English Translation of ミラーチューン (Mirror Tune) - ZUTOMAYO

Music

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Lyrics

English Lyrics

3,2,1 mirror tune~ mirror tune~ mirror tune~

The knowledge to go compete
and to not lose makes me tremble
The conflict is still repeating
Tell me more
about the ambiguous unknowns
that I am fighting
When will my solo dominance start?
Although it is unrefined
cunningness rather than consideration
is what I want to trust
in many of the unfinished scenarios

Of course problems are piled up
yet I want to go home and quickly sleep
When I can’t go anywhere
and even late at night
the mystical mirror tune always keep shinning yey

Without you it will not start
Lets connect and laugh in preparation
Any adversity after all had been concluded
Because I am stubborn
Bothersome ☆ looks bad to give up
I still want to try repeatedly and humbly yey
It won’t be stopped! My heart will not tremble

Hey, hey! Please take initiative for our enjoyment
Throbbing feeling that is good for both of us
Lets go to choose a more bright condition
that I want to keep putting effort on
A full power transformation mode in clear spectacle
It will surely exceed the longing of
the diskette that I have listened so many times
Lets prioritize the more heart-pounding way!
Given that it will have an end

Of course I will not leave
yet I still want to be loved
Even if I my spirit is dangerously mischievous
and my conviction is dubious
That is the dream of space tune ~ ///

Without you it will not start
Lets connect and laugh in preparation
Any adversity after all had been concluded
Because I am stubborn
Bothersome ☆ looks bad to give up
I still want to try repeatedly and humbly yey
It won’t be stopped! My heart will not tremble

The distance to the enchanting moon is harmful
Unxeplored world like the regrettable fear of bittersweet connection
is full of contradiction and instability
I am pretending to be fine…. ye ye ye yey

Without you it will not start
Lets sing SERIOUSLY for you
Any adversity after all will pass in the blink of an eye
Because I am stubborn
Bothersome ☆ looks bad to give up
I still want to do the quarter-final yey
It won’t be tainted! My heart that will not tremble

Japanese Lyrics

3,2,1 mirror tune~ mirror tune~ mirror tune~

抗い競り合い負けないよう
知識が僕を震わせる
葛藤リピートしている
もっと教えてくれ
有耶無耶な未知数
戦ってくもの
いつからだろう独壇
思いやりよりずる賢さなんて
品がないし
うんと やり切れない場面で
僕が 信じていたいもの

もちろん問題は山積みですが
帰ってすぐ眠たいし
何処へも行けないこんな
夜更けも ずっと光り続けてる
神秘的なミラーチューン yey

君がいなきゃ はじまんない
繋ぐぜ 笑っとく
どんな逆境だって煮詰まった
頑固な 僕だって
めんどくさい☆諦め悪いみたい
まだ重々謙遜したい yey
止まらないよ心臓 揺るがないんだ

ねね 楽しめる主導権 握らせて
情緒 高鳴る お互いに良き条件
もう明るい関係選んでゆくんだ
費やしてたいもの
変身モード全開でクリアな情景
聴き倒したディスケット
憧れはきっと超えてくもの　モット
ドキドキするほう優先しようよ
かぎりがあるもの

もちろん引き下がりはしないですが
好きになってはもらいたいし
心意気やんちゃで危なっかしいけど
確信に疑えてる
それは夢のspace tune ~ ///

君がいなきゃ はじまんない
繋ぐぜ 笑っとく
どんな逆境だって煮詰まった
頑固な 僕だって
めんどくさい☆諦め悪いみたい
まだ重々謙遜したい yey
止まらないよ心臓 揺るがないんだ

とろけそうな月の狭間 毒だ
甘酸っぱい絆を恐れてしまうような
未開拓な世界は 矛盾で不安定で
カラ元気だよ。。。。ye ye ye yey

君がいなきゃ はじまんない
歌うぜ GACHIフォー・ユー
どんな逆境だってあっちゅう間だ
頑固な 僕だって
めんどくさい☆諦め悪いみたい
まだ準々決勝したい yey
染まらないよ心臓 揺るがないんだ

Translation Notes

TL;DR

A love song telling the story about someone inexperienced who is wanting to get closer to his crush.

