風姿花伝/谷村新司Tanimura Shinji - Fushi-kaden (The Flowering Spirit)
This song is the opening theme for a 1987 animated adaption of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is about a time when China was at civil war between three factions. This era has been ahem, romanticized and turned into an epic tale.
Originally I posted this translation to my Transformers blog. I thought that this song was fitting for IDW Transformers - the seemingly endless sadness and bloodshed of a species at civil war, the whole spectacle of it played out for us, the readers. I want to make a clipshow using this song.
The song title appears to be a reference to the treatise on Noh theatre of the same name.
Lyrics and translation:
風は叫ぶ 人の世の悲しみを
The wind howls, the sorrow of the mortal world
星に抱かれた 静寂の中で
Is embraced by the stars in the stillness
胸を開けば 燃ゆる血潮の赤は
If chests are (cut) open the red of burning blood will
共に混ざりて 大いなる流れに
Mix together in the great flow
人は夢みる ゆえに儚く
People dream, and therefore are fleeting
人は夢みる ゆえに生きるもの
People dream, and therefore are living things
あ～あ～ 誰も知らない
Ah~ ah~ Nobody knows
あ～あ～ 明日散る花さえも
Ah~Ah~ Not even the flowers that fall tomorrow
堅い契り 爛漫の花の下
A firm pledge under full bloom of flowers
月を飲み干す 宴の盃
Drink dry the moon (in the) banquet wine cup
君は帰らず 残されて佇めば
You are not returning. I’m left behind, and if I stand still
肩にあの日の 誓いの花吹雪
A shower of blossoms from that day (will land) on my shoulder
人は信じて そして破れて
People have faith, and so are broken
人は信じて そして生きるもの
People have faith, and so are living things
あ～あ～ 誰も知らない
Ah~ Ah~ Nobody knows
あ～あ～ 明日散る花さえも
Ah~ Ah~ Not even the flowers that fall tomorrow
国は破れて 城も破れて
The country is torn, the castle broken
草は枯れても 風は泣き渡る
The grass is trampled and the wind flies crying
あ～あ～ 誰も知らない
Ah~Ah~ Nobody knows
あ～あ～ 風のその姿を
Ah~Ah~ The appearance of the wind
あ～あ～ 花が伝える
Ah~Ah~ Flowers convey
あ～あ～ 風のその姿を
Ah~Ah~ The appearance of the wind
Translator notes:
A 盃 “sakazuki” is a shallow, bowl-like wine cup. Now commonly the word is referring to sakazuki, but I think in this song it’s referring to any cup with this shape. If you watch the Red Cliff (2008) movie, which is adapted from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you’ll see flat wine cups.
花吹雪 “hanafubuki”, literally “flower blizzard”, means “a shower of cherry blossoms falling in the wind”, but that is awful wordy.
The wind is 泣き渡る “nakiwataru” which sounds the same as 鳴き渡る - the expression for when birds are calling while flying past. But the kanji for “naki” used is the same as “crying”, because war is sad.
The same verb 破れる “yabureru” is used to denote that the country and the castle are torn and broken. I think a less literal translation would be “the castle has fallen”.
If you have corrections to this translation, please tell me. Because I’m not a native speaker, I don’t want this to be seen as the definitive translation of this song.
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