Songwriting and Coffee 詩書きとコーヒー1 4/24
| English | Romaji |
|---|---|
Living at the bare minimum, in a small six-mat room |
Saiteigen no seikatsu de chiisa-na heya no roku-jou de2 |
| I thought only about how nice it would have been if I could've lived with you | Kimi to kurasereba yokatta, sore dake kangaeteita |
| The color of happiness is semi-transparent, so it was better to be invisible | Shiawase no iro ha jun-toumei3, nara mienai hou ga yokatta |
| I can't do anything; still today will end | Nanimo dekinai no ni kyou ga owaru |
Living at the bare minimum, in a small six-mat room |
Saiteigen no seikatsu de chiisa-na heya no roku-jou de |
| I spent every day staring up at the ceiling, thinking about something | Tenjou wo nagameru mainichi, nanika wo kangaeteita |
| The value of happiness is 60,000 yen | Shiawase no kachi ha roku-man-en |
| After subtracting rent, 4,000 yen | Yachin ga hikarete yon-sen-en4 |
| In a daze I rummage through my memories of you | Boyaketa atama de omoide5 wo asaru |
I got to where I would talk about love with cold and jaded eyes |
Sameta me6 de ai wo kataru you ni natteita |
| And my coffee, too, is always just as cold | Sameta KO-HI- mo aikawarazu sou nan da |
| I hate this | Kirai da |
I don't get it, I don't |
Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| The memory you've become is starting to get in my way | Omoide ni naru, kimi ga jama ni natteiku |
| I don't get it, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't understand | Wakannai yo |
| How to walk well | Jouzu na aruki-kata mo |
| Or how to say goodbye | Sayonara no ii-kata mo |
At the lowest possible volume, in a room that's gotten a little bigger |
Saishougen no onryou de, sukoshi ookiku natta heya de |
| I scribble down the cut-off gas | Tomatta GASU mo omoide mo |
| And my memories and the chill of the shower | SHAWA- no tsumetasa mo kakinagutta |
| If I sold my life, I'd hold back two years | Jumyou wo uru nara nokori ni-nen |
| Keep just that, and go back to that town | Sore dake nokoshite ano machi he |
| With all these unneeded years, I rummage through my memories of you | Amatta jumyou de omoide wo asaru |
Clear days and festive nights and Sekimachi's streetlights |
Hare mo yomatsuri mo Sekimachi7 no gaitou mo |
| Clouds and mirages and the cynical slant of my lyrics | Kumo mo nigemizu mo sha ni kamaeta kashi-kan8 mo |
| It's all sophistry | Kiben da |
I don't get it, I don't |
Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| The memory you've become is starting to turn into a song | Omoide ni naru, kimi ga uta ni natteiku |
| I don't get it, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't understand how to forget | Wakannai yo, wasurerareru houhou mo |
| Or how I could start to do so myself | Kore kara no tsukai-kata mo |
In my cold, jaded eyes, I was writing the song of you |
Sameta me no naka de kimi no uta wo kaiteita |
| These days of mine are a life lived only for you | Boku no kono hibi ha kimi no tame no jinsei da |
As I forget dreams, and transience; your mouth, your eyes, those fingertips of yours |
Yume mo hakana-sa mo kimi no kuchi mo me mo sono yubisaki mo wasure-nagara |
| Listen, the song is about to end - it's time | Hora, sorosoro uta mo owaru jikan da |
Your turn has come at last |
Yatto kimi no ban dakara sa |
I don't get it, I don't |
Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| Become a memory, become a song and leave me | Omoide ni nare, kimi yo uta ni natte ike |
| I don't get it, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| I don't, I don't | Wakannai yo, wakannai yo |
| You know I don't | Wakannai ne |
| I don't understand that people can walk | Hito ha arukeru n da to ka |
| Or that that should be obvious to anyone | Sore ga atarimae da to ka wakannai sa |
| I don't understand | Wakannai yo |
- - -
1 The narrator/songwriter on this album always uses 詩 (poem), pronounced as うた rather than し, for the word "song". The word うた is used for both songs and poetry, without strong distinction. I've also seen two different versions of this song title (the other is 詩書きコーヒー in one place on the official website) but the version here is what's used most often.
2 A "6-mat room" is a common layout of tatami floor mats for rooms or very small apartments. It comes out to an area of around 10 m2 (110 ft2), with dimensions of around 4m x 3m (12 ft x 9 ft).
3 Calling back to the earlier Yorushika song "Semi-Transparent Boy" (準透明少年). In that song, the singer feels he is invisible (transparent) to everyone and is performing in the hopes of being seen, but after becoming inspired by a peer's singing, he comes to understand that he imagines color and form within himself through his interpretation of others, even if that doesn't make others acknowledge him. Therefore he can only truly be "semi"-transparent.
3 In 2019, 60,000 yen would have been about $550 USD, with 4,000 yen being around $37 USD.
4 想い出 here and throughout the album, a less standard spelling that emphasizes the strong emotions tied to the memory.
5 Playing on 冷めた目 "cold look" and 目が覚めた "awake" or "having come to one's senses".
6 Sekimachi is a neighborhood in the Nerima Ward of Tokyo that comes up throughout the album.
7 This constructed phrase is likely a play on the common word 価値観, one's values. The implication is that the songwriter expresses the way he views the world through the perspective of his lyrics.