Title: Hope/
Album: V/ (track 004)
Digital Single: Hope/
itunes/Apple Music: Available in some regions
Vocal / Lyrics / Music: 将 / Shou
Guitar / Arrangement / Programming: 優介 / Yusuke
Bass: 燿 / YO
Drums: KEN’ICHI
◇Music Video
Director: Shou
1st Camera & Edit: Tora
Laser staging and lighting: Ryosuke Hagiwara (NAIFF Entertainment)
VJ &image direction: Yuji Haibara (TOTEM)
Costume: Haruna Mogaki
Accessory Styling: Saki Kuriyama
SPECIAL THANKS: Room Evergreen
Digital Single Cover Art (fullsize source)
As the second song released for Verde/, Hope/ was a digital single whose full MV and lyrics were made publicly available on the Verde/ YouTube.
歌詞 》
Hope/
★ 歌詞は [ こちら ] です。動画説明欄をチェックしてください。
★ The lyrics are [ here ] in the MV description.
.
Romaji 》
Hope/
English Translation 》
Hope/
After a miracle when the light went out
With vague awareness, I sing to myself
Words that I didn’t want to forget
Floated in an ocean planetarium
and I turned a memory into a melody, walked on again
〝Hope starts new great tales〟
At the very end, the light still on,
Without losing the hope I want to hold on to
The nameless small hours of the morning grow light
As if adding colour to a frozen monochrome
Rather than righteousness, loveliness;
Going out of my mind, trying to convey it
The lips that murmur “there’s nothing” are wishing for something
As though sounding out LIGHT, with transparent notes
〝Hope starts new great tales〟
Dreams rise where stories
The farewell in our last moments, with a starting bell,
Burns up even past shows of courage;
If I had once more been able to link those fingers together
I would write the rest of the epilogue
Surely, the tale I want to convey
Would turn into a curse if I changed it into sound
In order to put the words together
I would play it upon a wondrous jewel ¹
At the very end, the light still on,
Without losing the hope I want to hold on to
The nameless small hours of the morning grow light
As if adding colour to a frozen monochrome
.
NOTES / INTERPRETATION:
Blue font indicates text originally written in English in the official booklet.
oo1. This was wordplay, written deliberately in katakana (used for loanwords and emphasis) so that it can be read either as jewel, rare stone, or miracle/wonder. In order to convey the wordplay in English, I chose to go with “wondrous jewel” to kind of convey all three meanings at once.
.
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 or to the original on PuncProsody. Do not repost it. Thank you ♡
The translation has also been posted in the comments on the official MV.
Other Fan Translations:
If you would like me to link to your translation, or know of another translation that has been made (in any language) I can link to, please let me know. If you have made a translation (in any language) that you would like me to host on this page, please leave a comment, send me an DM (@9kumiParade), or email (confuseduniverse9@gmail.com); we’d be happy to have you!
.
Behind the Scenes
For this second release, new support member Yusuke, from Matenrou OPERA, recorded the guitar, and did both the programming and arrangement for the song (X post). This became the first of many Verde/ songs that Yusuke lent his skills to! The MV for this song was also the first in Verde/’s discography to feature support members in it: Yusuke on guitar, YO on bass, and KEN’ICHI on drums.
This release cycle featured concept art, cover art, two concept images (one / two), a short MV, a full length MV, and a couple of behind the scenes photos from the filming of the MV (one / two).
The song made it into 5 digital charts: #2 top rock songs in Malaysia | #6 top rock songs in Mexico | #10 top rock songs in Thailand | #53 top rock songs in Japan | #55 all top songs in Malaysia
Shou explained the thought process behind the composition and selection of Hope/ as the second single released by Verde/ in a personal interview for ROCK AND READ vol. 111.
Page 153 →
ROCK AND READ vol. 111, p. 153-154
Shou: Lately, I’ve been liking the band Polyphia. They’ve got a guitarist called Tim Henson and I told Yusuke-kun of matenrou OPERA that I’d like to do a Polyphia-esque song, and he played guitar for me, but Yusuke-kun made it fine-tuned, straightforward pop-rock, the start of his solo like giving a blessing. Though, with the balance of the mix, the impression the song gives you changes. After the arrangement was all done, I cut the bass out bit by bit, and fixed it up, putting synth-bass in myself.
Interviewer: Something you can’t do in a band.
Shou: Yeah. Cause there would be a fight for real if the bass phrases all disappeared (laughs). And [ kei ]-chan told me that the chorus melody is a melody that you definitely couldn’t add in if you aren’t a vocalist. The cue that resulted in this sort of melody was when I discussed the activity freeze with LM.C.’s Aiji-san. He advised me, “don’t start right off the bat doing things that ALICE NINE. fans wanted you to do but that you weren’t really doing as ALICE NINE.,” so I made it with that in mind. Clear rock, not difficult to understand. It’s a song with that sort of theme.
Interviewer: In the lyrics, there was the line, “Surely, the tale I want to convey / Would turn into a curse if I changed it into sound”. Why would it become a curse?
Shou: Because I’m using stuff like SNS and I’ve seen a lot of unhappiness at my remarks getting taken in directions I hadn’t thought of and causing misunderstandings. That is, the phrase “less is more” from time to time holds true. I myself have also been hurt by another person who I guess had no ill will towards me, so it’s tough. The lyrics have that sort of meaning.
In his front cover issue for With Rock vol 14, Shou discussed the Verde/ project at length, including Hope/, which at the point of the interview had not been officially given a release date, and was being stylized as HOPE.
A day after its release, Barks published a column written by Shou: Self-Liner Notes for Hope/, which is free to read online.