Happy July Igu Day!

It’s July 20th in Japan, so the new mini album The Only Garden should be out now. I’m seeing a single called “Existence” available on the US iTunes store that has the same cover art. Wonder if we’ll get the mini album tomorrow.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Unlike every other song on VIRGIN, which was written and composed by miko, music and lyrics for “Futatsu no Koe” are by Omi. So I took a look at Omi’s blog to see if she had written anything about this song in particular. Besides a couple of posts that just mention this song being on the set list for shows, there is one post that talks about it a little bit more; I’ve translated the relevant portion below.

miko wrote a post for this song on her own blog, but she didn’t really write anything related to its meaning. Basically she said that she didn’t interfere with the song’s creation because it wasn’t her “baby.” She said that the process of creating a song makes her feel like a “mother,” so this time, she felt more like a “father,” “anxiously waiting outside the delivery room.” miko also mentions that this song had a slower tempo at the demo stage, but that it “powered up” in preproduction.

The song’s lyrics in Japanese can be found here on J-Lyric. Romanization and translation below.

☆

Futatsu no Koe

aa sakebu koto wo wasureta kimi no koe
tomo ni hibike kono basho de

kurikaesu higeki muimina arasoi wa
kakekage no nai mono ubatteyuku
kudakechitta karada kono te wo surinukete
onore no muryokusa ni namida otoshita

zetsubou no fuchi wo samayou boku ni
onaji hitomi wo shita kimi no hohoemi

tsukiyo terashidasu kodoku no kage futatsu yure

aa sakebu koto wo wasureta kimi no te wo
mou ni do to hanasanu you ni
fukaku fukaku egutta kizuato wo sotto tsutsuda

ketsubetsu to aitou modorenu hi wo mune ni
furueru kimi to futari ashita wo chikau

yamiyo arukidasu hikari motome itsuka waraeru made

shizuka ni hoo wo nurashita
kanashimi no ame tsuyosa ni nare

aa sakebu koto wo wasureta kimi no koe
tomo ni hibike kono basho de
kimi no kodou itami dakishimetara
tachiagari sora wo miage
tsuyoku tsuyoku egaita yume no saki tomo ni ima wo ikiyou

Two Voices

You forgot to scream
Let your voice ring out with mine here and now

The repeating tragedies and meaningless conflicts
Steal away everything precious
Bodies turned to ash and dust slip through my fingers¹
I shed tears over my powerlessness

As I roamed the depths of despair
I could see it in your eyes too, but you smiled at me²

Two lonesome shadows waver in the moonlit night

You forgot to scream
So that I never let go of your hand again
I quietly bear these deeply gouged scars

Partings, mourning, and days we’ll never get back
Holding these in our hearts, you tremble as we make a promise for tomorrow

We set out in the dark night, seeking the light, until the day we can laugh again

Oh rain of sadness, silently wetting my cheeks,
Become my strength!

You forgot to scream
Let your voice ring out with mine here and now
If I hold your pulse and your pain close
Standing up, looking to the sky
Now, together, let’s live out the rest of the dream we saw so clearly

Excerpt from Omi Blog, April 4, 2014 “Many Memories”

This song was on the album VIRGIN. It’s a cool rock song, but…I really want people to read the lyrics, too.

You and me, two voices.
I want exist†trace shows to be a place—a space—where you and me, and everyone there, can let our voices ring out, screaming together.
Always stand up to keep what’s important to you, to protect it.
“The rest of the dream we saw so clearly,” I want to live it out with you…I put those kinds of feelings into the song.

This mortal coil…³ with its suffering, despair, battles, pleasure, and hope…facing your own weakness, days when you’re literally caught up in a torrent of violent emotions. But beyond that is a shining future, and I want to grasp it with you.

So many memories… If I put them into words there would be no end to them, and there are times when I can’t express things very well, but I just want to see your smile. I want to spend what I think of as a “good time” with you.

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¹ “Ash and dust” is an artistic liberty on my part. The word 砕け散った (kudakechitta) means “smashed to pieces.” Maybe I’m too graphic, but “bodies smashed to pieces slipped through my fingers” just seems psychotic rather than tragic. “Pulverized bodies” would’ve been a closer translation, but I think “ash and dust” is more appropriate visually given the previous lines’ allusion to war. ⤴

² I think this line could be interpreted two different ways. 同じ瞳をした君 (onaji hitomi wo shita kimi) means “You who had the same eyes,” but the same as what? Since the previous line is about the character roaming the depths of despair, I think the most logical interpretation is “You had the same eyes [full of despair] as me.” But it’s also possible for it to mean “You had the same eyes [as always].” ⤴

³ The words Omi actually used were 「このスパイラル大作戦」(“kono supairaru daisakusen”). You may recognize the words as the title of the song “Spiral Daisakusen,” which was released as a single and later included on the album WORLD MAKER. ⤴