This is a bit of a deviation from my usual fan translation fare, but I see it when I’m scrolling down my iTunes Music Library on my way to exist†trace, so I figured I could translate this too.

As passionate as this song is, my main memory of it is not being able to get through it in karaoke because my friends started laughing like scandalized schoolchildren at the music video, which, somewhat uncharacteristically for a Japanese pop video, had simulated sex in it. They started making fun of the actors’ expressions, and then I couldn’t stop laughing either.

That’s probably not the intro I should’ve given considering I want to post this translation because the ones I’ve seen are overly literal and thus not at all sexy. This song should make you need a cigarette and question your life choices even if you’re not an adulterer. I’ve done my best to make this sound natural while staying true to the meaning of the original.

Quick notes: Even without the music video, it’s clear from the word choices that this is sung from the (other) woman’s point of view. The song title is in Italian. The lyrics in Japanese can be found here on Utamap, below is my romanization and translation.

☆

Ti Amo

nichiyoubi no yoru wa beedo ga hiroi
nemurenai omoi daita mama asa wo matsu
kaeru basho ga aru anata no koto
suki ni natte wa ikenai wakatteta hajime kara

dore dake no omoi naraba ai to yonde ii no deshou ka
kono mune wo shimetsuketeru kimochi ni namae wo kudasai

kisu wo suru tabi ni me wo tojiteru no wa ashita wo mitakunai kara
dakishimerareru to toki naku kokoro wa anata wo mada shinjiteru
koe wo dasanai mama “aishiteru” to sakebu no

okimari no serifu nazoru dake no
asobi no you na koi ni wa muitenai mukashi kara

dare hitori kizutsukenai koi wo hito wa “ai” to yobu kedo
kono tsumi wo seoinagara ikiteku kakugo ga dekiteru

heya wo deru toki wa sayonara ja nakute oyasumi to itte hoshi
shuushifu kurai wa watashi ni utasete
sore ga saigo no wagamama
hitorikiri de ha mou rabu songu utaenai

motto hayaku aetara anata to shiriaetara
futari no hohaba mo awaserareta no ni
motto nagaku aetara anata to mukiaetara
futari wa kokoro mo kasaneteta (Ti amo)

kisu wo suru tabi ni me wo tojiteru no wa ashita wo mitakunai kara
dakishimerareru to tokimeku kokoro wa anata wo mada shinjiteru
koe ni dasanai mama “aishiteru”…

“boku wa yowai ne” to jibun kara tsugeta zurui hito da wa anata wa
tokei wo hazushite hohoendekureru yasashii hito ne anata wa
egao kuzusanaide uso wo minukitakunai

 

I Love You

Sunday nights my bed feels so wide
Twisting and turning over sleepless thoughts, waiting for morning
There’s a place for me to return to—you
I knew from the start that this shouldn’t be

At what point can you call it love?
What would you call this feeling tying up my heart? Tell me…

I close my eyes every time we kiss because I don’t want to face the future
In your arms my throbbing heart believes you all over again
Silently crying out “I love you”…

I’ve never been one for the would-be Romeos
Following the same old scripts to play at romance

People call romance “love” when no one gets hurt
But I’m prepared to live under the weight of this sin

Don’t say “goodbye” when you leave, say “good night”
At least let me be the one to end this—
It’s my last selfish request
I can’t sing love songs all alone anymore

If only we could’ve met sooner, gotten to know each other better
We could’ve walked this path together
If we could’ve been together longer, done some soul-searching
Our hearts would’ve also become one

I close my eyes every time we kiss because I don’t want to face the future
In your arms my throbbing heart believes you all over again
Silently crying out “I love you”…

“I’m weak,” you explained without my saying anything
You’re a sly one, aren’t you?
Smiling for me as you take off your watch
You’re so kind
Don’t stop smiling—
     I don’t want to see past your lies

☆

Just one translation note so I didn’t feel like doing fancy footnotes. Pointing this out because I took a fair amount of liberties with it.

In the original Japanese, what I translated as “I’ve never been one for the would-be Romeos / Following the same old scripts to play at romance” was the following:

okimari no serifu nazoru dake no / asobi no you na koi ni wa muitenai mukashi kara
(In Japanese: お決まりのセリフなぞるだけの/遊びのような恋には向いてない昔から)

A super literal translation (one that ignores even natural English word order rules) would be:
Set lines, just tracing them, a romance like playing, not suited for since long ago

A literal but more grammatical translation would be:
Since long ago, I wasn’t suited for the kind of romance that’s like playing [a game where you] just trace set lines [=phrases]

Basically, I got the image of a guy who uses cliché pick-up lines to score quick flings. But I feel that has a negative nuance to it which the original didn’t have. At least, when I hear “pick-up artist” the type of lines or “techniques” that come to mind are not at all good things. A “would-be Romeo” is a fake, but maybe not intentionally; it could just be a guy who doesn’t quite know what to do in such situations. Also the image of a character from a play using “set lines” just fit too well, so I went with it.