This song is actually one of the songs that really pushed me over the edge to try and make this website (which explains why it is the first song on the website too, I suppose).
It was shown to me by a friend and I have listened to this song over and over so many times now. I am always compelled by the emotion I hear in the singer’s voice and his words, however, for much of the song it’s just a bit too fast for me and I can’t fully understand it unless I were to, say, slow it down and properly think about the lyrics/translate the lyrics myself (hint hint) or find a translation somewhere.
Well, the thing is, I’ve looked and looked and there doesn’t seem to be an English translation of this song anywhere on the internet. Even for just the transcription of the song, I could only find one source: http://www.nextenglish.net/en/jpop/2805 (I ended up transcribing the lyrics myself as well though, because the one on that website was the transcription of a variant of the song, which had slightly different lyrics).
This is my first time seeing a song that seems to be so popular yet unpopular at the same time — it’s got 4.4M views on YouTube at the time of writing [screenshot]. I haven’t found a single English comment in the comments section so far though. Perhaps this suggests that this song is popular in Japan but not very popular elsewhere.
I wonder if this translation will help more non-Japanese-speaking people find this song. I hope so. It’s a good song.
— Pixel
乾杯！
誕生日おめでとう！
いやあしかしあっというまだよな
俺たち今年２６だぜ
Kanpai!
Tanjyoubi omedetou!
Iyaa shikashi atto iu madayona
Oretachi kotoshi ni-jyuu-roku daze
Cheers!
Happy birthday!
Ah~ time flies by so quick, right?
We're gonna be 26 this year ya know
いやあしかしこの前の飲み会も
めっちゃめっちゃ盛り上がったよな
アイツ目覚めたら逗子にいたらしいぜ
Iyaa shikashi kono mae no nomikaimo
meccha meccha moriagattayona
aitsu mezametara zushi ni itarashii ze
Ah~ but that last drinking party we had-
it was so crazy, wasn't it
That guy thought he was in Zushi when he woke up
笑えるよな？
いやあ俺たち本当に幸せもんだよ
デッカイ夢があって
それを語り合える友達がいて
Waraeru yo na?
Iyaa oretachi hontouni shiawase mondayo
dekkai yume ga atte
sore wo katariaeru tomodachi ga ite
Hillarious, isn't it?
Ah~ but honestly we're so lucky
-with our big dreams,
and friends we can talk with about them
女はいないけど
酒はうまいし
悪くない！
Onna ha inai kedo
Sake wa umai shi
Warukunai!
I don't have a girl but...
The sake's good
This ain't bad!
悪くない。。。
とは思うんだ。。。
Warukunai...
to wa... omounda...
It ain't bad at all...
is what I think...
けどさ。。。
いや、全然大した話じゃないんだけど
俺お前に言わなくちゃいけないことあるんだよね。。。
Kedo sa...
Iya, zenzen taishita hanashi jyanaindakedo
ore omae ni iwanakucha ikenai koto arundayo ne...
But uh-
I mean-... It's not a big deal or anything
but there's something I have to tell you
そういやさ
飲み会の帰り道突如やってくる
あの虚しさ。。。
あれ。。。なんだろうね
アレヤバくね？？
胸。。。痛くね？
Sou iya sa
Nomikai no kaerimichi totsujo yattekuru
ano munashisa...
Are... nandarou ne
Are yabakune??
Mune... itakune?
Well, you know
that sudden wave of emptiness on the way home after drinking...
What... was up with that, I wonder
Isn't it kinda bad??
Doesn't... your chest hurt?
ごめん！
どうでもいいか
いやあ、
話しつのは。。。
Gomen!
Doudemo iika
Iyaa,
hanashitsu no wa...
Sorry!
It's whatever
But uh...
the thing I wanted to talk about...
ごめんな友よ
俺はもういくよ
居酒屋だけの意気込みじゃごみだ
Gomen na tomoyo
ore wa mou iku yo
Izakaya dake no ikigomi jya gomida
Sorry, my friend
I'm gonna go now
Pub-enthusiasm ain't worth shit
お前も本当は気づいてるんだ
素面じゃ語れぬ夢は惨めだ
Omae mo hontou wa kidzuiterunda
shirafu ja katarenu yume wa mijime da
You're actually well aware of it too:
a dream that can only be told when drunk is pathetic
現実は辛い、暗い
ときに苦しい
それでも妄想よりは眩しい
Genjitsu wa tsurai, kurai
tokini kurushi
Sore demo mousou yori wa mabushii
Reality is difficult, dark,
sometimes painful
but dazzling still when compared to delusion
本気をだしたらヤバイ
俺よりいつだって本気なお前がヤバイ
Honki wo dashitara yabai
Ore yori itsudatte honki na omae ga yabai
Actually being serious about it would be crazy
You, who's always more serious about it than me, are crazy
汗を千切る
涙ちょん切る
そびえ立つビールに桜散る散る
Ase wo chigiru
Namida chongiru
Sobieta biiru ni sakura chiru chiru
Cut through the sweat
Cut through the tears
Cherry blossoms scatter across the soaring beers.
飲み干すビール
時間が過ぎる
この街で迎えた六度目の春
Nomihosu biru
jikan ga sugiru
kono machi de mukaeta rokudo me no haru
Drinking up the beer
Time goes by
and it's our sixth spring in this city
今年こそ？
来年こそ？
何年生きれるつもりで生きて来たんだ
Kotoshi koso?
Rainen koso?
Nannensei kireru tsumori de ikite kitanda
This year?
Next year?
How many more years am I even planning to live?
今日が終わる
いや、今が終わる
そう思えた奴から明日が変わる
Kyou ga owaru
Iya, ima ga owaru
Sou omoeta yatsu kara ashita ga kawaru
It ends today
No, it ends now
Tomorrow will be changed by the guy who thinks so
真っ暗闇の未来に書きなぐる
蛍光ペンを求めて
半径０メートルの世界を変える
革命起こす幕開けの夜
Makkurayami no mirai ni kaki naguru
Keikou pen wo motomete
Hankei 0 metoru no sekai wo kaeru
kakumei okosu makuake no yoru
Scribbling in the pitch-black future
looking for a highlighter
Changing the world within a radius of zero metres
The night of the birth of a revolution
