On the street corner where I sent it out, eyes averted,
Don’t you think I’m tired of waiting
For the news that I don’t expect will arrive?
At the usual words of parting
I’m the only one who’s saying, don’t use “goodbye”
Look, the flowers are blooming again this year
And another, yet another heart goes on withering ²
See, when spring comes back, I’m sure they’ll be blooming, their smiles unchanged
Although “goodbye” was probably, surely something I should have understood
I’m sorry…
Please, God, I’m praying for the planted seed
To melt with you
When the meltwater disappears, this body of mine will wither
hold me h—hold me hold me hold me ³
Even if that red letter were to reach me now, in my heart is a downpour ⁴
Without going back, my breath quietly stills, and I close my eyelids
.
NOTES / INTERPRETATION:
oo1. The title of the song has two potential meanings. The word MEROU is a loanword, and could mean either the adjective mellow, or merrow, a merperson from Irish folklore. After considering the lyrics, I decided to go with the latter for the translation. Show has been known to include references to folklore and fantasy in the lyrics, and even on this single alone, 1 Monme of Magnificence makes use of lines from a children’s folk song. It is said that with a special cap, merrows were able to come ashore, some even wedding humans and having children with them. I’ve considered these lyrics like a contemporary retelling of the merrow myth, replete with references to water, in which a merrow has come ashore, become pregnant, and then been left by the person who impregnated her. You get the sense that the speaker in the lyrics (the pronoun used is a feminine one) understood that the relationship would not continue, kept hoping for a reply anyway, sought comfort anywhere she could, and then, finally, ended her own life (“without going back” to the sea). We get the sense that the pregnancy was unwanted, but it is unclear whether that was also the cause for being left.
Though in the traditional Irish folklore, Merrow-men were not really thought to come up on land, another potential interpretation of this is that, the person who the speaker is trying to get in touch with is a Merrow-man who was with her for a short time, impregnated her, and then returned to the sea after saying goodbye. Her letters, of course, would then never be able to reach him.
For all the interesting wordplay and potential nod to Irish folklore in these lyrics, the story it depicts is heartbreaking, no matter which way you choose to read it.
oo2. In this line, Show is comparing hearts to flowers fairly directly with the vocabulary being used, but in English there is no direct way to translate that comparison (except with the inference you might make through “heart/withering”). Essentially, one of the kanji used in the phrase “another heart” is the kanji normally used to ‘count’ flowers in Japanese.
oo3. This line of “hold me” repetition is full of word play. If you don’t read the lyrics, Show appears to be singing “hold me” several times over, but when you read the lyrics as they are actually written, there is some extra subtext going on. The verb for “hold me” is daite (though keep in mind, this verb can connotate having sex as well). Show writes it here in several different ways: die TE, daidai te, dive te, and finally, the correct spelling, daite. It looks very chaotic on the page and the way the line is sung underscores that. We have the words die, bitter orange, dive, hand, and hold me. Taken together, I feel this all adds to the sense of desperation, despair, and sorrow that permeates the rest of the song. My interpretation of these two lines is that, the speaker feels trapped in their situation, and both needs the comfort of being held by another person, but also would rather die than continue on that way.
oo4. I imagine that a red letter might be a metaphor here for getting your period, especially given the fact that a line above refers to a “planted seed”.
.
アリス九號. ★ メロウに沈んで → 「名前は、未だ無ひ。」(将・2004)
ALICE NINE. – Sink into the Merrow | From “namae wa, mada nai.” (Show – 2004)
Original text translated from Japanese.
Listen on Spotify.
If you’d like to share the translation, please link to this page. Do not repost it. Thank you.
Translation also on the Alice9Lives Archive.