Title: GRADATION
Album: 祇園盛者の鐘が鳴る (track 001)
Album: 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [花鳥ノ調] (track 003) self-cover
Composer: 沙我
Lyrics: 将
[花鳥ノ調] arrangement: 沙我
This song was the lead track on their first mini album, released November 17th 2004, shortly after they joined PS Company, and a music video was later shot for it. Classic track that it is, it was later rearranged and re-recorded for release in spring of 2019 on their 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [kachou no shirabe] compilation album.
歌詞 》
グラデーション
歌詞は「こちら」です。
You can view a copy of the lyrics in their original Japanese online [ here ].
In the rearranged 2019 version, Show modified the lyrics in three of the lines. The changes are highlighted in blue below:
Verse 5 & 11
Orig.] いつか あの空のように 段々に 君と 揺れていたい
2019] いつか あの空のように 段々に 君と 揺れてたらいい
Verse 7
Orig.] 零れてく泪、流れてく時に、
2019] 零れてく泪、溢れ出す時に、
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English Translation 》
GRADATION
The black and the white that mixes together, floating gently
I entwined with the illuminated reds and blues at my fingertips
The sky and the light mix together and interweave;
Your concerto, and mine
In the shackles of my stoppered youth,
I begin to ask a question and
“Why was I born?” is the melody that starts to overflow
The chord is a spectacle, snapping without end;
A soap bubble that wavered, that vanished.
Orig.] Someday, like that sky, I want to sway
2019] Someday, like that sky, it’d be nice to be swaying
little by little, with you
Rather than using words, I would fall from grace,
Head for your distant self, ever so far away.
Someday again, somewhere, I must be able to meet you
Orig.] The tears that escape, when they flow away,
2019] The tears that escape, when they pour out,
have been reflected in a gradation of pale blue.
Into the pre-established harmony, ¹
sinks watercolour and splendour both
“Why are you weeping?” is the melody that starts to overflow
The sky and the light mix together and interweave;
Your concerto, and mine
The chord is a spectacle, snapping without end;
A soap bubble that wavered, that vanished.
Orig.] Someday, like that sky, I want to sway
2019] Someday, like that sky, it’d be nice to be swaying
little by little, with you
Rather than using words, I would fall from grace,
Head for your distant self, ever so far away.
Someday again, somewhere, I must be able to meet you
.
NOTES:
Important. Certain lines have been marked as “Orig.”, meaning that they were the originally published lyrics from 2004. Below them are lines marked “2019” to indicate changes in wording found in the lyrics from their 15TH ANNIVERSARY BEST [kachou no shirabe] album. Both are official.
oo1. Pre-established harmony is a philosophical thesis put forth by late polymath Leibniz. In short he posited that all substances (i.e. humans) come into existence already bearing all of their causality. That is, everything that has, does, or will exist comes into existence with pre-determined cause and effect; all substances are in pre-established harmony with one another because each and every choice and interaction has already been pre-programmed (i.e. by God). Interactions are not products of free will, they’re pre-established ones. That’s my very limited understanding, so please take it with a grain of salt, and do some further reading if you’re interested.
I think that this just sets the emotional tone of the line, and the song as a whole, really. The speaker likely believes that they and the person they’re speaking about (remembering) have been pre-determined to be apart. Imagine the gradation in the colour of the sky and their interactions as being part of an impossibly-intricate timepiece. The speaker is powerless to alter its programming, its pre-established harmony.
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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.
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Further Reading
In a magazine interview, Show and Saga had this to say about the lyrics and music of the song, respectively:
Show: The one who brought in the original of this song is Saga-kun. When I listened to that, pretty and wondrous scenery came to mind, and I created the lyrics as though I were painting a canvas.
Cure 2004.12 vol 15
Saga: It’s a song that I’ve been nursing a great deal. At first it had a very passionate rock, or rather garage-like feel, but when the arrangements piled up, it resulted in a song as pretty as this.