is a theme for a young celestial (someone who lives in the ‘celestial realm’ or ‘heaven’:
https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bhavagra) who, being bored of heaven decides to spend time on Earth.

This song is the song that got me to learn Japanese in the first place — the original translation I saw (in this video) was clearly machine translated and couldn’t figure out what was being said, which motivated me to translate it myself without knowing the language. Life is good.

生まれたことにすべて 人が求める
都合良い理由なんて あるのだろうか?


望まれる価値
ばかり考えすぎて
望むことのジレンマ 
胸が痛いよ

Umareta koto ni subete Hito ga motomeru tsugou ii riyuu nante aru no darou ka?


Nozomareru kachi bakari kangae sugite Nozomu koto no jirenma mune ga itai yo

All people search for a convenient reason for their birth:
is there really such a thing as that?

Thinking too much the values that are desired[0] (from others)
The dilemma of this search hurts them to the core

だからこそ
今変わらなければ
意中の儚さに
負けず目を
逸らさずにゆけ

Dakara koso
ima kawaranakereba Ichuu no hakanasa ni Makezu me wo
sorasazu ni yuke

That’s why we must change
without losing to our fickle heart’s intentions
Go forth without averting your eyes!

理性を強いられるから
君との駆け引きが出来る


望むことさえも
今は正義に思う

僕らは生まれた日から
唯一無二の思想家さ


怖けずに進め
カフカなる群青へ

Risei wo shiirareru kara
Kimi to no kake hiki ga dekiru

Nozomu koto sae mo Ima wa seigi ni omou

Bokura wa umareta hi kara Yuiitsumuni no shisouka sa

Ojikezu ni susume Kafuka naru gunjou he

Because I am compelled by rationality
I am able to ‘negotiate[1]’ with you
Even the concept of desiring[0] now is righteous thinking
For we all are one of a kind thinkers from the day we are born, you know?
So go forth without fear
to Kafka’s Blue[2]!

生まれたことにすべて 僕が求める都合良い理由なんて 無いと悟った




君が持つ掴め
ない魅力に
負けたくない気持ち

そして強くなると決めた

Umareta koto ni subete Boku ga motomeru tsugou ii riyuu nante Nai to satotta



Kimi ga motsu tsukame nai miryoku ni Maketanaku nai kimochi

Soshite tsuyoku naru to kimeta

I searched for a convenient reason to why I was born
But I was enlightened — there was none


The feeling of not wanting to lose to the charm you have

So I decided I would become stronger

享楽に染まることさえ
安らぎの頂点だろう

至福と堕落は
紙一重なんだろう

僕らは生まれた日から
唯一無二の思想家さ


怖けずに進め
カフカなる群青へ

Kyouraku ni somaru koto sae Yasuragi no chouten darou
Shifuku to daraku wa Kamihitoe nandarou

Bokura wa umareta hi kara Yuitsumuni no shisouka sa

Ojikezu ni susume
Kafuka naru gunjou he

Indulging in enjoyment is the acme of peace, right?
But bliss and depravity are two sides of the same coin, aren’t they?
For we all are one of a kind thinkers from the day we are born, you know?
So go forth without fear
to Kafka’s Blue[2]!

生まれた理由なんて 僕が望んだ
掛け替えのない意思で
進めばいいんだ

umareta riyuu
nante boku ga nozonda kakegae no nai ishi de susumeba iinda

I searched for a reason for why I was born
But I think it’s best to go forth with this irreplaceable will of mine

Notes:

[0]: The song uses 望む (nozomu — to wish for, desire, seek something) from a philosophical definition. In Buddhist thought, desires distract one from enlightenment — since the character this is a theme for is from ‘Bhava-agra’ (https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bhavagra), it’s important to understand that the character themselves would know this viewpoint as obvious, so her line in the chorus about ‘believing even desiring things is justice’ is a ‘reversal of common sense’ as far as the character would be concerned.

[1] 駆け引き (Kakehiki) means “negotiation” or “haggling”, but it refers to the sort of ‘push and pull’ nature of human interactions or of romantic relationships.

[2]: カフカなる群青へ (Kafuka naru gunjou he,
“To the ultramarine that becomes Kafka”
群青 (gunjou), or ultramarine could refer to a great number of things; originally I thought it was referring to Kafka’s Blue Octavo books, but more likely it’s a poetic way of referring to the sky (空), which in Buddhist poetry/thinking is a poetic way to refer to the concept of oblivion/nothingness, which would match fine with Kafka’s absurdist philosophy.
I translate it to “Kafka’s Blue” to make it palatable as a lyric but I think it’s really up to the reader what this means.





Related Articles

Get updates

Spam-free subscription, we guarantee. This is just a friendly ping when new content is out.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Warning
Warning
Warning.

Leave a comment