アンヘル || Ángel

アンヘル
anheru
Ángel

Vocals: 鳴花ミコト (Meika Mikoto)
Lyrics: かいりきベア (Kairiki Bear)
Composed by: かいりきベア (Kairiki Bear)
Upload date: 30 March 2019

Requested by: taringtajam
Watch the official video on NicoNico!

The title is Spanish for ‘Angel’, and I think it’s safe to say that the angel plays a major role in this song. I think the song is told from the angel’s perspective at some parts, and switches to the people (or person) they are observing at others, which influenced how I approached the translation. It’s an interesting yet inscrutable song, and it would be great to hear what people think of it!

I think the key observation from the angel is that, though humans have limited lifespans, they are happy for as long as they live.

The line breaks aren’t necessarily official – I chose them at parts to make the structure of the lyrics easier to make out. There were some very, very long sentences in the original, especially at the ‘cool’ part where a bunch of images are just listed one after the other.

As a side note, the producer’s name comes from an enemy from Mother 2/Earthbound.

歌詞

ドクドク交わって　たちまちコンニチハ　
あはははは　
たたた誕生日
続々患って　目の縁(ふち) 濡れても幸せです　
生きているなら　ほら！
ケセラ　ケセラ　ケセラ

誰にも頼んだ覚えはなくとも　
あはははは　
産んでもらえて
ジクジク痣になって　抉れ血漏れても幸せです　
生きているから　ほら！
ケセラ　ケセラ　ケセラ　ラララララ

紅く咲いた　功徳(くどく)の刃　
存在の意義を　翳せ　翳せ
従僕の業(カルマ)　囚獄の果てに　
くだらぬ命　紡げ　紡げよ

嗚呼
決壊　シニカルって　１　２　３　
辛いでしょ？必死になって生　生　生　生
切開　ココロ縫って　２　２　３　
ガラクタな未来　照らせ照らせ

目測誤って　たちまちコンニチハ　
あはははは　
膿んで堪えて
泣く泣く躊躇って「生きる」を選べば幸せです　
この世（ここ）は楽園　ほら！
ケセラ　ケセラ　ケセラ　ラララララ

紅く裂いた　背徳の絵画　
存在の義理を　果たせ　果たせ　
従僕の業(カルマ)　冒涜の末に　
僅かな希望(ひかり)求め　求め

嗚呼　
決壊　シニカルって　１　２　３　
辛い裂傷　躍起になって生　生　生　生
失態　泥被って　２　２　３　
空っぽな未来　晒せ　晒せ

嗚呼
決壊　真っ赤な傷　１　２　３　
踏まれたって蹴られたって生　生　生　生
実際　ココロ散って　２　２　３　
ガラクタな自分　隠せ　隠せ

此の灯に万歳三唱　孤独に存在一生　
その苦に異論提唱　御託は論外殺傷
此の身に纏う病状　奈落に惑う表情　
悴む劣化な状況　届かぬ救命損傷

その身で見物万象　皮肉の混在立証　
偽善の横行現象　滅びの生存競争
たかだか人生百年　誰もが辿る終焉　
そのくせ生きる執念　飽くなき矛盾に呆然

欠陥　肢体這って　１　２　３　
辛い惨状　出口すら無い無い無いな
結滞　悪化な心臓　２　２　３　
痛いでしょ？　ほらほら…

嗚呼　
決壊　シニカルって　１　２　３　
辛いでしょ？必死になって生　生　生　生
切開　ココロ縫って　２　２　３　
ガラクタな未来　照らせ照らせ

嗚呼
でっかい真っ赤な×点　１　２　３　
踏まれたって穢れたって生　生　生　生
実際　ココロ散って　２　２　３　
ガラクタな未来　照らせ照らせ　
晒せ　晒せ　壊せ　壊せ

