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Sunday, November 12, 2017

Warui Ousama no Ohanashi (悪い王様のお話) Lyrics Translation

So after ages of not having written anything, today's post shall be a translation of Goosehouse's Warui Ousama no Ohanashi (Story of the Evil King). Found this little gem some time ago and I loved the overall rhythm and feel of the song and especially how they turned a story into a song. I catch myself humming the chorus tune a lot and after searching, I realized that no one really translated it into English before, so here goes :)


小さな国の小さな町 小さな家に住む
若い娘は運命の恋に落ちたのです
Chiisana kuni no chīsana machi chīsana ie ni sumu 
Wakai musume wa unmei no koi ni ochita no desu
Living in a small house, in a small town, in a small country,
A young maiden fell in love with her fated love


恋のお相手は王様 めでたく見初められ
貧しかった家と別れ 家族になりました
Koi no o aite wa ōsama medetaku misome rare
Mazushikatta ie to wakare kazoku ni narimashita 
Her partner in love was the king, they fell in love happily at first sight,
She parted from her poor household and they became a family

ところが二人の子供 可愛い王子はやがて
邪智暴虐の王になり 人々 苦しめた
Tokoro ga futari no kodomo kawaii ōji wa yagate 
Jachibougyaku no ou ni nari hitobito kurushimeta 
Nevertheless, the child of theirs, the adorable prince, before long,
A tyrannical and cruel king he became, and the people suffered

「初めて腕に抱いた日 世界に足りないものなど
一つもなく 何もかもが輝きを増した
世界の全て終わる日も 世界の誰もがあなたの
敵になって矢が飛ぶ日も 私が盾になるよ」
"Hajimete ude ni daita hi sekai ni tarinai mono nado Hitotsu mo naku nanimo kamo ga kagayaki o mashita Sekai no subete owaru hi mo sekai no daremo ga anata no 
Teki ni natte ya ga tobu hi mo watashi ga tate ni naru yo 
  "The very first day we embraced you in our arms,
There wasn't a single thing that we lacked in this world, everything was glittering.
Even on the day everything on this world ends, even if everyone in the world
becomes your enemy and send arrows flying at you, I'll become your shield." 

王子が16歳になってすぐのことです
戦争が始まって 王様は戻らぬ人に
Ouji ga jyuroku-sai ni natte sugu no koto desu 
Sensou ga hajimatte ōsama wa modoranu hito ni 
It wasn't long before the prince turned 16,
A war started, and to the people he couldn't return to, the king said

「帰ると言った約束 信じて待つあなたの背を
抱きしめても 振りほどいて 一人で泣いてたね
世界の全てを疑い 世界の誰も要らないと
あなたは言う でもね聞いて 私がここにいるよ」
"Kaeru to itta yakusoku shinjite matsu anata no se o 
Dakishimete mo furihodoite hitori de nai teta ne 
Sekai no subete wo utagai sekai no dare mo iranaito 
Anata wa iu demo nee kiite watashi ga koko ni iru yo"'
" 'I will come back,' the you that believed in that promise and waited,
Even after a hug, once we parted ways, you cried alone, didn't you?
Even if you decide to doubt everything in the world,
'I don't need anyone in this world,' you say that,
but hey, listen, I will be right here."

王様になった王子は 国中涙で染めた
それを止めた男がいた 彼の名前は メロス
Ousama ni natta ōji wa kuni juu namida de someta 
Sore o tometa otoko ga ita kare no namae wa 
MEROSU
The prince that became the king, dyed the entire country in tears,
There was a man who stopped all that, his name was 
Meros

「自分を守るためだけに 生きていくには世界は
大きすぎて バラバラで すぐダメになるだろう」

Jibun o mamoru tame dake ni ikiteiku ni wa sekai wa 
Ooki sugite BARABARA de sugu dame ni narudarou' 
"If you only live by protecting just yourself,
this world will seem too huge and fall apart,
and all hope will soon be lost"

「初めて腕に抱いた日 世界に足りないものなど
一つもなく 何もかもが輝きを増した
世界の全て終わる日も 世界の誰もがあなたの
敵になって矢が飛ぶ日も 僕が盾になるよ」
"Hajimete ude ni daita hi sekai ni tarinai mono nado
Hitotsu mo naku nanimokamo ga kagayaki o mashita 
Sekai no subete owaru hi mo sekai no daremo ga anata no 

Teki ni natte ya ga tobu hi mo boku ga tate ni naru yo"
"The very first day we embraced you in our arms,
There wasn't a single thing that we lacked in this world, everything was glittering.
Even on the day everything on this world ends, even if everyone in the world
becomes your enemy and send arrows flying at you, I'll become your shield." 

[End of translation]

I'm not sure if this was the story the artists intended to portray, 
but I interpreted the story as such:

A long time ago, a king fell in love with a girl from a poor family, they had a cute son who they treasured and loved more than anything else. The first chorus is probably what the king and queen said to their son, showing just how much they loved him.

When the prince turned 16, the king left for a war. He left promising to return, but never did. The second chorus is probably what the king said to his loved ones before he left for the war; i.e. the queen and the prince.

Having lost his father who he loved dearly, the prince was extremely hurt, but didn't know how to deal with that pain. He lived doubting everything and distancing himself from everyone,  saying he didn't need anyone, true to the king's words, and grew to be a heartless king. :(

However, this all ended when a man named Meros brought the king back to his senses and the last chorus at the end was the prince remembering what his parents said to him.

これでめでたしめでたしかな?
This way, it ends well I guess? Hope this translation was helpful to those who really liked how the song sounded, but have no idea what it means.
Will defs be listening to this gem on loop for a while more,
time to revisit more of GooseHouse's older songs/covers. :D

*Disclaimer: 
i) Kanji and romaji lyrics are taken from JpopAsia. (edited a tiny bit where I saw fit)
ii) My Japanese is mostly self-taught from anime and at most at JLPT N4 level, so do let me know if I've made any errors in translation; it's always good to learn :)