(photo: lyrics as printed in the first cd edition of Darker than Darkness -style 93-, 1993)
キラメキの中で...//Inside the Sparkle…
Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi | Music: Imai Hisashi
A scarred man sings Dress swishing with a turn You laugh “It’s PRETTY isn’t it?”
In the shadow of a man singing of love Everyone was intoxicated I laugh “It’s fun, right?”
Let’s dance Grab my hand Close your eyes There`
That voice softly faint The look in those eyes SPARKling You laugh “It’s PRETTY isn’t it?”
Inside the downpour of righteous light** that looks as if it’ll go out at any moment I laugh “It’s fun, right?”
For dreaming men, a beautiful ballad
At the center of love Women have dreams of loving^
At center stage Who is this naked self?
Smiling out To everyone who has somewhere disappeared…
Just a little more….Just a little more to become SPARKLING
Even someone– even he– will become SPARKLING
Can’t even run, the SPARKLE is coming
Even for your sake And even for my sake Surely that’ll make it all better?
Woo The song of love!
A screaming voice Tore at my ears Something’s just now— Aaa
Let’s dance Grab my hand Close your eyes There`*
In the middle of this bed Who is this frightened self?
Makeup veneer snatched away Who is this naked self?
A scarred me sings Dress swishing with a turn You laugh “It’s PRETTY isn’t it?”
In the shadow of myself singing of love Everyone was intoxicated I laugh “It’s fun, right?”
I am…
[I have included the kanji this time in the post because when trawling for a working copy online I found the most readily available kanji version to be incorrect with numerous mistakes. I present here a correct one.]
ケロイドの男が歌う ドレスをひる返し 君が笑う 「キレイだね」
恋を歌う男の影に 誰もが酔いしれた 僕は笑う 「楽しいね」
踊りましょう 手をつないで 目を閉じて さあ`
その声は弱々しくて 目つきはギラついて 君が笑う 「キレイだね」
降り注ぐ明かりの中で** 今にも消えそうだ 僕は笑う 「楽しいね」
夢を見る男達に美しき詩を
愛の中 女達は恋をする夢^
舞台の中の 裸の僕は誰だい？
微笑みかける みんな何処かへ消えた…
もう少しだ…もう少しでキラメキになる
誰も彼もがキラメキになる
逃れられないキラメキが来る
君のためにも 僕のためにも きっと楽になれるでしょう？
Woo 愛の歌よ
叫び声 耳を裂いた 何かが今 ああ
踊りましょう 手をつないで 目を閉じて ああ*
ベッドの中の 怯えた僕は誰だい？
化粧のとれた 裸の僕は誰だい？
ケロイドの僕が歌う ドレスをひる返し 君が笑う 「キレイだね」
恋を歌う僕の影に 誰もが酔いしれた 僕は笑う 「楽しいね」
僕は…
——————————————————
KEROIDO no otoko ga utau DORESU wo hirugaeshi Kimi ga warau “KIREI da ne”
Koi wo utau otoko no kage ni Dare mo ga yoishireta Boku wa warau “Tanoshii ne”
Odori mashou Te wo tsunaide Me wo tojite Saa`
Sono koe wa yowayowa shikute Metsuki wa GIRAtsuite Kimi ga warau “KIREI da ne”
Furisosogu akari no naka de** Ima ni mo kiesou da Boku wa warau “Tanoshii ne”
Yume wo miru otokotachi ni utsukushiki shi wo
Ai no naka Onnatachi wa koi wo suru yume^
Butai no naka no Hadaka no boku wa dare dai?
Hohoemi kakeru Minna doko ka e kieta…
Mou sukoshi da…Mou sukoshi de KIRAMEKI ni naru
Dare mo kare mo ga KIRAMEKI ni naru
Nigerarenai KIRAMEKI ga kuru
Kimi no tame ni mo Boku no tame ni mo Kitto raku ni nareru deshou?
Woo Ai no uta yo
Sakebi koe Mimi wo saita Nanika ga ima Aaa
Odori mashou Te wo tsunaide Me wo tojite Aaa*
BEDDO no naka no Obieta boku wa dare dai?
Keshou no toreta Hadaka no boku wa dare dai?
KEROIDO no boku ga utau DORESU wo hirugaeshi Kimi ga warau “KIREI da ne”
Koi wo utau boku no kage ni Dare mo ga yoishireta Boku wa warau “Tanoshii ne”
Boku wa…
*Lyrics are printed as “Aaa” but he sings “Saa” again here
` I think we’ve talked about the versatility of ‘saa’ before on this page, but just to reiterate, in this context, he is meaning as “There there, yes, like that”
**I took a liberty using the phrase “righteous light” when the word is just “light” there. The reason for this that this is another song where Atsushi is contrasting pretty/ugly worthy/unworthy despite making these opposites always kiss like your favorite barbie dolls- honestly he loves doing this (see 小さな森の人 for a superb, overt example). And by saying something like “inside the downpour of light” and using 明かり as opposed to say 光 which also means light, apparently in a legal sense 明かり can also stand for one’s innocence of, say, crimes, etc. You can extrapolate this to innocent of sin, etc. As he seems to already be taking up the cliche old theatre metaphors of “the bad guy is always going to be the gnarliest looking dude on the stage”, I think he may be doubling down on the perceived- emphasis on perceived- purity of either himself as he presents himself on the stage or this girl he’s taken out (depending on which thread of the story you follow). She’s basking in a downpour of light which is conveying her sweet innocence, which, well, this is Sakurai, we’ll see how long she lasts in that state ahahaha. And by contrast, he is saying the audience probably views him as perfect in some sense when witnessing him on stage in the exaggerated spotlight. But this is why I have pushed that word ‘righteous’ in there to cover the full field.
