Chizuru

Romaji and English translation of the song 千鶴 (Chizuru) from the album STACKED RUBBISH and the single Hyena by the GazettE.

This song was used as the ending theme for the Japanese release of 2006 Korean horror movie APT [Apartment].

Lyrics originally sung in English are in italics , and words or phrases I felt were implied are in [brackets] in the translation.

I also (usually) put repeats of chorus/verses/stanzas in [brackets] if they’re not written that way in the original lyrics for ease of singing along.

If he writes a word in the lyrics but doesn’t sing it, I put it in light grey to make it easier to skip when singing along.

I usually romajize katakana characters in CAPITALS, and keep punctuation and line spacing as close to the original booklet as possible. If you see me putting spaces before punctuation at the end of a sentence or writing things in mixed-case capitals, that’s because it’s how it was in the booklet.

Any comments I had during the romajization/translation process will be included as footnotes so as not to disturb the flow of the song. They’re not required reading, but Ruki does some pretty nifty things with his lyrics/kanji choices, or sometimes there’s further explanations about words or phrases in there.

Chizuru: Romaji

Anata no tegami ni wa yomenai jidake
Atte sono kuchi kara kikasete hoshii

Narenai shiro wa nigate toikisae hibiku
Sora no iro sae shiretara sukuwareru no ni
Umaku dekinu kokyuumo itsuka wasuretai
Sou negaeru tsuyosamo hikarabi sou de

“Utsubuse no asu” utaeba doge wo utau suimin
Shintai ni kara maserareta Restraint
Even the mind seems to sleep
Hoo ni fureta netsu wa totemo natsukashiku yasashii
Mourou no hazama de mita kage danshoku no yume

Anata ni utsuru watashi no me ga
Anata wo miushinau hi ga kitemo
Kono me ni yakitsuite kureteiru
Komorebi no hibi to anata wa
Tsurete ikanai de

Nijimu shiro ga yureru
Kotoba mo wasure sou
Namida wa nagarete doko he yuku no
Watashi no namae wo yon de
Kudakeru kurai daite
Koreijou ushinau no wa kowai

Anata wa doko de watashi no koto utatteiru no
Mimi wo sumashite mo hibiku no wa fuantei na kodou
Hoo ni nokotteta hazu no netsuga omoi dasenai
Mourou no hazamade mita no wa kanshoku no ima

Senba no totemo chiisana
Anata no negai ni yori sotte
Egao mo kaesezu ni tada
Toiki wo kazoeteita kioku no saigo ni…
Anata no koe ga kikoete
Subete wo nakushita asa
“Hitotsu ni narenu futari”

Chizuru: Translation

I can’t read the writing in your letter
I’d rather see you and hear it from your mouth anyway

I don’t like this unfamiliar whiteness where the only sound is my breathing
I feel like I could be saved from it if only I could see the color of the sky
Someday I hope I can forget these breaths I had trouble drawing
But it seems even the strength behind my hopes is becoming frail

While you sing of “the future that lies before us” my sleep is troubled
My body ensnared by Restraints
Even the mind seems to sleep
The warmth that caressed my cheek felt so familiar and gentle
The figure I saw in the hazy distance had the warm colors of a dream

Even if the day comes when I can’t see you anymore,
You’ll still be reflected in my eyes
You and the days of sunlight filtering through the trees
Are burned into my vision
[Even if] I can’t take them with me

The billowing whiteness spreads
It seems it will soon make me forget your words as well
Where do my tears go when they fall?
Call out my name
And hold me so tightly I break
I’m afraid of losing any more than I already have

You’re singing for me, but where are you¹?
I strain my ears to listen for the sound faintly echoing in the distance
I can no longer seem to recall the warmth that has left my cheek
What I saw in the hazy distance were the cold colors of reality

I hold close your wish [for me]
A thousand tiny birds²
But it can’t return the smile to my face
I recall how you counted my breaths until my last moment…
I could still hear your voice
That morning you lost everything
“Two can never become one”

It appears that the girl who is ill and dying is sick with something that is also making her lose her sight (she can’t read the writing in the letter, the “unfamiliar whiteness,” the lines about the hazy distance and only having perceptions of colors, “if the day comes when I can’t see you anymore” the only thing she’ll remember is what’s in her memories, can’t see where he is while he’s singing to her, etc.).
This refers to folding a thousand origami cranes and receiving one wish in return (usually for health or well-being of someone who is sick, like the girl in the song – which…sadly doesn’t work). This is called 千羽鶴 senbazuru. Incidentally, the title 千鶴 chizuru is not an actual kanji compound/word as written, though the title is often translated as “1,000 Cranes” (however, compared to senbazuru, the actual word for “a string of (traditionally 1000) paper cranes” the first kanji 千 is pronounced differently – though it still means 1000; the second, 羽 ba, which is the counter for birds, is missing; and the third 鶴 when alone and meaning “cranes” is pronounced tsuru or tazu). Chizuru, however, can be a girl’s name as written, which is what I’m assuming it probably is in the title of the song.