Title: koukan (Corona)
Album: 絶景色 (track 001)
Album: 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [花鳥ノ調] (track 008) self-cover
itunes/Apple Music: Available in some regions
Composer: ヒロト (HIROTO)
Lyrics: 将 (SHOU)
[花鳥ノ調] arrangement: 沙我 (Saga)
This song was the first track on their first full-length album, released April 26th 2006. Though the title of the song, written in Japanese, is read as “koukan”, the lyric booklet specifies that the title can also be read as 「コロナ」(KORONA). In an interview (JP/EN), SHOU explained that the title shouldn’t be directly read as “Corona” and that he simply wanted listeners to keep the English word in mind. The composer is credited simply as アリス九號. in the booklet, but interviews revealed that it was HIROTO who brought in the demo for this song. In 2019 the song was rearranged by Saga and they recorded the new version for their 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [kachou no shirabe] album.
歌詞 》
光環
歌詞は「こちら」です。
You can view a copy of the lyrics in their original Japanese online [ here ].
.
Romaji 》
koukan (KORONA)
English Translation 》
Corona
Now, the curtain opens, within the unending conflict that is life
Love connects people, though the heavens are without love for them
The world was turbulent, its pace thrown out of order
The cosmos, in deep blue, would not give me breath
Someday, even if the curtain closes on the dream of meeting you,
I want there to be a light to wrap me up gently, so
My consciousness crosses the earth, my words to your side,
So that with this powerless voice of mine, I can save someone
If we held each other close in the centre of the light
I’d want our hearts to leave our bodies, melt together for eternity
Forever, I swear
I won’t ever go far from you
Because even if our hands were to part, no matter what, we would go on connected
In the contours of the Earth, I found tenderness.
For you, who I love, always by my side
The music notes play in the centre of the light—
Dreams, the past, the days that pass away; the rain, the clouds, and the rainbows that follow
Love connects people, though the heavens are without love for them
Now the curtain has opened, on the undying swirl of emotion that is life
.
The above was translated by me; for the original post and more notes, check [ PuncProsody ].
If you’d like to share the translation, please link to this page. Do not repost it. Thank you.
Other Fan Translations:
English: akatsuki .
If you would like me to link to your translation, or know of another translation that has been made (in any language), please let me know and I’ll put up a link to it. The more the merrier.
.
Behind the Scenes
Around the time of the album’s release, Neowing/CDJapan published an interview in Japanese and English respectively with the whole band to discuss the album and each song on it in depth. Nao called attention to the way the drum sound was created and SHOU explained the imagery that led to his writing of the lyrics, as well as the reason why he included an alternate reading of the title in parenthesis in the booklet.
――Naoさんイチオシの楽曲はどちらになりますか。
Interviewer: Nao, what song would you recommend?Nao：うーん、じゃあ、一曲目の「光環」で。これはドラム的になんですけど、新しい試みがあって。二月に出したシングルの『FANTASY』でも曲中にあるんですけど、生ドラムと打ち込みドラムの融合があって、「光環」はその進化形です。ちょっと分かりづらいんですけど、生ドラムと生ドラムじゃない音のリズムも交えてすごくかっこよく仕上げることができて、自分的に良かったなと感じている曲なんです。その場で、原曲者のヒロトくんと思いついて。一応プリプロ段階のリズムとは違ったんですけど、こうしたほうがいいんじゃないかって土壇場で案が出て、やってみたらすごい良かったという。あとは一曲目だけあって、これから始まるぞっていう感じが伝わってくる曲だと思うので、わくわくしてきますね。
Nao: Ummm . . . ok, the first song, “Corona.” Speaking specifically of the drums, I tried out something new with the song. There’s a fusion of live drumming and drum machine sounds. We also used this approach in our February single “FANTASY,” but “Corona” is an evolved version. It’s hard to hear clearly, but we combined live drums and non-live drums together into a really cool sound. I’m happy with the way it turned out. The whole thing came to Hiroto after he wrote the song. At the last minute he said, “hey, this is different from the rhythm that we had in the pre-production stage, but I think we should try this,” and it turned out really well. Only the first song has the effect–it helps the song make you feel like something is about to start. It gets me excited.――「光環」の歌詞はいかがでしたか。