Nuance

The singer of this song 「僕(boku)」 dedicate this song to the other person 「君(kimi)」 whom they have fallen in love and want to connect. The song has unique rhythm due to the use of a lot of unconventional instruments and sampling technique. Lyrics of this song rhyme really well, however beyond that aspect, the lyrics also contains a lot of subtle hints about what our protagonist wants the other person to realize.

In the first part of the song, the singer describes how he is currently facing a lot of competitors that he is afraid of losing. He is aware that the challenge that he is facing has been going on for a while. However, the singer is not sure what he is currently facing and had to rely on his intuition, even if he has to use some tricks out of his sleeves. The competitors in this song is expressed more abstractly and based on how our protagonist hopes and thinks that the girl can help him, they can be broadly interpreted as the challenge of getting to know someone else.

In the second part, the singer tells how his problems are piling up but he wants to avoid dealing with them. In his depressed state, he found the mirror tune that keeps shinning. The song use mirror tune to express the version of the girl that our singer currently see. This concept of mirror and its reflection was also discussed heavily in ZUTOMAYO earlier song MILABO. In MILABO, the mirror ball indiscriminately reflects both the singer and the person for which the song was dedicated to, acting as a window to one’s heart. In this song, the singer does not know fully who the girl is and had only been able to listen to her through the mirrored tune.

The refrain of this song captures what can be described as the singer determination to pursue the girl. The song turns from a depressed discussion about the singer challenges pursuing the girl, into a more direct request from him to the girl. Our protagonist confidently says that he will be able to resolve all of the competitions in order to get closer with her. However, even so, he realize that it will still be a challenge and realistically trembling.

In the third part, the singer tries to appeal more directly to the girl. He is hoping that he can know her better in a process that is mutually beneficial for both of them. The protagonist is willing to put effort on and to even transform for that connection. The end of this part shows how our singer acknowledges that there is a limit on how long the relationship will be and urging them to be more pro-active.

In the fourth part, the singer expresses the challenges that could come up given his personal nature. Although the protagonist is persistent and knows his shortfalls, he still wants to be loved back by the girl.

In the fifth part following the second refrain, the singer reiterates how is the current condition of their relationship. He realized that there is no reason for him to be afraid of trying. This is finally reflected in the modified refrain which is written in more cheerful and direct tone. He is no longer afraid to say that the issues are evil and the progress is still long. Despite all of that, he is enjoying the current progression.

Translation details

First part

• 抗い競り合い負けないよう
  知識が僕を震わせる
  葛藤リピートしている

  The knowledge to go compete and to not lose makes me tremble. The conflict is still repeating.

  抗う (araga-u):to go against, to fight against, to oppose, to resist, to deny
  競り合い (se-ri-a-i): competition
  葛藤 (kat-tou): conflict, complication, troubles, discord

  Even in the first sentence of the song there are some hidden meaning behind the word choices. 抗うつ剤 (kou-u-tsu-zai) is antidepressant, a drug that you take when you’re being mentally depressed. 小競り合い (ko-se-ri-a-i) is typically used for small scale military battle or skirmish. Just from these two dictions, we can already see how serious the singer sees the problem and how he is being depressed due to those skirmishes. 葛藤 (kat-tou) can either be translated as a quarell between two persons (usually children and parents) or a conflict in someone heart due to the existence of opposite motives. The second interpretation is more appropriate as it strengthened the notion that the problem comes from our protagonist’s conflicting ideas.

• もっと教えてくれ
  有耶無耶な未知数
  戦ってくもの

  Tell me more about the ambiguous unknowns that I am fighting.

  有耶無耶 (u-ya-mu-ya): indefinite, hazy, vague, unsettled, undecided
  未知数 (mi-chi-suu): unknown, variable (like in math)

  In this sentence shows how our singer is pledging his beloved to tell him more about what he is actually facing. Both 「有耶無耶」 (u-ya-mu-ya) and 「未知数」 (mi-chi-suu) indicates something that is mysterious and hard to measure.

• いつからだろう独壇

  When will my solo dominance start?