Romanisation

doku doku majiwatte tachimachi konnichiwa
a ha ha ha ha
ta ta ta tanjoubi
zoku zoku wazuratte me no fuchi nuretemo shiawase desu
ikite iru nara hora!
ke sera ke sera ke sera

dare nimo tanonda oboe wa naku tomo
a ha ha ha ha
unde moraete
jiku jiku aza ni natte egure chi moretemo shiawase desu
ikite iru kara hora!
ke sera ke sera ke sera ra ra ra ra ra

akaku saita kudoku no yaiba
sonzai no igi o kazase kazase
juuboku no karuma shuugoku no hate ni
kudaranu inochi tsumuge tsumuge yo

aa
kekkai shinikaru tte 1 2 3
tsurai desho? hisshi ni natte sei sei sei sei
sekkai kokoro nutte 2 2 3
garakuta na mirai terase terase

mokusoku ayamatte tachimachi konnichiwa
a ha ha ha ha
unde taete
naku naku tameratte “ikiru” o erabeba shiawase desu
koko wa rakuen hora!
ke sera ke sera ke sera ra ra ra ra ra

akaku saita haitoku no kaiga
sonzai no giri o hatase hatase
juuboku no karuma boutoku no sue ni
wazuka na hikari motome motome

aa
kekkai shinikaru tte 1 2 3
tsurai resshou yakki ni natte sei sei sei sei
shittai doro kabutte 2 2 3
karappo na mirai sarase sarase

aa
kekkai makka na kizu 1 2 3
fumareta tte kerareta tte sei sei sei sei
jissai kokoro chitte 2 2 3
garakuta na jibun kakuse kakuse

kono hi ni banzai sanshou kodoku ni sonzai isshou
sono ku ni iron teishou gotaku wa rongai sasshou
kono mi ni matou byoujou naraku ni madou hyoujou
kajikamu rekka na joukyou todokanu kyuumei sonshou

sono mi de kenbutsu banshou hiniku no konzai risshou
gizen no oukou genshou horobi no seizon kyousou
taka daka jinsei hyakunen daremo ga tadoru shuuen
sono kuse ikiru shuunen aku naki mujun ni bouzen

kekkan shitai hatte 1 2 3
tsurai sanjou deguchi sura nai nai nai na
kettai akka na shinzou 2 2 3
itai desho? hora hora…

aa
kekkai shinikaru tte 1 2 3
tsurai desho? hisshi ni natte sei sei sei sei
sekkai kokoro nutte 2 2 3
garakuta na mirai terase terase

aa
dekkai makka na batten 1 2 3
fumareta tte kerareta tte sei sei sei sei
jissai kokoro chitte 2 2 3
garakuta na mirai terase terase
sarase sarase kowase kowase

Translation

They came together in a steady stream, and suddenly—hello!
(Ah ha ha ha!)
It’s my b-b-b-birthday.
I suffer from successive illnesses, but though the rims of my eyes get wet, I’m happy
if I’m alive… hey!
Que sera, que sera, que sera.

I don’t remember asking anyone to, but
(Ah ha ah ha!)
they gave birth to me!
I get a seeping bruise and I gouge at it. Blood leaks out, but I’m happy
because I’m alive! Hey!
Que sera, que sera, que sera, ra ra ra ra…

The blade of grace bloomed crimson.
Hold the meaning of existence aloft. Hold it aloft!
This is a manservant’s karma. At the edge of this prison,
Weave together a worthless life. Weave it!

Ah…
Breach. Being cynical is (1, 2, 3)
tough, isn’t it? Live frantically. Live, live, live!
Incision. Stitch your heart together (2, 2, 3)
and illuminate a garbage future. Illuminate it!

My eye measurement’s off. Suddenly—hello!
(Ah ha ha ha)
It festers, and I put up with it.
In tears, I hesitate. If I choose “to live,” I’ll be happy.
This world is a paradise. Come on!
Que sera, que sera, que sera, ra ra ra ra…

The painting of corruption was torn up, turning crimson.
Carry out the duty of existence. Carry it out!
This is a manservant’s karma. Pursue the faint light of hope
at the end of blasphemy. Pursue it!

Ah…
Breach. Being cynical is (1, 2, 3)
a painful laceration. Become desperate and live. Live, live, live!
Fault. Cover yourself in mud (2, 2, 3)
and expose an empty future. Expose it!

Ah…
Breach. Your wounds are deep red (1, 2, 3)
Though you may be trod upon or kicked, live. Live, live, live!
Reality. Your heart scatters (2, 2, 3)
Hide your garbage self. Hide it!

Three cheers to this light. Spend a whole life alone.
Object to that pain. Impertinence leads to unrelated casualties.
The sickness I clad myself in. A countenance puzzled by hell.
A condition of numb deterioration. Unreachable lifesaving injuries.

View all of creation in your body. It’s a demonstration of cynical intermingling.
It’s a phenomenon of hypocrites running rampant. It’s a destructive struggle for existence.
Humans live for at most a century. Everyone will arrive at their demise
and yet, they have the tenacity to live. I’m dumbfounded by this insatiable contradiction.