Interviewer: What about the lyrics to “Corona”?将：ビッグバンが起こったあとの宇宙空間と、まばゆい光の中でイメージが融けていくっていうような――何もない無の空間と光の中いう対比が浮かんで、そこから太陽っていうテーマを見つけました。「光環」を直接「コロナ」って読むわけじゃないんですけど、どちらも同じ意味なんですよ。で、太陽の周りにたまにできる光の環の現象を、自分たちが光り輝けた存在であったとしたなら、応援してくれる人には常にその周りを暖かく包む存在であってほしいなっていうメッセージを込めた歌詞です。
SHOU: I imagined space after the big bang and images dissolving into dazzling light. I saw the contrast of empty space and light, and from there I discovered the theme of “sun.” Of course, you don’t actually read the characters of the song title (“Koukan”) as “Corona,” but both words do have the same meaning. I took the phenomena of a circle of light appearing around the sun and used it as a metaphor for us. If we’re this shining object, we want to shine warmth on the people who are constantly supporting us. That was the message of the lyrics.Nao：熱いね。
Nao: That’s intense.将：熱いよ。太陽だからね！
Neowing アリス九號.絶景色特集 / CDJapan ALICE NINE. zekkeishoku special feature
SHOU: Of course it’s intense. It’s the sun!
SHOU further explained the message in the song Corona in an interview at the time with Arena 37c magazine; you can read a full English translation of the interview [ here ] by pokkori_a9 from Livejournal.
――歌詞には、何かテーマがあった？
Interviewer: For the lyrics, was there some sort of theme?将「メッセージ性が強いのは、１曲目の「光環」かな。光環って太陽の周りにできる光の現象なんですけど、ステージ上で自分らが太陽のように輝いて、お客さんは常にその周りにいて欲しいっていう気持ちをこめて、歌詞を書きました。」
Arena 37c 2006.05 vol 284, p. 40
SHOU: I guess the one with a strong sort of message was the first song, koukan (Corona). A corona is a phenomenon of light that can be around the sun, but I wrote the lyrics incorporating the feeling that, we shine like the sun onstage and want the concert-goers to always be around us.
At the time, Corona broke new sonic ground within the band’s discography for being a song that featured a dance beat, and HIROTO explained a little about this foray into the genre through a Fool’s Mate interview.
ヒロト：「FANTASY」の頃から兆候はあったんですけど、今回例えば「光環」は完全にダンス・ビートだし。今までも打ち込みを使ってる曲は何曲かありましたけど、ここまでメインで出てきてる曲はなかったので。もともと、トランスやクラブ・ミュージックがすごく好きなので、アルバムだし、今だったら出来るかなって。最近、どんな曲をやってもアリス九號.になるっていう自信がついたから出来た曲なんですけどね。
Fool’s Mate 2006.05 vol 295, p. 46
HIROTO: There was a sign of it from the days of “FANTASY”, but of late for example, “Corona” is a dance beat entirely. Even until now, there have been countless songs where we used step recording, but until now there wasn’t a song where that came out as a main element, you see. Originally, I really liked trance and club music, so I thought, it’s an album and I might be able to do it now. Lately, we’ve acquired the confidence that no matter what song we do it turns into “ALICE NINE.” so it was a song were were able to do.
HIROTO’s first edition of his『月刊少年HRT』column in ALICE NINE.’s Official note featured a special supplement video of him playing Corona. If you are a subscriber, you can find the video at the end of [ this ] entry.
In terms of the rearrangement that Saga did for the 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [kachou no shirabe] album, he and HIROTO had the following Twitter exchange during that creative process:
Saga: Corona and FANTASY,
you guys both really were that great, huh!
is the feel that I’m making headway with ✌
Next up, mugen no hana!
HIROTO: The roots of the songs are being awoken in new forms
Corona→VELVET→FANTASY
They seem to get even more dramatic as time passes
Shortly after the pandemic began, Saga tweeted to say that the portion of medical experts who had initially called the coronavirus just a stronger sort of flu and not to worry excessively should listen to Corona 10,000 times as a penalty — that ALICE NINE. song would clear their minds and get their hearts in the right place.