Title:  白い海 (The White Sea)
Circle: Yonder Voice
Vocal: 瑶山百霊
Arrangement: LEMiao
Release Date:  Dec 29, 2016

I knew this song was sad and beautiful, but never expected how emotional I got after I finished. This song hit me personally because it described when I watched my grandmother pass away, from her point of view. Not only that, but she was also quite a believer in Taoism herself.

Romaji

utsukushii kaiga tachi ni
garasu goshi ni nagameru youna hibi
tengoku no niwa wo nozokeba
furi tsumu koyuki ga kekkou wo utsusu

[collapse]

  • 美しい絵画たちに
  • ガラス越しに眺めるような日々
  • 天国の庭園にわを覗けば
  • 降り積む粉雪が月光を映す
  • Gazing at the good old days
  • like beautiful paintings through a glass
  • When I peek at the garden of Heaven
  • the powdered snow on the ground reflects the moonlight

Romaji

oto mo naku kuchi hateta
boku no shiroi heya
yume no nai nemuri kara
samete kimi ni fureta

[collapse]

  • 音もなく朽ち果てた
  • 僕の白い部屋
  • 夢のない眠りから
  • 醒めて君に触れた
  • Without a sound, it crumbled to dust
  • My white room [1]Likely a hospital room.
  • From a dreamless sleep
  • I woke up and touched you[2]The singer is on the verge of death, but is revived momentarily.

Romaji

hoshi no ame ga oru donchou ga (haka)
futari no himitsu wo kakusu you (naki)
boku no naka no umi ga nagu made (hoshi)
hibikasete kimi no koe wo (no jumyou)

[collapse]

  • 星の雨が織る緞帳が　（はか）
  • 二人の秘密を隠すよう　（なき）
  • 僕の中の海が凪ぐまで　（星）
  • 響かせて君の声を　（の寿命）
  • A curtain of raining stars
  • appears to hide the secrets of two people
  • Until the sea within me dies down[3]A flatlined heartbeat is like a sea that has died down.
  • (let me hear) the sound of your voice

Romaji

fuzoroina kodou wo kasane ai (shira)
kanaderu uta ga koko ni aru nara (nai)
owari made kogaeru ryouashi de (mama)
kimi ni ayumi yoru yo

[collapse]

  • 不揃いな鼓動を重ね合い　（しら）
  • 奏でる歌がここにあるなら　（ない）
  • 終曲おわりまで凍える両足で　（まま）
  • 君に歩み寄るよ
  • If there is a song here that
  • plays and overlaps irregular heartbeats[4]This is an allusion to a heartbeat monitor beeping irregularly, showing a failing heart
  • Then until the song’s end, on my cold two feet
  • I will walk to meet you

In the background

  • 「儚き星の寿命知らないまま」
  • “The lifespan of a fleeting star remains unknown”

Romaji

chiriakuta ni naru made
zutto kimi no soba ni itai kedo
kitto bokura umare kawarenai
dakara imi no koto dake yakusoku shite

[collapse]

  • 塵芥になるまで
  • ずっと君のそばにいたいけど
  • きっと僕ら生まれ変われない
  • だから今生いまのことだけ約束して
  • Until I become dust
  • I want to always be beside you
  • But alas, we surely cannot be reborn
  • so just promise me for this life[5]that you will stay beside me.

Romaji

te no hira wo awasete mo
dipputikku ni narenu
wake aenu shoumon wa
boku no toki wo ubau

[collapse]

  • 手のひらを合わせても
  • ディプティックになれぬ
  • 分け合えぬ掌紋は
  • 僕の余命ときを奪う
  • Though we hold our palms together
  • this won’t become a diptych[6]A diptych is a two-sided painting that can be open and closed like a book.  Often used in religious artwork with a person on each side.
  • The palm prints that I don’t share with you
  • will steal my life away[7]In Eastern tradition,  the lines of your palm prints are said to predict certain factors in your life, including your lifespan.  For two people who do not share the same lifeline, one is believed to die long before the other.

Romaji

soubi no shitone ni idakarete (sai)
kimi to mita ginga omoi dasu (go ni)
ryuukou no mayu wa nami makase (mita)
funade no kane no ne ga naru (keshiki wa)

[collapse]

  • 薔薇の褥に抱かれて　（最）
  • 君と見た銀河思い出す　（期に）
  • 流光の繭は波任せ　（見た）
  • 船出の鐘の音が鳴る （景色は）
  • Embraced by a bed of roses
  • I remember the galaxy I saw with you
  • A cocoon of streaming light sweeps me away
  • and the bell of a sailing ship sounds

Romaji

kayowai shinzou ga tomaru toku (hoho)
koufuku de ippai da to ii ne (emu)
kyaroru ga hibiku kono shiroi umi (kimi)
ima hitori de wataru

[collapse]

  • 羸弱かよわき心臓が止まる時　（微）
  • 幸福でいっぱいだといいね　（笑む）
  • 悼歌キャロルが響くこの白い海　（君）
  • 今一人で渡る
  • When my weak heart stops[8]A weak heart, both literally and metaphorically.
  • I wish you many blessings
  • This white sea resounding with carols (elegies)
  • Now, I will cross it by myself

In the background

  • 「最期に見た景色は微笑む君」
  • “What I saw in my final moment was your smile”[9]Literally, “the scene I saw in my final moment was you smiling.”

Notes

Notes
↑1 Likely a hospital room.
↑2 The singer is on the verge of death, but is revived momentarily.
↑3 A flatlined heartbeat is like a sea that has died down.
↑4 This is an allusion to a heartbeat monitor beeping irregularly, showing a failing heart
↑5 that you will stay beside me.
↑6 A diptych is a two-sided painting that can be open and closed like a book.  Often used in religious artwork with a person on each side.
↑7 In Eastern tradition,  the lines of your palm prints are said to predict certain factors in your life, including your lifespan.  For two people who do not share the same lifeline, one is believed to die long before the other.
↑8 A weak heart, both literally and metaphorically.
↑9 Literally, “the scene I saw in my final moment was you smiling.”