Defect. Crawling on hands and knees. (1, 2, 3)
It’s a tough, disastrous scene. There isn’t even a way out. It doesn’t exist.
Arrhythmia. Your deteriorating heart (2, 2, 3)
hurts, doesn’t it? Come now…

Ah…
Breach. Being cynical is (1, 2, 3)
tough, isn’t it? Live frantically. Live, live, live!
Incision. Stitch your heart up (2, 2, 3)
and illuminate that garbage future. Illuminate it!

Ah…
That massive X mark is deep red (1, 2, 3)
Though you may be trod upon or corrupted, live. Live, live, live!
Reality. Your heart scatters. (2, 2, 3)
Illuminate a garbage future. Illuminate it!
Expose it! Destroy it!

Posted

31 August 2019

Translations, Vocaloid, 歌詞

Releska

Tags:

かいりきベア

Comments

17 responses to “アンヘル || Ángel”

Dappou

17 September 2020

It’s really called “Angel” bcuz kai is forced to put on a happy/beneficent facade when he is inclined to be neither of those things, and yet he still cares a whole lot abt pleasing people (i mean, as an artist, knowing how to please the crowd is essential to success. So if you were a really dedicated artist like kai, one would have the people-pleasing desire seep elsewhere into one’s life to an absurd degree). He feels trapped in the mask, but he still has to be such a darrrrrling little angel to be accepted. Notice even Mikoto’s pose looks like she’s performing for some1.

The distorted speech that says “shiawase desu”, the latter part of the bridge, etc are voices in kai’s head. In a couple cases it expresses how the collective of society would answer kai’s rational cynicism, e.g. “just be happy just be happy just be happy lol”. But overall the voices are meant to represent demons, in theme with the song. imo, they probably are demons, as best as he can discern them w/o actually believing. That’s neither here nor there tho…

Suggested changes (imo):
“Dokudoku majiwatte, tachimachi konnichiwa” -> “They gush out like pus, rushing to greet me.” (line gives a People Allergy vibe, drastic desire not to interact w/ other people)

“Ta-ta-ta-tanjoubi” -> “Oh it must be my birthday!”

“Zoku zoku wazuratte me no fuchi nuretemo shiawase desu. Ikite iru nara hora!” –>. “I keep getting sick, and tears line the edges of my eyes, and yet, ‘This is happiness!’. But if you’re alive, look at me!” (kai is told he’s supposed to be happy by society’s standards, but he’s dying inside and wishes someone would see through his paper-thin facade of happiness and well-being)

“Que sera, que sera, que sera…” -> “It is what it is, and that’s that…”

“Rararara…” -> “Blah blah blah blah” (“ra” is used as a pluralizing suffix, esp to downplay importance. So it’s saying something like “life’s a bunch of whatever”)

“Juuboku no karuma” -> “A people-pleaser’s karma”. (Like ig “manservant” works too for the metaphor. But this adds clarity to what he’s saying imo)

“Mokusoku ayamatte tachimachi konnichiwa” -> “My eye measurement’s off, and I’m rushed down with unwanted hello!’s”. (The first part you did just fine, I’m just changing the second part for flow value.)

…I’m getting kinda tired atm, will post more suggestions when I can

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1. Releska
  
  17 September 2020
  
  Hi there! Thanks for your comment (^_^) I enjoyed reading your interpretation of the song, I can tell you’ve put a lot of thought into it. I’ll have a think through your suggestions for the translation and leave another comment letting you know which parts I update. In the meanwhile, please feel free to leave another comment with more suggestions!
  
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  1. Dappou boi
    
    19 September 2020
    
    idk if there’s a character limit or what, but I’m not seeing my comments posted. For that reason, here have a GDoc link with what I was gonna say.
    
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E7qsxqTBQtLlCwOw8vdnLYYGIiHcpKrHkHSknKOC0c4/edit?usp=sharing
    
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    1. Releska
      
      19 September 2020
      
      Thanks for the link to the Google doc! It looks like your comment was just caught by WordPress’ overactive spam filter (^_^);
      
      If it happens again, no need to comment multiple times – just leave a shorter comment letting me know you commented and I’ll fish it out.
      
      I’m looking forward to reading through your suggestions and making any changes that need to be made…!
      
