[KAITO] Singing Songs (DainagonAzuP) [Vocaloid][English Sub] うたうたい

[PockyBebop]

This song is seriously Vocaloid in a nutshell: everything one needs to know about the program and the people that make songs with it condensed into a 4-in-a-half minute song. Thanks for translating this!

[Skyrius]

English can't be nearly as vague as Japanese. HECK, half the time Japanese can't even be as vague as Japanese. Really, that language is split into multiple pieces, I swear. >_> It either makes perfect sense, or you can interpret it 5 different ways.

[MusicalShape]

That is so true. xD

[cqallenwalker]

Maybe not vague, but english is MUCH harder to learn then japanese.

[hokorichan]

Yeah, tell me about it. for each and every grammar rule in English, there seems to be about twice as many exceptions = =;

[MusicalShape]

This is chilling. I really really love it. *.* Ooooh, it perfectly sums up why Vocaloid is so intriguing....

Btw, we had a big discussion about うたうたい on WordReference forums. The conclusion was, "usually, うたうたい　is a singer." In this context, I think singer does fit a little better, but that's just my two cents. :>

(forum. wordreference com /showthread.php?t=1548905&high­light=singer)

(Pssss, you should consider translating 黒うさP's song. :'D I tried... and failed.)

[hokorichan]

Problem is "Singer" sounds like a person, and it's important to me that it doesn't imply that. I'm not even comfortable with "mechanism" since it usually refers to *physical* structure. But at least I can comfort myself with the fact that the word CAN process/method)

And I'm pretty sure "Singing Mechanism" sounds awful for a song title.

Plus the lyrics plays on "uta wo utau utautai" I figured the more sing/song I can squeeze in the better XD

English, be more VAGUE please?

[hokorichan]

ps. "Singer" would work perfectly for 黒うさP's 'coz while the subject for that song isn't a human (it wasn't even spelled out for that, he can just be immortal), he's certainly physical pretty human-ey.

As for the subject in this song, if it weren't for the last line (I wish I could match the sentence structure to the other line), it wouldn't even be clear if the subject is self-aware/sentient.

(sorry for block of text, this song make me extra frustrated about language differences)

[MusicalShape]

Ahhh, okay! Thanks for explaining that. :D Every time I try to correct you I'm the one who ends up learning something! xD

Can I ask one more question, then? I might be misunderstanding this one too, but...

その日がいつかくるかは知らない

"Will that day someday come? - we don't know"

That seems like it's a question of "if"it will even come at all rather than "when." So I'm a bit confused.

[MusicalShape]

Ohh, and btw, I liked your choice of mechanism.

It doesn't sound physical at all, in context. Not to mention it was just a cool-sounding word to use.

[hokorichan]

You're right to correct me tho, my title is inaccurate, I just chose to lie to make it fit the context, it is, as damesukekun quotes, a case of「翻訳者はウソをつく」

Re: that line, it's a play on word, you probably know the 1st いつかくる「かもしれない」is it *might or might not* come, but いつかくるか「は」しれない puts an emphasis on いつかくる, i.e. "WHEN will it come? we don't know", as in, they think it'll come, it's just a matter of time.

[MusicalShape]

Well, technically/grammatically it could still be うたうたい --> うた「を」　うたい、huh? Just less likely?

Okayyy... the only thing I'm having trouble with is "いつか," which means "someday." I keep thinking it would have to be "いつ" to be "when."

"いつ くる か" --> When will it come?

"いつか くる か"--> Someday, will it come?

Is that still wrong? I actually didn't look over /all/ the lyrics; so I could be missing something.

[hokorichan]

It's hard to explain, just watch out that whenever there's a "は" it's usually a stressed emphasis on something and treat it accordingly.

For more applied example, do a google search on "かはしれない"/"かは知れない" and you'll see it's used when something is already decided, but to what extend/at which date/by whom/etc isn't certain yet.

it's sorta like "saying, we know *A*, but in regards to *something about A*, THAT, we don't know" in English.