A flower petal touched your cheek
And into the still-spring air, melted
Like hugging your knees to your chest, unwilling to pull your hands away—
That’s the shape of an existence spent in obstinate solitude
Even while maintaining your dignity, you seemed like you might break
So without a word, I took your hand
It’s because you know warmth that you feel the cold—
Rather than letting platitudes fall from my mouth
I’ll be by your side
From thousands of lights, I found you
That’s when I understood why blood flows through my heart
It’s alright if I get dirty
As long as I can just hold you in my empty hands
To someone living with their weaknesses hidden
Things looked beautiful if you distanced yourself
It’s alright if it’s tiny—
I’ll tell you over and over
To rest against my dependable strength
I just want to be your shelter in a storm
So on this unending journey, rather than push you from behind
I’ll be by your side
Gazing at you from the viewfinder that is my eye
I want to keep projecting the future, aimless though it may be
Even if I don’t have a key, I’ll call on you again and again
Our weaknesses, we’ll share between us
Stop the connection between the tomorrow that is here now
And a yesterday that seemed interrupted
With the proof that you want to live—
So now, just let me hold you close
Gazing at you from the viewfinder that is my eye
I want to keep projecting the future, aimless though it may be
Even if I don’t have a key, I’ll come calling again and again
As many times as it takes…
From thousands of lights, I found you
That’s when I understood why blood flows through my heart
It’s alright if I get dirty, because in my empty hands
Are the things I want to protect;
One day ¹
I will feel the touch of your cheek
.
NOTES / INTERPRETATION:
oo1. I did a bit of paraphrasing and interpretation for these last two lines; the line “one day” is a meaning that I felt was implied, but is not something literally stated in the Japanese lyrics. What is literally written is “I will be touched by your cheek”. However, the verb form used in Japanese makes this phrase feel a lot softer in Japanese than it does translated literally in English. It has an implication of something the speaker intends to do in the future (which is why I added the “one day” in the translation), but the intent is to be on the receiving end of an action from the person they love. That is, feel the touch of their lover’s cheek—their trust, their acceptance of support from the speaker. I love this line because it so quietly ties together the sense of patience present in the rest of the lyrics, as well as echoing the “touch” of the flower petal in the first verse (likely an implication of cherry blossom petals falling during spring). The speaker’s intent is not to take action to fix the problems of the person they love, but instead to receive their trust through quiet patience and steady support. They’re equals—in the rough patch together.
It’s quite a beautiful sentiment.
Thoughts. SONATA is the only song on their album PLANET NINE with a title written in Japanese characters (in this case, katakana, the syllabary used to write loan words). Even the song title “GIGA“, which is the native Japanese word for caricature, was curiously written in roman letters. I’ve been wondering about those interesting lettering choices since the album came out in 2018! This calming ballad with a laid-back, funky keyboard solo was apparently a composition that Saga would not ordinarily have earmarked to release as an ALICE NINE. song (was perhaps one that would have been a solo release), but it ended up getting included in PLANET NINE. It has the feel of a soft, refreshing breeze, I find, and I love it. I think the lyrics complement the music composition wonderfully.
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アリス九號. ★ ソナタ → PLANET NINE (将・2018)
ALICE NINE. – SONATA | From PLANET NINE (Show – 2018)
Original text translated from Japanese.
Listen on itunes/Spotify.