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      1. dappou boi
        
        22 September 2020
        
        seems it did actually post, just massively delayed. just scroll down a bit :p
        
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  2. Dappou boi
    
    19 September 2020
    
    (for some reason it won’t let me post this comment, or doesn’t show it. If there are duplicates, just delete them if you’d please lol)
    
    tbh while i did put alot of thought into this, must give credit where it’s due. Learning the ways of God and thus the spiritual underpinnings of this universe made it so that this particular song was right up my alley. Like, I guess you’d call it a spiritual gift, the “discernment of spirits” iirc. Yes it’s something that one gets better at from practicing (and i often see the sprouting seed in other people too, even non-Christians), but it was ultimately given to me from nothing i myself did to earn it. In any case, it makes reading the erm…”zeitgeist” of the song much clearer.
    
    Anyways, enough preaching. Today I did the angel/demon monologues.
    
    Angel Translation Notes
    
    ((Angel’s monologue))
    
    此の灯に万歳三唱
    (This) (light) (towards) (giving up) (three cheers!)
    Three cheers to giving up the light,
    (Banzai has many definitions. Trynna read the spirit via context, I think “giving up” is more appropriate to the “fallen angel” theme. The cynical sarcasm seems to fit, too. Like, I doubt any instance of “three cheers” in kairiki-san’s music would be unironic celebration.)
    
    孤独に存在一生
    (Solitude) (towards) (existence) (lifetime)
    And living my life alone.
    
    その苦に異論提唱
    (That) (suffering) (towards) (objection) (advocate/propose)
    I raise an objection to all this suffering,
    (I imagine this like an angel asking God among the heavenly host, “hey I have a proposal. I object to all this suffering, please make it stop”. The weird wording starts to make sense, like “advocacy” and “objection”. Like phoenix wright, when you choose irrelevant evidence.)
    
    御託は論外殺傷
    (Irrelevant talk) () (wearing) (disease)
    I’m wearing a diseased body,
    (Implies spirit as inhabiting the body, like water in a vase. Body is in bad condition, spirit suffers as a result.)
    
    奈落に惑う表情
    (Hell/eternity) (->) (puzzled/doubtful) (facial expression)
    that puts on a doubtful face regarding eternity.
    (See the second entries for “hell” and “puzzled”. It took me a long time to figure out, but the alt definitions made sense of things. The body won’t live into eternity, though our souls are being grown into that mold so to speak. But in-song, kairiki is talking about his pessimistic denial of eternity being pretty much muscle memory, like the idea that “death = oblivion” is hard-wired into his brain, denying any meaning to everything he loves and cares about.)
    
    “A condition of numb deterioration. Unreachable lifesaving injuries.”
    Good translation, but for extra clarity i’d translate it the following way:
    “This condition of numb deterioration makes my deepest wounds unreachable, so that I can’t heal them to save my life.”
    As always, merely a suggestion.
    
    ((Demon’s monologue))
    
    皮肉の混在立証
    (Distant thing) (position/oneself) (watch) (whole universe)
    See your place in the universe,
    
    皮肉の混在立証
    (Cynicism/irony) (’s) (mixture) (proof/demonstration)
    It’s a demonstration of this mixture of ironies.
    
    偽善の横行現象
    (Hypocrisy) (’s) (prevalence) (phenomenon)
    The phenomenon of hypocrisy’s prevalence,
    
    滅びの生存競争
    (Ruin/destruction) (’s) (existence) (competition)
    It’s like a contest, for the perishing of your existence.
    
    (The 4 lines right after these, you translated very well. Nuff said)
    
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fay

9 September 2019

Thank you so much! (^_^) Kairiki Bear is an incredible lyricist, and you’re always really thorough with your translations, so I’m really glad about this!

I love the stream-of-consciousness feeling that the breakdown has. It has the same themes as the rest of his music (nihilism, hedonism, and self-destruction) which is pretty wild, considering that this song was used for promotion! I was wondering if he was going to tone it down a little, but I feel like he just made the lyrics more complex instead of less graphic, lol.

The imagery of “angels” because it invokes this idea of ascension.

