イロハニ文明開化
Irohani Bunmei Kaika
Irohani Westernisation
Vocals: 鏡音リン (Kagamine Rin)
Lyrics: カラスヤサボウ (Karasu Yasabou)
Composed by: カラスヤサボウ (Karasu Yasabou)
Album: 文学少女インセイン (Insane Literature Girl)
Original upload date: 27 April 2013
Requested by: Saryu
Update (26 November 2023): I retranslated this track based on the official lyrics. Thank you Saryu for providing them!
This track is set during the Westernisation movement that took place during the Meiji era (1868-1912), which actually wasn’t very long ago!
Irohani (イロハニ) is the first four syllables of the ‘Iroha’ poem for remembering the Japanese hiragana. There’s a choice to ‘translate’ it as ABCs, but I feel like ‘Irohani’ might have been intended so I left it as it is.
歌詞
何処から何時から話はおかしくなっていた?
てにをは合わずの言葉が虚ろに舞っていた
塞いだ耳でも確かに聞こえた
「世界は間違いだらけさ」
–どうしようか、ねぇ?
何処から何時から話はおかしくなっていた?
てにをは合わずの言葉が虚ろに舞っていた
「歪んだ景色は誰かが嘯く現実さ
正して見せてよあなたの描く通り」
ヒトヨヒトヨニ人は誰も
気づかずに目を閉じたまま
ヒトナミニ溺れそうな毎日に
何も感じなくなる前に
散切り頭を叩いて割れ線を踏み越えて
紋切り型の時代に放て閃光弾
間違いだらけの世界が回りだすその前に
文明開化の音を鳴らせ
–少年少女よ さぁ、時は来た
ヒトヨヒトヨニ人は誰も
気づかずに目を閉じたまま
ヒトナミニ溺れそうな毎日に
何も感じなくなる前に
散切り頭を叩いて割れ線を踏み越えて
紋切り型の時代に放て閃光弾
最後通牒つきつけられた世界の前で
文明開化の音を鳴らせ
喧騒さえも飲み込んで
散切り頭を叩いて割れ線を踏み越えて
紋切り型の時代に放て閃光弾
間違いだらけの世界が回りだすその前に
文明開化の音を鳴らせ
–少年少女よ さぁ、時は来た
Romanisation
doko kara itsu kara hanashi wa okashiku natte ita?
te ni o ha awazu no kotoba ga utsuro ni matte ita
fusaida mimi demo tashika ni kikoeta
“sekai wa machigai darake sa”
–dou shiyou ka, nee?
doko kara itsu kara hanashi wa okashiku natte ita?
te ni o ha awazu no kotoba ga utsuro ni matte ita
“yuganda keshiki wa dareka ga usobuku genjitsu sa
tadashite misete yo anata no egaku toori”
hitoyo hitoyo ni hito wa daremo
kidzukazu ni me o tojita mama
hitonami ni oboresou na mainichi ni
nani mo kanjinaku naru mae ni
zangiri atama o tataite waresen o fumikoete
monkirigata no jidai ni hanate senkou-dan
machigai darake no sekai ga mawaridasu sono mae ni
bunmei kaika no oto o narase
–shounen shoujo yo saa, toki wa kita
hitoyo hitoyo ni hito wa daremo
kidzukazu ni me o tojita mama
hitonami ni oboresou na mainichi ni
nani mo kanjinaku naru mae ni
zangiri atama o tataite waresen o fumikoete
monkirigata no jidai ni hanate senkou-dan
saigo tsuuchou tsukitsukerareta sekai no mae de
bunmei kaika no oto o narase
kensou sae mo nomikonde
zangiri atama o tataite waresen o fumikoete
monkirigata no jidai ni hanate senkou-dan
machigai darake no sekai ga mawaridasu sono mae ni
bunmei kaika no oto o narase
–shounen shoujo yo saa, toki wa kita
Translation
Where and when did this story start getting so strange?
Words with mismatching particles were dancing vacantly.
Even with my ears blocked, I could hear them.
“This world’s full of mistakes.”
And what are we gonna do about it, huh?
Where and when did this story start getting so strange?
Words with mismatching particles were dancing vacantly.
“This warped scene is the same reality someone boasts about.
Go on, fix it up for me. Make it how you imagine it.
All night, all night long, everyone stays
with their eyes shut, unawares.1
They live their days close to drowning in sea of people
before becoming numb to everything.
Come on, rap your cropped head and step across the dotted line.2
Fire flash bombs into a formulaic era.
Before this world full of mistakes starts turning
let off the sounds of Westernisation.
Boys and girls, the time has come.
All night, all night long, everyone stays
with their eyes shut, unawares.
They live their days close to drowning in sea of people
before becoming numb to everything.
Come on, rap your cropped head and step across the dotted line.
Fire flash bombs into a formulaic era.
An ultimatum has been thrust at this world.
Let off the sounds of Westernisation before it.
Even the crowds will catch on to it.
Come on, rap your cropped head and step across the dotted line. (1)
Fire flash bombs into a formulaic era.
Before this world full of mistakes starts turning
let off the sounds of Westernisation.
Boys and girls, the time has come.
- The first portion of this line (ヒトヨヒトヨニ人, hitoyo hitoyo ni hito) may be a reference to 一夜一夜に人見ごろ (hitoyo hitoyo ni hito migoro), a mnemonic used to remember the square root of 2. ↩︎
- This section is a play on a song/phrase that was popular in the Meiji era (散切り頭を叩いてみれば文明開化の音がする – ‘When you rap your cropped head, it will make the sound of the Meiji Westernisation’). Everyone was cutting their topknots at this time, which is why ‘cropped head’ is referenced. ↩︎
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