– Akatsuki Records

(ロック！ロカバベイベ)

Lyrics Context:
A human monk (?) dies and reaches the Sanzu River (roughly the River Styx in Shinto mythology) wherein they encounter an Ubume (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubume) — the Ubume, in traditional fashion asks for the person to hold their stone baby, which drags the person straight to hell.

As the Ubume uses a stone rock baby as part of it’s story, naturally the entire song is just chock full of rock and roll related puns.

———

(Words in [brackets] are necessary in English to not sound ridiculous but are not there in Japanese.)

此岸ライフ捨てちゃって | shigan raifu sutechatte
彼岸サイド目指しちゃって | higan saido mezashichatte
畜生餓鬼道堕ちて地獄道 | chikushou gaki-dou ochite jigoku-dou
煩悩堪能もう三悪道 | bonnou tannou mou san’aku-dou
慈愛？ 無いっす地獄なんで | jiai? nai ssu jigoku nande
冷水ダイブ！あの世なんで | reisui daibu! ano yo nande
川越え泣き声どんぶらこっこ | kawa koe nakigoe donburako kko
あそこで泣くのはロックなBaby？！ | asoko de naku no wa rokku na Baby?!
I threw my Shigan[*0] life away
aiming to cross to the Higan [*1] side
Falling through the all three evil worlds: animal, hungry spirit,
and now hell – masterful worldly avarice and already — the three evil paths[*2]
Compassion? No way in hell! [*3]
A cold water dive? In that world? [*4]
Crossing a river, hearing a cry, tumbling [*5]
Is that cry over there from a rockin’ baby?

おやっ人じゃねえ！ | oya hito janee!
こりゃっ人じゃねえ！ | korya hito janee!
そりゃそうじゃねねんねんころりよ | sorya sou ja ne nen nen korori yo
Oh yeah, 人じゃねえ！ | hito ja nee!
Oh no, 鬼じゃね？ | oni ja nee?
こりゃ手遅れころりよころりよ | korya teokure korori yo korori yo
Oh, you’re a human ain’t ya?
Hey now, a human, ain’t it?
That’s how it is, rock a bye!
Oh yeah, a human huh?
Oh no, an oni, ain’t it?
With that, you’re too late, rock a bye, rock a bye

ゆらゆらゆら揺りかごには | yura yura yura yurikago ni wa
石の赤ん坊！ishi no akanbou!
(Wow, Rock-a-Bye Baby)
Swinging, shaking, rolling in a cradle
Is a stone baby!
(Wow, rock-a-bye baby!)

Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
ちょいとこの子抱いておくれ | choi to kono ko daite okure
やっと眼ったばかりなんだよ…優しく | yatto nemutta bakari nan da yo… yasashiku
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
重くなるのは愛だからかもね | omoku naru no wa ai da kara kamo ne
いつの間にか君も永眠ねんねん！| itsu no ma ni ka kimi mo eimin nen nen!
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
Can ya hold this kid for me for a sec?
I finally just got it to sleep… so [rock] gently!
Rock-a-Bye Baby ~
It gets heavier because you love it so much ~ before you know it you’ll also be forever nighty night!

ブンブン両手振っちゃって | bun bun ryoute fucchatte
ノンノンNot yet来るなって？ | non non Not yet kuru na tte?
鬼さん鬼さん鬼さんこちら | oni-san oni-san oni-san kochira
南無三わからん帰らばどちら？| namusan wakaran kaeraba dochira?
Swinging with both hands
Non non Not yet, don’t come, you say!
Oni-san Oni-san Oni-san – which is it? [*6]
Namusan? [*7] Don’t get it, which way is back?



おやっ人じゃねえ！| oya hito janee!
ありゃっ鬼じゃね？ | korya hito janee!
そりゃそうじゃね | sorya sou ja ne
ころりよころりよ | korori yo korori yo
Hey there, you’re a human ain’t ya?
Hey, an Oni, huh?
Seems right, rocking back and forth

呪うような子守歌が三途川から | norou you na komori uta ga sanzu kawa kara
A curse-like children’s lullaby from the Sanzu River…
(Oh Rock-a-Bye Baby!)

Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
ちょいとこの子抱いておくれ | choi to kono ko daite okure
やっと眼ったばかりなんだよ…優しく | yatto nemutta bakari nan da yo… yasashiku
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
重くなるのは愛だからかもね | omoku naru no wa ai da kara kamo ne
いつの間にか君も永眠ねんねん！| itsu no ma ni ka kimi mo eimin nen nen!
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
Can ya hold this kid for me for a sec?
I finally just got it to sleep… so [rock] gently!
Rock-a-Bye Baby ~
It gets heavier because you love it so much ~ before you know it you’ll also be forever nighty night!

Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby♪
何も心配いらないよ | nani mo shinpai iranai yo
安らかに眠ってこの胸に抱かれて | yasuraka ni nemutte kono mune ni dakarete
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby♪
怖いことはなにも起きないよ | kowai koto wa nani mo okinai yo
食べちゃいたいくらいに カワイイBaby… | tabechaitai kurai ni kawaii Baby…
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
There’s nothing to worry about ~
Rest peacefully in my chest…
Rock! Rock-a-Bye Baby～♪
I won’t let anything scary happen,
You baby, so cute I could eat…

ねんねんころりよ | nen nen korori yo
Oh, ころりよ… | Oh, korori yo…
ねんねんころりよ | nen nen korori yo
Oh, ころりよ… | Oh, korori yo…
Rock a bye baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all…[*8]



Notes:

[*0] Shigan is “A Buddhist term referring to the mundane world of birth, aging, sickness and death” .
It is important to note that the person speaking “abandoned” their worldly life — this is a particular phrasing in Buddhism that a monk or practitioner would say when they dedicate themselves to their beliefs that they have chosen to ‘give up/ abandon’ their worldly life for a religious one.
[*1] Higan is the Japanese word for “the other shore”, or Nirvana.
[*2] 三悪道 literally means “3 evil paths”, but refers to the 3 realms of existence (Animal Realm, Hungry Spirits Realm, and Hell Realm) that are considered to be evil or unfortunate places to be rebirthed in. Since Karma is based around one’s actions in life, this section implies that the soul in question in the first verse knew of the salvation Buddhism could bring and intentionally ignored it in lieu of worldly pleasures, and thus, here they are, crossing the River Sanzu, being preyed upon by the singer.
[*3] Not really a note more than ‘wow, this is a really weird sentence’: Naissu is a hyper casual way to say “it ain’t!” and ending with “nande” is a very country/casual way to say “it’s how it is”
[*4] I believe this is referring to the water of the Higan river, but it could easily be a metaphor, too.
[*5] Donburakko is the sound of someone falling over, with the extra ko at the end to really emphasize it.
[*6] Oni-san kochira is a phrase used in Japanese hide and seek/tag.
[*7] Namusan means “Hail to the Three Treasures of Buddhism” (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), but is also a prayer asking for salvation; thus this line “Namusan Wakaran” can mean two things
1.) “There is no concept of salvation here, you’re doomed”
and
2.) (the speaker) has no concept of what Namusan even means

[*8] The last verse is a Japanese lullaby song/phrase — thus instead of translating it as “sleep, sleep, rock”, I translated it with an equivalent lullaby.

The character whose theme this is an arrange of is https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Urumi_Ushizaki
who is the second stage boss of Wily Beast and Weakest Creature.
It is really important to note that while she is a killer in this song, she certainly is not one within the context of the game, and despite her nature as a murderous youkai, she is not murderous and is mostly helpful. Her existence within the game itself is to ask the player a question — is it better or more moral to be born helpless or to be born murderous and choose not to act on it?




To Top: https://aeroreborn.blog/2025/02/25/hanipaganda-album/
To Next Song: https://aeroreborn.blog/2025/03/05/%e6%97%a5%e3%80%85%e6%98%af%e5%a5%bd%e6%97%a5-every-day-is-a-good-day/