Thanks again! You honestly contribute so much to this fandom. ❤

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1. fay
  
  9 September 2019
  
  *The imagery of “angels” invokes this idea of ascension.
  (typo)
  
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Saryu

5 September 2019

Thanks, I was looking forwards to this translation! The one uploaded on Youtube was pretty hard to understand and apparently innacurate, though the first bit seems to come straight from the original…

I don’t have a definite theory for this song, but I do like one interpretation I read: that it’s about a girl that’s depressed, disabled/chronically ill or both, and how she struggles between instinctively wanting to live and feeling like all that awaits her is more pain. So all the fake cheeriness is her trying to convince herself that she’s actually really glad to be alive and that everything will be great from here on. The angel is the girl herself and represents her connection with death (either through suicidal thoughts and maybe self-harm or from her illness shortening her lifespan). The one thing it’s missing is an explanation for the changes in expression and eye color through the video.

Did you see my comment in the My Beloved Flower is Cheerful post, about shiawase changing to tsurai at one point? Another interesting thing I noticed in the PV is how just before the second que sera, shiawase is written in katakana. I’m reminded of Falling-Apart Heart, in which it’s spelled the same way at first and then as 死合わせ. I wonder if it’s the same idea at play there.

As an aside, the popularity of “que sera sera” vaguely annoys me, since it’s so close to being proper Spanish but they always drop the article that makes it into a coherent sentence. I do think that it’s more phonetically pleasing that way, because then you only have two different vowels instead of three, but it’s still a bit irritating that the one “cool” phrase that got picked up by foreigners got chopped up.

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Tempera

3 September 2019

I agree with your intepretation! The angel is observing and commenting on human life. I think in the parts about happiness, they’re trying to see the humans’ perspective. However, the angel is extremely cynical about human existence and is appalled by the humans’ que sera, sera attitude. I watched the video a lot, which directly affects my interpretation. Fun fact: this was a demo song for the Vocaloid, Meika Mikoto (the character in the video and whose depiction seems to be a stand in for the angel). I’ll just refer to Mikoto’s depiction as the angel.

The angel has a few different expressions in the video. I interpret the first expression (seen in the beginning of the video) as neutral/curious, related to the angel’s initial observation of humans. Later, the facial expression changes to a smile around 1:05. Perhaps the angel is amused and entertained by what they perceive as the humans’ futility. Around 1:55, the angel audibly and visibly laughs, hinting at their true nature. To me, the laugh signals the change in tone. The lyrics sound very cynical and sarcastic, almost as if the angel is mocking the humans. At about 3:05, we can see very briefly their happy(?) face. The angel’s horns have been visible the entire video, but from this point on, the halo disappears… This leads me to believe that maybe we’ve actually been dealing with a false angel all along…

Are the numbers (123 and 223) sound alikes for other words? Since they’ve been repeated many times, I wonder if they’re significant in some way.

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1. releska
  
  3 September 2019
  
  Thanks for your comment and for your detailed interpretation! (^_^)
  
  Unfortunately I don’t know for sure if the numbers are sound alikes for other words. I definitely haven’t encountered anything in the past, but it may exist. The closest thing I can think of is counting in music. If there are three beats in a bar, you count the first bar “1, 2, 3” then the second is “2, 2, 3” then “3, 2, 3” and so on. It may not be related but that’s all I could think of.
  
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  1. Arthur
    
    23 May 2023
    
    I don’t feel like it’s literally about an angel, the song seems to be about pushing yourself to be positive despite pain and misery the speaker seems to be in. Something more like struggling to be positive among the people who rush in and trying to assure oneself that you’ll be happy eventually if you just continue acting happy, despite the future seeming empty.
    
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2. Tempera
  
  4 September 2019
  
  I was wondering about their significance because in another of Kairiki Bear’s songs, 613 is read as 無意味 (see https://vocaloidlyrics.fandom.com/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%83%9F%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%9F%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0_(Lemming_Ming) ). I scanned through their other songs and they don’t seem to really do this often. I guess Kairiki Bear just might have liked the sound of the numbers or it just might be random then. I’ve noticed that lyrics for some songs (regardless of artist) have certain words written down, but different words are sung or in the furigana. I’m not sure how common this double reading is.
  
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raineydayparade

1 September 2019

Kairiki Bear has an interesting style, love the new meika siblings(?) too

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1. releska
  
  2 September 2019
  
  It’s a very interesting style! I love the new vocalods as well, some of those effects (like the breath) are really effective and life-like!
  
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taringtajam

31 August 2019

yes! it’s here, finally.
thanks, releska! ^^
you made my day

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1. releska
  
  31 August 2019
  
  You’re welcome! It ended up being quite a tough song, but there’s a very deep story behind it which made it all worthwhile!
  
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