It's odd how I remember the details of translating this song so vividly. My friend and I had rented out a room at the Jiyuukuukan, and a dating game. At the time, I was upset about a boy named Kenji who had decided I was nothing, and accordingly, made me feel like it, so we decided to try our hand at no-consequence dating. My friend and I got frustrated, though, because it turns out that making digital people love us faired no better than getting real people to love us. In the end, I got out my computer and began to translate this song while she played FFX-2 .
It was a cathartic exercise, really, even as much as it was painful. I couldn't figure out if the song was a love song, about loss of innocence, or a bit of both. Any of those options made me feel pain in different ways. One, it felt hurtful to know that other people could experience things I was desperate to. Two, because I felt like Kenji had robbed me of my childish notions of love. Three, I didn't see any light at the end of my tunnel. If the song was a love song about the loss of innocence, where was my smiling, understanding person waiting for me at the end?
I think, because I still feel these three ways about different things when I hear this song, I still connect to it emotionally. Having this sort of relational link to my past and present self somehow makes me feel better, though I'm hard-pressed to explain the reason why.
*JiyuuKuukan translates to Free Time Rooms. There, you pay for a certain amount of hours you intend on spending there, and while you're there you can play on their game systems, sing karaoke, use their drink bar, and get nice massages while you use their computers. It was my favorite place for stress relief.
ドキドキ
モンゴル８００百々
さぁ 夜も更けてきた 行こうおもちゃの国へ
気付いているでしょ 大切なものを
見失い始めている あなたに
小さな夢でも かわまわない
誰でも一度は夢見たんだ 心のドキドキ
転寝の春はまだこない
大人になれない子供の歌 心に響けよ
思い出してあの夕陽 心から遊んだ夕暮れ時
服は汚れ顔も手も 僕の心は輝いていた
あの頃と同じ視線のままで
あの日見た夕焼けを見に行こう
忘れていた心のドキドキ
変わらぬ太陽を背にいつまでも
さぁ 夜も明けてきた 行こうおもちゃの国へ
おさがりのシャツで空を飛ぶ
無限のイメージほら見えるよ 世界は眩しい
いつから躓く事を恐れ
足下の石コロに怯えていた
たとえあなたが転んでも
残るは足跡より大きな印
ねぇ 僕出来ること教えておもちゃの兵隊さん
武器なんか捨てて踊りましょう
かすかに聞こえる胸の鼓動 心のドキドキ
Dokidoki
Mongol800Momo
Saa yoru mo fuketeketa yukou omocha no kuni e
Kitzuiteiru desho taisetsu na mono o
Miushinai hajimetieru anatani
Chiisana yume demo kamawanai dare demo ichido mitanda Kokoro no DOKIDOKI
Utatane no haru wa mada konai
Ootona ni narenai kodomo no uta kokoro ni hibeke yo
Omoidashite ano hi no yuuhi kokoro kar asonda yuugure toki
Fuku wa kegare kao mo te demo boku no kokoro wa kagayaiteita
Ano koro to onaji shisen no mamade
Ano hi mita yuuyake o miniyukou
Wasureteita kokoro no DOKIDOKI
Kawaranu taiyou o se ni itsumademo
Saa yoru mo aketekita yukou omocha no kuni e
Osagari no SHATSU de sora o tobu
Mugen no IMEEJI hora mieru yo sekai wa mubushii
Itsukara umazuku koto o osore
Ashimoto no ishi koro ni obieteita
Tatoe anata ga korondemo
Nokoru wa ashiato yori ooki na in
Nee Boku ni dekirukoto oshiete omocha no heitaisan
Buki nanka suttee odorimashou
Kasuka ni kikoeru mune no kodou kokoro no DOKIDOKI
Dokidoki (1)(Fluttering Heart)
Mongol800
Momo
Well, it’s getting late. Let’s go to the land of toys
You’ve noticed, right? That you’re losing sight (2)
of the important things. It may be
a small dream to you but that doesn’t matter
The sleepy spring (3) hasn’t yet come
In your heart, the song of children who can’t be adults resounds
Remember the sunset (4) of that day. The evening you played with all your heart,
Even though our clothes, face and hands were filthy(5), my heart was shining.
With the same gaze from that time,
Let’s go and see the sunset from that day
The heart you forgot is fluttering
The constant sun is always at your back.
Well, the dawn is breaking. Let’s go to the land of toys
Let’s fly through the sky in our hand me down shirts(6)
The timeless image, look, I can see it.
Since then you were frightened of stumbling
And scared when stones were at your feet
Even if you slip,
What’s left will make a bigger impression than your footsteps.
Hey. Tell me the things I can do, you toy soldier.
Throw away things like weapons and let’s dance
I can hear it faintly, the beat in your breast. The fluttering of your heart.
Translations Annotations:(1) The Japanese language uses a great deal of onomatopoeias, and dokidoki is the sound of the beating heart. It’s difficult to translate, but it has a very strong image of being excited or nervous.
(2) The lyrics in this song are a little strange in as that he starts he starts a new thought on the same line as another, and continues it into the next. It works a lot better in Japanese, because it gives a sort of double meaning, allowing it to be used in both contexts. I did my best to translate the strange line breaks.
(3) Spring is when Japanese students graduate, and spring is usually used as a metaphor for youth moving into adulthood. Graduation ceremonies drip with this sentiment from people waxing on about the similarities between the season and their life to come.
(4) I’m not going to say anything really, other than the sun imagery is really important here and you should keep an eye on it.
(5) The kanji and the reading for it can either be kegare (clean) or yogure (dirty). I’m not sure if that means anything to the song, but it is interesting to note.
(6) It is more than likely I got this translation wrong. I not sure what kind of shirts they are flying in… but I think it’s 90% likely it’s hand-me-downs.
