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渡良瀬橋

渡良瀬橋で見る夕日を あなたはとても好きだったわ
きれいなとこで育ったね ここに住みたいと言った
電車にゆられこの街まで あなたは会いに来てくれたわ
私は今もあの頃を 忘れられず生きてます
 
今でも 八雲神社へお参りすると あなたのこと祈るわ
願い事一つ叶うなら あの頃に戻りたい
 
床屋の角にポツンとある 公衆電話おぼえてますか
きのう思わずかけたくて なんども受話器とったの
 
この間 渡良瀬川の河原に降りて ずっと流れ見てたわ
北風がとても冷たくて 風邪をひいちゃいました
 
誰のせいでもない あなたがこの街で
暮らせないことわかってたの
なんども悩んだわ だけど私ここを
離れて暮らすこと出来ない
 
あなたが好きだと言ったこの街並みが
今日も暮れてゆきます
広い空と遠くの山々 二人で歩いた街
夕日がきれいな街
 
Translation

Watarase bridge

You liked so much to see the setting sun in the Watarase bridge
You said "You were raised in a beautiful place, I want to live here"
Going to this town on train you were shaking and coming to meet me
Even now I live without forgetting those times
 
Now, if I visit the Yagumo shrine, I pray for you
If my prayer comes true, I want to go back to those times
 
Do you remember the isolated public phone at the barbershop corner?
Yesterday without noticing, I grabbed the receiver often
 
In that time, going down the Watarase river beach, I was continuously staring at the flow
The northern wind is very cold and I caught a cold
 
It's not anybody's fault. I understood
That you can't live in this town
I worried about it often, however
I can't live away from here
 
In this town where you said "I love you"
The sun is setting today too
A town of wide sky and distant mountains where we walked together
A town of beautiful sunsets
 
Comments
Steve JonesSteve Jones    Sat, 19/10/2019 - 16:27

"Yesterday without noticing, I grabbed the receiver often"...is it not "Yesterday I nearly called you time and time again" or something similar?

Diazepan MedinaDiazepan Medina
   Sat, 19/10/2019 - 22:34

It could be also "Yesterday I waited again an again for a call of you". I kept the literal translation

Steve JonesSteve Jones    Mon, 11/11/2019 - 22:23

Very interesting observation, that she awaited his call as opposed to contemplating calling him. I am going to present this as a topic for discussion to a Chisato Moritaka group on Facebook I joined some time ago. Thanks!

Steve JonesSteve Jones    Mon, 11/11/2019 - 22:34

Please see 1:36 of this video. The subtitle suggests she is singing "Yesterday I wanted to call you". If the literal translation is "Yesterday I waited again and again for a call from you" the subtitle must be incorrect or a poor translation? Either she is awaiting his call or she is contemplating calling him -- it can't be both...or could it?
Japanese language is so difficult for me to understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8poB8piHcxs

Diazepan MedinaDiazepan Medina
   Mon, 11/11/2019 - 23:41

No, the literal translation is "I grabbed the receiver often". 受話器 is phone receiver and とった is the past of the verb 取る (toru) which means "to take; to pick up; to harvest; to earn; to win; to choose​"

Steve JonesSteve Jones    Tue, 12/11/2019 - 14:30

I am learning so much from our discussion here. Unsure if you are personally interested in Chisato Moritaka, but I would like to invite you to this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190612685078119/

Additionally, I have submitted a request here for an English translation of Chisato Moritaka's "Concert No Yoru".

I appreciate your expertise and contributions very much.

Steve JonesSteve Jones    Tue, 12/11/2019 - 16:37

Ok! The main point from the group that I wanted to share is someone there said a correct translation is "Yesterday I wanted to call you and I was contemplating calling you again and again." I think their interpretation is more broad based while your interpretation is, as you said, literal. I think the risk with applying a broad translation is a meaning can be assigned to the lyrics that Chisato san did not intend. Anyway, the examination of her lyrics is very important to me for a number of reasons but I hope this has not become annoying for you. I am beginning to see why so few foreigners ever truly master the Japanese language. There are so many nuances in the symbols and language.

Diazepan MedinaDiazepan Medina
   Tue, 12/11/2019 - 16:49

Yes. It's a hard language and I'm still having corrections to my translations. And yet, I find Chisato lyrics very easy to understand for someone who wants to learn japanese.