  独壇場 (doku-dan-jou) : field in which one acts unchallenged, unrivaled sphere of activity (unrivalled), one’s monopoly​

  In this sentence, the protagonist is asking a rhetorical question when will he be able to dominate and triumph over the competitors. 「壇場」 (dan-jou) is a stage and highlights how he wants to be seen. However, the omittance of 場 (jou) part of the word indicates instead of actual physical place, he wants the stage to be more of the one in the heart.

• 思いやりよりずる賢さなんて
  品がないし
  うんと やり切れない場面で
  僕が 信じていたいもの

  Although it is unrefined, cunningness rather than consideration is what I want to trust in many of the unfinished scenarios.

  ずる 「狡」 (zuru): cunning deed, sly trick, foul play
  賢さ (kashiko-sa): wiseness, cleverness, smartness
  品がない (hin-ga-na-i): unrefined, mean, vulgar, bad taste, lacking style
  うんと (u-n-to) : a great deal, very much, a lot​, with a great amount of effort
  やり切れない (ya-ri-ki-re-na-i) : unable to finish (on time, etc.), unbearable, intolerable, beyond endurance, too much

  In this sentence, the singer is admitting how he does not have much experience about the issue. The use of 「～し」(shi) in the end of the phrase can also be interpreted as his doubt whether he is inexperienced enough or not. He felt that there are many times when the issue could not been resolved even after he had to rely on trickeries 「ずる賢さ」 (zu-ru-kashiko-sa) as opposed to the true cleverness 「本当の賢さ」 (hon-tou-no-kashiko-sa) rather than trying to be considerate, which frustrates him.

Second part

• もちろん問題は山積みですが
  帰ってすぐ眠たいし

  Of course problems are piled up, yet I want to go home and quickly sleep.

  山積み (yama-dzu-mi) : huge mound, heap, pile

  This sentence is pretty straight forward expression of admitting problems that are piling up like a mountain 「山」 (ya-ma), yet our singer just want to ignore it by going to bed straight after he arrived at home. Again here the sentence ending with 「～し」(shi) highlights how our singer is still not sure whether he truly wants to ignore the problems.

• 何処へも行けないこんな
  夜更けも ずっと光り続けてる
  神秘的なミラーチューン yey

  When I can’t go anywhere and even late at night, the mystical mirror tune always keep shinning, yey!

  神秘的 (shin-pi-teki) : mysterious, mystical

  This sentence is also pretty straight forward expression, highlighting how the mirror tune keeps guiding him even in his darkest time. The notion of mysterious written in 「神秘的」 (shin-pi-teki) shows how he feels the girl that he wants to get close with is still unreachable. The “yey” at the end is used to change the tone of this song from introspective to more active.

Refrain

• 君がいなきゃ はじまんない
  繋ぐぜ 笑っとく
  どんな逆境だって煮詰まった

  Without you it will not start. Lets connect and laugh in preparation. Any adversity after all had been concluded.

  繋ぐ (tsuna-gu) : to connect, to link together, to tie, to maintain
  逆境 (gyak-kyou) : adversity
  煮詰まる (ni-tsu-ma-ru) : to be boiled down, to come to a standstill, to reach a conclusion

  While the first two sentences are pretty straight forward, the grammar choices are interesting. 「笑っとく」 (wara-tto-ku) is a contraction of 「～ておく」 (te-o-ku) form which means doing something in preparation of other things in the future. But laughing is not something that you usually have to do before doing something. Right before this, the protagonist asks the girl to connect or in other words be in a relationship. The following phrase shows how he wants the process going to there to be filled with laughter. In the following sentence, our singer states that all of the adversity between them had been concluded even though in the first two parts of the song he is worried about the challenges of getting to know the girl.

• 頑固な 僕だって
  めんどくさい☆諦め悪いみたい
  まだ重々謙遜したい yey

  Because I am stubborn, bothersome ☆ looks bad to give up. I still want to try repeatedly and humbly yey.

  めんどくさい (me-n-do-ku-sa-i) : bothersome, tiresome
  重々 (juu-juu) : repeatedly, over and over again
  謙遜 (ken-son) : modesty, humility, being humble

  These sentences explain the contradiction in the previous sentence. The singer is confident on his resilience and his hard headedness and is not afraid to keep approaching the girl. For him, it is bad to give up on the approach even though sometimes in can be tiresome for him to do so.

