Just taking a little break from my usual translation work to bring you what is perhaps my favorite track from exist†trace’s album World Maker. One long term project of mine is to translate every exist†trace song I have, which is to say over 40 songs. Unfortunately, I only have a hard copy of one of their albums, VIRGIN, so for songs that I bought off iTunes, I have to rely on various online lyrics sources. In this case, I got the kanji from the Japanese site Rock Lyric.

Below the lyrics and translation, you will find a partial translation of an entry from miko’s blog wherein she talks about this song. I had a decidedly more Gothic image in mind before I read her explanation of the song, but other parts of the song now make more sense. She talks about “SHOOTING STAR” in the first half of her blog post; my translation picks up in the second half where she starts talking about “ANTIQUE DOLL”.

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ANTIQUE DOLL

さあ目を開けて　月の照らす夜に
ダンスを踊り出す  キミはアンティークドール

Let’s play hide and seek with me

さあ飛び出して　星はミラーボール
ドレスを脱ぎ捨てて　キミはアンティークドール

Let’s play hide and seek

飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
ガラスの迷路で泣き出したのは誰?
飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
おいで　おいで　もっと　窓を開けて

さあ抜け出して　空が歌う夜に
あのコを誘い出す　キミはアンティークドール

Let’s play hide and seek

飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
ガラスの迷路で泣き出したのは誰?
飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
おいで　おいで　もっと　窓を開けて

Let’s play hide and seek with me…

飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
ガラスの迷路で泣き出したのは誰?
飛び立てるか　本能のままに高く
おいで　おいで　もっと　窓を開けて
さあ　顔を上げて

ANTIQUE DOLL

saa me wo akete  tsuki no terasu yoru ni
dansu wo odoridasu  kimi wa antīku dōru

Let’s play hide and seek with me

saa tobidashite  hoshi wa mirā bōru
doresu wo nugisutete  kimi wa antīku dōru

Let’s play hide and seek

tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
garasu no meiro de nakidashita no wa dare?
tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
oide  oide  motto  mado wo akete

saa nukidashite  sora ga utau yoru ni
ano ko wo sasoidasu  kimi wa antīku dōru

Let’s play hide and seek

tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
garasu no meiro de nakidashita no wa dare?
tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
oide  oide  motto  mado wo akete

Let’s play hide and seek with me…

tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
garasu no meiro de nakidashita no wa dare?
tobitateru ka  honnō no mama ni takaku
oide  oide  motto  mado wo akete
saa  kao wo agete

Antique Doll

Hey, open your eyes!
Go dancing on this moonlit night¹
You’re an antique doll

Let’s play hide and seek²

Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Who’s the one who started crying in the glass labyrinth, huh?
Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Come on, come on, open that window some more!

Run out to the next place
The stars are a disco ball
Throw off your dress
You’re an antique doll

Let’s play hide and seek

Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Who’s the one who started crying in the glass labyrinth, huh?
Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Come on, come on, open that window some more!

Alright! Steal away into the singing night
Go call that girl out
You’re an antique doll

Let’s play hide and seek

Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Who’s the one who started crying in the glass labyrinth, huh?
Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Come on, come on, open that window some more!

Let’s play hide and seek

Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Who’s the one who started crying in the glass labyrinth, huh?
Can you take off, soaring as high as your instincts?
Come on, come on, open that window some more!
Hold your head high!

Excerpt from miko’s Blog

Next, this song is also a standard at our live shows. It’s “Antique Doll”!

This song was actually made around the same time as “TRUE”.³ It always ended up getting put on the back burner, but we gave it new life as a concert song! The demo had been made on an old multitrack recorder, so the sound quality was laughable. LOL

If I can only point out one thing about this song, it would have to be the drum solo. I’m sure it’ll make all the Mally fans smile from ear to ear! While I was working on the arrangement, I just suddenly wanted to throw something more stimulating into it, so I went up to Mally like, “I’ll give you these four bars, play something!” It was a crazy demand, but that’s how her nice, hot and heavy solo came to be.

The image I had for the “antique doll” in the title and in the lyrics was that it represents people who aren’t interested in what’s trending, people who don’t change themselves according to their surroundings. But I think an “antique doll” is fine just like that! I don’t think it’s strange to be that way, and I won’t say “You better become like all the latest toys!” But I do think it’d be wasteful for someone like that to sulk and make an enemy of the rest of the world. Come play with us instead! We, exist†trace, will keep riling you up until you can hold your head high and enjoy yourself!

I hope I can see all your smiling faces at our live shows too!

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^1. It sounds to me like Jo sings 踊り出せ (odoridase), the imperative “Dance!”, rather than 踊り出す (odoridasu), which would simply be “I dance” or “You dance.” I could just be hearing things, but given the rest of the lines, I think that the command form makes more sense. So, I translated the lyrics as if they were odoridase (the imperative). ⤴

^2. When Japanese songs have improper English in them or English that just seems not quite right, I change it to proper English. So, I took out the redundant “with me.” ⤴

^3. The EP TRUE was released in 2011, three years before the Spiral Daisakusen single on which “Antique Doll” first appeared. ⤴