Hello again!

Last time we listened to this beautiful song:

幾年月 (Time Gone By) - Mili

Go here to watch the video.

We took a look at all of the useful vocab in the song in the last lesson.

Today we're going to go through a literal breakdown of the sentences.

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Let's go!

幾年月
いくとしつき
Time Gone By.
Literally: "(how) many + years + months."
Note: This title was hard to come up with a decent translation for because the word doesn't really mean anything in English, and the word itself is sort of made up so that the song could have a pretty title. I see it as a combination of 幾年 (いくねん // [a] number of years) and 年月 (ねんげつ // time; years; months and years). We could have easily gone with something like "Several Months and Years" or even "Years," but "Time Gone By" seemed to retain some of the poetic quality of the Japanese title.

紡ぐ想い　滲む言葉
つむぐ　おもい　にじむ　ことば
Feelings swell up. Words smudge and blur.
Literally: "spin + feelings + blur + words"
Note: In the translation it's written as two separate sentences, but you probably noticed that the Japanese is not. This is because it's just a fragment, sort of like poetic songs in English can be sometimes, so try not to think of it as a complete sentence but more like thoughts that are floating out or something like that^^ You'll notice that this sort of style occurs a lot in this song, which is one of the things that makes it so pretty!

風に舞った　便箋を追う
かぜに　まった　びんせん　を　おう
Chasing a letter dancing in the wind.
Literally: "wind + に + danced + writing/letter paper + を + chase"

過ぎる様に　面影は薫る
すぎる　ように　おもかげ　は　かおる
Passing by, traces of a familiar smell.
Literally: "pass + as if + trace + は + smell sweet"

淡く染まりだす春
あわく　そまりだす　はる
Colors of spring seep in.
Literally: "faintly + start to be dyed + spring."

頬に受けた風は
ほほ　に　うけた　かぜ　は
The wind that blows across the cheek,
Literally: "cheek + に + received + wind + は"

ほんのりひんやりと
ほんのり　ひんやり　と
Faint and cold,
Literally: "faintly + cool + と"

熱を帯びた想い　冷やす様に
ねつ　を　おびた　おもい　ひやす　ように
As if to cool off passionate feelings.
Literally: "heat + を + carried + emotions + cool + as if."

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- わたし　嫁がない - と
わたし　とつがない　と
"I will not become a bride,"
Literally: "I + not become a bride + と"

父に伝えました
ちち　に　つたえました
I told my father.
Literally: "father + に + conveyed"

お返事は　桜の木に
おへんじ　は　さくら　の　き　に
Response engraved in the cherry tree,
Literally: "お-answer + は + cherry tree + に"

歪んだ文字
ゆがんだ　もじ
Those words twisted and bent.
Literally: "warped + letter."

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紡ぐ思い　滲む言葉
つむぐ　おもい　にじむ　ことば
Feelings swell up. Words smudge and blur.
Literally: "spin + feelings + to blur + words."

春の香り　君を感じて
はる　の　かおり　きみ　を　かんじて
Smell of spring. You are near.
Literally: "spring + の + aroma + you + を + feel (and)"

積もる思い　手紙に綴る
つもる　おもい　てがみ　に　つづる
Feelings piling up, write them down in a letter to you.
Literally: "pile up + feelings + letter + に + write"

牡丹の雫　染み込む
ぼたん　の　しずく　しみこむ
Dew from the peony's soak in.
Literally: "peony + の + drop of water + soak into"

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桜芽吹く　幾度の春
さくら　めぶく　いくど　の　はる
Sakura blooms. Countless springs.
Literally: "cherry blossom + bud + how many times + の + spring"

手紙探す　指が震える
てがみ　さがす　ゆび　が　ふるえる
Look for a letter. Fingers quake.
Literally: "letter + look for + finger + が + quake"

涙溢れ　崩れ落ちた
なみだ　あふれ　くずれおちた
Tears flow over, tumble down my cheeks.
Literally: "tears + overflow (and) + crumbled down"

風の音が響いた
かぜ　の　おと　が　ひびいた
The sound of the wind roars.
Literally: "wind + の + sound + が + resounded"

紡ぐ思い　滲む言葉
つむぐ　おもい　にじむ　ことば
Feelings swell up. Words smudge and blur.
Literally: "spin + feelings + blur + words"

実る季節　頬を冷やした
みのる　きせつ　ほほ　を　ひやした　
The season matures, gently cools the cheeks.
Literally: "bear fruit + season + cheeks + を + cooled down"

過ぎる様に　面影は薫る
すぎる　ように　おもかげ　は　かおる
Passing by, traces of a familiar smell.
Literally: "pass + as if + trace + は + smell sweet"

淡く染まりだす春
あわく　そまりだす　はる
Colors of spring seep in.
Literally: "faintly + start to be dyed + spring"

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Thus concludes our study of this song! Hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to review all the vocab in this lesson! Maybe it helped some of you get a better idea of how to study songs as well. :)

As mentioned in the last lesson, the translation here differs significantly from the English CC'd translation in YouTube. The translation we have here takes less artistic liberties than the subtitled one. After looking through the breakdown in this lesson, you may wish to compare the translations... or even come up with your own.

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This lesson was written by Caleb, a guest contributor.