• 止まらないよ心臓 揺るがないんだ

  It won’t be stopped! My heart will not tremble.

  心臓 (shin-zou) : heart, guts, nerve

  The singer expresses his confidence that his heart will not stop throbbing from excitement getting close to the girl as indicated by the use of 「～よ」 (yo). However, while saying that he will not be afraid and trembling, he use the ending 「～んだ」(n-da) indicating that he is actually unsure about it.

Part three

• ねね 楽しめる主導権 握らせて
  情緒 高鳴る お互いに良き条件

  Hey, hey! Please take initiative for our enjoyment. Throbbing feeling that is good for both of us.

  主導権を握る (shu-dou-ken-wo-nigi-ru) : to seize the initiative
  情緒 (jou-cho) : emotion, feeling, amotsphere, spirit
  高鳴る (taka-na-ru) : to throb, to beat fast
  良き条件 (yo-ki-jou-ken) : good condition

  In these sentences, the singer tries to speak in more formal and polite way giving the nuance of more serious proposal. The use of a formal colloquialism 「主導権を握る」 (shu-dou-ken-wo-nigi-ru) as well as archaic form of conjugation 「良き」 (yo-ki) instead of 「良い」 (yo-i) matches with the use of other polite form putting the girl in more higher position.

• もう明るい関係選んでゆくんだ
  費やしてたいもの

  Lets go to choose a more bright condition, that I want to keep putting effort on.

  費やす (tsui-ya-su) : to spend, to expend, to consume, to devote

  This sentence now takes a more informal approach of proposition, hoping that both of them can progress in more cheerful way. The use of 「費やす」 (tsui-ya-su) again highlights the devotion of our protagonist.

• 変身モード全開でクリアな情景
  聴き倒したディスケット
  憧れはきっと超えてくもの

  A full power transformation mode in clear spectacle. It will surely exceed the longing of the diskette that I have listened so many times.

  聴き倒す (ki-ki-tao-shi-ta) : (informal) have listened so many times

  These two sentences carries information about the future that our protagonist is aiming for. In the first sentence, the protagonist show that he is willing to show clearly his fully-committed metamorphosis to the girl. This change is perhaps needed to achieve what he wants in the future. He is so sure on how much he want the future to happen that is even more than how much he likes listening to his favorite songs. In the spirit of retro theme in the song, ZUTOMAYO uses diskette as the media storage of choice.

• モット ドキドキするほう優先しようよ
  かぎりがあるもの

  Lets prioritize the more heart-pounding way! Given that it will have an end.

  優先 (yuu-sen) : preference, priority
  かぎり (ka-gi-ri) : limit, bound, end

  Typical ballad songs usually preach the concept of forever love which unfortunately implies the lack of urgency. By acknowledging that there is a limit on how long a relationship can last, either through the end of life or fallen out feeling, our protagonist urges the girl to act as soon as possible.

Part four

• もちろん引き下がりはしないですが
  好きになってはもらいたいし
  心意気やんちゃで危なっかしいけど
  確信に疑えてる
  それは夢のspace tune ~ ///

  Of course I will not leave, yet I still want to be loved. Even if I my spirit is dangerously mischievous and my conviction is dubious. That is the dream of space tune. ~ ///

  引き下がり (hi-ki-sa-ga-ri) : to withdraw, to back down, to give up
  心意気 (kokoro-i-ki) : spirit, disposition
  やんちゃ (ya-n-cha) : naughty, mischievous
  危なっかしい (abu-na-kka-shi-i) : dangerous, unreliable

  These sentences convey the feeling of doubt from the singer. Even though he is certain that he will not back out of approaching the girl, he still wants the girl to love him back. There are a lot of doubt expressed in the sentence structure as well as indicated by the usage of three contrasting transitional grammar: 「～が」 (ga), 「～けど」(ke-do), and 「～し」 (shi). 「危なっかしい」 (abu-na-kka-shi-i) when used with 「やんちゃ」 (ya-n-cha) can be interpreted as someone who is not aware of the danger caused by their naughty acts. The first hit in Google when I was writing this return a video of cat who is trapped on a floating platform surrounded by water. Here the use of space instead of the titular mirror illustrate how far and mysterious is the girl and the future for both of them.

