16.2.18

Purple Prose

Only a few days on Ko-Fi and we've already been treated to so many cups we'll probably have the caffeine jitters for the next year! Thanks a lot folks. You're the best! And feel free to keep it coming. Our appetite for coffee is bottomless.

Anyhow, by request of some of our coffee-buyers: a translation of "Murasaki no Yoru," from Yottsu no Yoru ("Four Nights"), the one and only record ever released by Issay Meets Dolly. We don't own a copy of this record, so we can't be sure of which kanji and what sort of line spacing Issay used for the original lyrics, but we are certain that we were able to describe the entire thing accurately without mondegreens, otherwise we wouldn't have done this translation at all.

If any of you re-post this elsewhere, we will personally hunt you down and murder you. If you want to share it, share a link to this post.

Purple Night
Lyrics: Issay
Music: Mari Fukuhara

Turn off the light in this room, and show me everything
Toy with sin and shyness, sink with me

Pour liquor like fire from your chilly lips
Forget today and lose tomorrow
I would float intoxicated (1)

For I hear the sobbing of Fate

Let us drink ourselves into a stupor on the purple twilight
For everything is destined to crumble away

Soak this night in a spray of pleasure
Sinking into a room reefed of coral (2)

Melt the closed-up keyhole with butter (3)
I long to taste the sweet scent presaging rot

For I hear the decay of Fate

Let us be shot through with purple lightning
For everything is destined to break down

The footsteps of Fate are fading far away

Let us drink dry the purple poison
For everything is destined to disappear

The purple night
When we could abandon Fate

1) The word here, "tadayou," means "to drift," but its homophone, "tada you," means "to just get drunk." Sakurai used the same word play in the lyrics to Buck-Tick's "Cain."

2) For those of you who doubt that the "coral reef room" is a vagina, watch the live video.

3) *Rings bell* congratulations, this line, you've won the "Dirtiest Lyric Ever" prize!!!!! If you, dear innocent reader, don't get this reference, watch the film Last Tango in Paris. No trigger warning because fuck that shit, the world isn't a safe space. Watch it when your kids and grandparents are in the room with you, it's a family film. It's also worth noting that the singer of this song is very definitely on the receiving end of the butter.

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紫の夜
作詞:Issay
作曲:Mari Fukuhara

部屋の明かり消して 何もかも見せておくれ
罪と恥じらい弄んで 沈んでゆこう

冷たい唇から 火の酒を注いでくれ
昨日忘れ 明日をなくし 漂いたい

運命のすすり泣き 聴こえるから

紫の宵闇に酔いつぶれてしまおう
何もかも崩れてく定めだから

快楽のしぶきで この夜を濡らしてくれ
珊瑚礁の部屋の中に堕ちてゆこう

閉ざした鍵穴を バターで溶かしておくれ
腐る前の甘い薫りを味わいたい

運命がくちはてる 音がするから

紫の稲妻に貫かれてしまおう
何もかも壊れてく定めだから

運命の足音が 遠ざかってく

紫の毒薬を飲み干してしまおう
何もかも消えてゆく定めだから

運命に見放せた 紫の夜

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Murasaki no Yoru
Lyrics: Issay
Music: Mari Fukuhara

Heya no akari keshite
Nani mo ka mo misete okure
Tsumi to hajirai moteasonde
Shizunde yukou

Tsumetai kuchibiru kara
Hi no sake wo sosoide kure
Kinou wasure ashita wo nakushi
Tadayoitai

Unmei no susurinaki
Kikoeru kara

Murasaki no yoiyami ni
Yoitsuburete shimaou
Nani mo ka mo kuzureteku
Sadame dakara

Kairaku no shibuki de
Kono yoru wo nurashite kure
Sangoshou no heya no nakani
Ochite yukou

Tozashita kagiana wo
Bataa de tokashite okure
Kusaru mae no amai kaori wo
Ajiwaitai

Unmei ga kuchihateru
Oto ga suru kara

Murasaki no inazuma ni
Tsuranukarete shimaou
Nani mo ka mo kowareteku
Sadame dakara

Unmei no ashioto ga
Toozakatteku

Murasaki no dokuyaku wo
Nomihoshite shimaou
Nani mo ka mo kiete yuku
Sadame dakara

Unmei ni mihanaseta
Murasaki no yoru

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5 comments:

  1. I’m so happy !!!!! I love this song specially the live version and everything from the Issay meets Dolly show.
    Thank you so so much for translated this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Despite thinking that warning people who might have legit PTSD about rape scenes is far from “shit”, I appreciate the translation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If anyone's actually relying on NGS/Blog-Tick for advice on how to safely avoid questionable sexual content, then God have mercy on their souls.

      Delete
  3. I think the song is amazing and reminds me of Sakurai's lyrics (of course he adores Issay). But I googled last tango in Paris and the media says the butter scene was filmed without consulting the actress they would use butter, I have never seen the film before and do not know what to think of it now.

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  4. Last Tango in Paris is a difficult and divisive film, for sure, and it's easy to see why it upsets people. It's true that the actress later said she felt she'd been exploited in the filming and regretted ever participating, which is extremely shitty, and might be a reason not to watch the film. At the same time, personally, I think the film has artistic merit precisely because it explores sides of sexuality, including sides of female desire, that are rarely explored publicly. It was more complex than an ingenue being objectified and sexually assaulted - the female character was an ambivalent but active participant in the fantasy, and the story is told from her perspective - she really makes the viewer feel both her curiosity and her discomfort, which is a superb performance achievement. I tend to lean more toward the idea that art exists outside of time and its creators, and that problems with the creators don't necessarily invalidate the artwork, but there is sure room for debate about that, and there's no question that the exploitation of women in the film industry must be stopped.

    ReplyDelete

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