^I originally had “women have dreams of falling in love” here, but after seeing a live performance of this song and watching Atsushi grab his junk for that line, I decided to blur the line a little to reflect what he was clearly thinking lmfao.
T/N: Hi hello back again with another out of order song because it’s been eating away at me. It's a little long again, but if you're up for it, I saw an interesting story play out with this one and wanted to share.
OK, there’s a lot to unpack here in this song. Hopefully I don’t stretch too much and it all makes sense. I think there are two storylines happening in this song at once, that are both happening separately, weaving in and out of each other, and happening on top of each other simultaneously almost like two realities playing at once, because what happens in one story thread is a reflection of what’s happening in the other story thread. Are you still with me? 😂
Story one is the story we start out with- to put it bluntly, it really looks like we’re out on a date. The scene is set- it’s a bit cliche but you have the poor street busker playing a bitchin tune while a pretty girl is on our boy’s arm. The vibe is good, so let’s dance. Nothing at all amiss here. Nothing at all.
At about this next section the story starts to warp. The shining innocence of the girl and the sparkling look in her eyes begins to melt into the speaker as he now becomes the one in the spotlight- on stage- and we are presented with Sakurai himself in front of an adoring audience. Bathed in bright yet ephemeral light of course he looks like a perfect being to that oblivious audience. Men get beautiful ballads and it’s women who get to fall in love. Or so he claims here in this moment.
The song now really seems to become an extension of 太陽に殺された, and we are back to grappling with stardom, what it means, how honest it actually is, and to be frank, Atsushi’s imposter syndrome. He envisions himself now stripped bare on the stage throwing out his arms and grinning at nothing and no one- because everyone has disappeared off somewhere else. A grim, bitter moment, and likely a fear (that thank god we all know never came to pass).
In the breakdown it’s almost like we’re getting to hear Atsushi’s inner monologue while on stage in front of us (and also probably of our boy looking to woo that girl)- if he can just turn it up a little bit more, he’ll finally have enchanted us all and he’ll be safe. Just a little more sparkle, a little more razzle-dazzle, and he’ll vindicate himself. What a bitter song of performing for love.
The next line we melt again through to the other story happening- someone is screaming. In this world, I think it’s safe to say it’s Atsushi. On the dream date, welll…..maybe the date went really well and he got to home base??? Considering what comes next. Either way we’re caught up in the fervor now so grab his hand and let’s dance- close your eyes and….
Now he’s left lying exposed in the middle of a bed wondering why he’s so scared now that he’s been literally and metaphorically stripped bare. I’m going to go super fucking meta with this, and taking into account that this song was written in ’92-’93, I mean…why wouldn’t he be playing the field? Except now who he’s become and his perceived stage persona is playing a part in pulling the girls he gets to sleep with. It feels like that kind of insecurity— who is he really without this new stage persona, and is it the persona who got the sex or he himself? Do these girls even like him for who he really is? It’s scary, and there’s a heavy dose of buyer’s remorse mixed in there like “shit, maybe I really shouldn’t have…”
Because in the end we are spun around again and see that really HE is the ugly scarred busker that the pretty couples walk by and toss a coin to for his intoxicating music without paying him any serious or sincere thought. He was really just the ugly busker in the end. But haha, it’s fun, right??? You’re entertained, right?????
Every single hat off to Atsushi and Imai for another insane complex unhinged banger that still makes you want to take your clothes off even though Atsushi’s bitter as fuck for most of it. And thanks to all of you reading for humoring my probably crazy commentary. But as I was translating this song, this is the story I saw, how it melted and wove in and out of itself. So I thought, why not write it down. There is always the danger, too, of conflating a song with Atsushi directly- I'm very very aware of it- but again this song seemed like such a natural extention of 太陽に殺された that it was hard to see it any other way. But again, this is all one person's interpretation and nothing more. Thanks for reading. <3
Disclaimers: Please do not use my translations or photos without express permission. All photos of lyrics are mine- these are from my own collection, even if potato quality.💗
v. 1.1 (5.19.25)
(v.1.1 formatting correction was made because Tumblr(tm). Some formatting issues are unfixable also due to Tumblr(tm) because the attempt would make things worse, thank you for your understanding 🥲)