Part five

• とろけそうな月の狭間 毒だ

  The distance to the enchanting moon is harmful.

  とろける (to-ro-ke-ru) : to melt, to be fascinated by, to be enchanted by
  狭間 (haza-ma) : interval, space 毒 (doku) : poison, harm, evil influence, malice

  In this sentence, the moon 「月」 (tsuki) is used as a common representation of the love. The singer is aware that the distance between him and his lover is dangerous for its progress similar to the poison 「毒」 (doku).

• 甘酸っぱい絆を恐れてしまうような
  未開拓な世界は 矛盾で不安定で

  Unxeplored world like the regrettable fear of bittersweet connection is full of contradiction and instability.

  甘酸っぱい (ama-zu-ppa-i) : bittersweet
  絆 (kizuna) : bonds, emotional ties, relationship, connection
  恐れる (oso-re-ru) : to be afraid of
  未開拓 (mi-kai-taku) : undeveloped, unexplored, wild
  矛盾 (mu-jun) : contradiction
  不安定 (fu-an-tei) : instability

  In this long sentence, the singer tries to convey his fear of creating bittersweet memory of rejection. However, on the other hand the future is still uncertain thus he regrets the fear as indicated by the grammatical form of 「～てしまう」 (te-shi-ma-u). He also knows that world will be full of contradiction and instability as he acknowledges that there is no certain future.

• カラ元気だよ。。。。ye ye ye yey

  I am pretending to be fine…. ye ye ye yey

  カラ元気 (ka-ra-gen-ki) : putting on a brave face, pretending one is fine

  Here the singer tries to ironically lighten up the depressing tones that the song is progress to.

Modified Refrain

• 歌うぜ GACHIフォー・ユー

  Lets sing SERIOUSLY for you.

  GACHI : serious, earnest, honest, real

  In the last part of the song, the singer tries to lighten up the mood to live more in the moment. Instead of asking to get closer like in the refrain, he is now using a more colloquial term of GACHI and for you written in kana.

• どんな逆境だってあっちゅう間だ

  Any adversity after all will pass in the blink of an eye

  あっちゅう間 (a-cchu-u-ma) : dialect expression of 「あっという間」 (a-tto-i-u-ma) meaning in an instant

  The change from boiling down adversity to in an instant has additional meaning. The dialect form chosen is in homophone with 「悪魔」 (aku-ma) meaning demon or devil, comparing the adversity to the evil being.

• まだ準々決勝したい yey

  I still want to do the quarter-final yey.

  準々決勝 (jun-jun-kes-shou) : quarterfinal

  Here quarterfinal can be interpreted as there are still several steps before he can win. Assuming that the final is marriage and the semifinal is dating relationship, our protagonist is still wanting to enjoy the process of getting to know each other and not wanting to rush it.

• 染まらないよ心臓 揺るがないんだ

  It won’t be tainted! My heart that will not tremble.

  染まる (so-ma-ru) : to be dyed, to be tainted, to be stained

  The word 「染まる」 (so-ma-ru) in the context of heart is common in several other ballads. But instead of wanting to be dyed by the other person color or personality, the singer wants to still keep showing his pure untainted heart.

Final words

Despite being out for more than a month by the time of this writing, the available translations to English does not capture any of the subtlety of the lyrics making them incomprehensible. It was so much fun trying to understand this song as a way to learn Japanese. Given that I am still so far away from the level of literary fluency reflected in this song, there will be a lot of misinterpretation and just straight up translation mistakes. As such, please leave a comment if you think so!

Perhaps some time in the future when I look back at this writing, there will be much more things that I can add. Perhaps when I finally collect my motivations to learn bass, I can cover this song. And perhaps both the protagonist and I can see the real ones beyond the mirrors.

In my next Japanese article, I will try to analyze my favorite ZUTOMAYO song: 「勘冴えて悔しいわ」(Kan Saete Kuyashii wa). The widely available English translations of the lyrics have already captured a good deal of the nuance.