ありきたりな脳髄よ、今宵の月と踊れ || O, Ordinary Brain! Dance With Tonight’s Moon

ありきたりな脳髄よ、今宵の月と踊れ
arikitari na nouzui yo, koyoi no tsuki to odore
O, Ordinary Brain! Dance With Tonight’s Moon

Vocals: ランコ (Ranko)
Lyrics: ランコ (Ranko)
Arranged by: コンプ (Comp)
Album: ありきたりな脳髄よ、今宵の月と踊れ (O, Ordinary Brain! Dance with Tonight’s Moon)
Circle: 豚乙女 (BUTAOTOME)
Event: C87
Original theme: Faith is for the Transient People [信仰は儚き人間の為に]

This closely matches the ending of the visual novel found on this album’s website. Basically, Sanae has to make the choice between staying in this world, or crossing over into Gensokyo. She makes her decision in this song…

But (going off on a bit of a tangent), I just realised that it probably seems strange that I translated the title with an exclamation mark in place of a comma. It’s weird to think that punctuation can be translated, but that’s kind of what I did there. When reading the original title, the よ (‘yo’) before the comma has a very… sentence-ending feel to it – I felt that keeping the comma in wouldn’t bring across the same poetic sense, so I replaced it with an exclamation mark. That’s… probably why I use so many different punctuation marks when I translate things (especially the ellipsis … at the ends of sentences).

By the way, the word ‘kotodama’ appears in the song. It literally means ‘the spirit of language,’ but I left it untranslated this time to respect its religious and cultural origins. If you’d like to learn more, have a look at this page.

歌詞

始まりはどこにあったのか
結び目は解かれてしまった
もしかしてこんな日がくると
どこかでは分かってたのかもね

平凡な日々は
絵に描いたニセモノ
裏側に潜む大きな影

視えないもの視たくないの
真実は一つだけじゃない
あちらだってこちらだって
信じれば現実になるの
未来はこの手の中

大好きな世界にさよなら
友達と自分にも別れを
天頂に壮大な月が
押しつぶすように輝いてる

願いごと唱えて
こじ開けた空は
意地悪く冷たくただ過ぎる

言霊以て神に問うた
戻らない普通を抱いて
懐かしさに蛇と蛙
自分が分からなくたって
心の声従う

遥かな彼方に視ゆ
自分に手を伸ばして

視えないもの視たくないの
真実は一つだけじゃない
あちらだってこちらだって
信じれば現実になるの
未来はこの手の中

Romanisation

hajimari wa doko ni atta no ka
musubime wa hodokarete shimatta
moshikashite konna hi ga kuru to
dokoka de wa wakatteta no kamo ne

heibon na hibi wa
e ni kaita nisemono
uragawa ni hisomu ookina kage

mienai mono mitakunai no
shinjitsu wa hitotsu dake ja nai
achira datte kochira datte
shinjireba genjitsu ni naru no
mirai wa kono te no naka

daisuki na sekai ni sayonara
tomodachi to jibun ni mo wakare wo
tenchou ni soudai na tsuki ga
oshitsubusu you ni kagayaiteru

negaigoto tonaete
kojiaketa kuu wa
ijiwaruku tsumetaku tada sugiru

kotodama motte kami ni touta
modoranai futsuu wo daite
natsukashisa ni hebi to kaeru
jibun ga wakaranaku tatte
kokoro no koe shitagau

haruka na kanata ni miyu
jibun ni te wo nobashite

mienai mono mitakunai no
shinjitsu wa hitotsu dake ja nai
achira datte kochira datte
shinjireba genjitsu ni naru no
mirai wa kono te no naka

Translation

Where did it all begin?
That knot ended up being untied.
To think that such a day would come…
I suppose I knew it would happen, somewhere.

Those ordinary days
Were an imitation, painted on canvas.
A large shadow is hidden on the other side…

I don’t want to see things that can’t be seen.
There isn’t just one truth…
Whether it’s ‘here’ or ‘there,’
If I believe, it will become reality.
The future is in the palm of my hand…

I say goodbye to the world I love.
I part from my friends, and myself, too…
The splendid moon, at its zenith,
Shines, as if it has been flattened.

I recite all of my wishes.
That wrenched-open void is wicked and cold;
Still, I pass through it…

Through kotodama, I questioned the Gods.
I embraced the ‘ordinary,’ which would not return.
Within my nostalgia lies a snake and a frog.
Even if I no longer understand myself,
I obey the voice of my heart.

I can see you, far away in the distance.
You reach your hand out to me…