WITHOUT A TRACE

Romaji and English translation of the song WITHOUT A TRACE from the single DISTRESS AND COMA and the compilation album TRACES VOL.2 BALLAD BEST by the GazettE.

The lyrics don’t appear to have been changed when they re-recorded the original song for TRACES VOL.2.

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.

WITHOUT A TRACE: Romaji

Zeijakuna ishiki wa hagare yukkuri to ashioto o tatezu ni
Hai ni nari konagona ni chiru soredake soredake Without a trace

Nochi ni shiru kanjou wa muryoku yori hikyou

Konzai ishiki no soko wo hau senzaiishiki ni toikakeru
“Me no mae no asu ga mienai.”

Tachitsukusu kisetsu ni iki wo umete sukui wo matta kimi wa mu he
Mou kikoe wa shinai kareta uta wa ate mo naku naite iru

“Soushitsu” ni nagasu namida wa taeteta kurushimi ni mo nagareru?
Dare mo ga migorosu ka no you mabuta wo tojiru

Rasen ni karamaru karada ga yukkuri yukkuri nejireru
Sen no toge wo nodo ni ate tou ore ni nani ga sukueru?
“Me no mae de asu ga shinderu.”

Tachitsukusu kisetsu ni iki wo umete sukui wo matta kimi wa mu he
Mou kikoe wa shinai kareta uta wa ate mo naku naite iru

Furishikiru kasumi ga harenu you ni… ikita akashi ga kienu you ni…
Kono uta ga kimi he to todoku no nara gizen da to omou darou

Tachitsukusu kisetsu ni iki wo umete sukui wo matta kimi wa mu he

Mou kikoenu you ni kaketa koe wa modosenai tsumi to shiru

WITHOUT A TRACE¹: Translation

You break away from your fragile consciousness and slowly, your footsteps not making a sound
You become ashes and disappear just like that, just like that Without a trace

Now that [you’re gone], I realize I feel like a helpless coward

Mired in the depths of my muddled senses I begin to question my own subconscious
“I can’t actually see the future that’s before my eyes.”

You hold your breath² through the unchanging seasons³ you waited for help [that never came], so [now] you’re headed for nothingness
Now my withered song you’ll never hear weeps because it can’t reach you

They shed tears at your “loss” but were they crying while you endured your suffering?
It’s like everyone looked the other way and just let you die without trying to help

Slowly, slowly I twist, my body caught in this spiral
[It feels like] a thousand thorns in my throat as I ask myself, ‘what can I save?’
“The future is dying right before my eyes.”

You hold your breath through the unchanging seasons you waited for help [that never came], so [now] you’re headed for nothingness
Now my withered song you’ll never hear weeps because it can’t reach you

So that this lingering haze will never clear away… So that the proof of your existence never disappears…
If this song is able to reach you, you might think me a hypocrite⁴

You hold your breath through the unchanging seasons you waited for help [that never came], so [now] you’re headed for nothingness

And yet this withered song you’ll never hear can’t bring you back and I realize that’s my crime⁵

In FOOL’S MATE (March 2009), Ruki stated that this song was written to/about a fan who committed suicide, and his feelings about her (and by extension, other fans in the same mental place) and how he wishes he could have done more. Because of the natural gap that exists between the band and the fans, and due to the fact that he can’t show favoritism and personally contact one fan and not all the others, he was unable to do anything to help the fan who committed suicide.

The majority of the song is written in the present tense about the fan (“you”), with a small portion being a comment on the people in their life that didn’t help them (“they”), and a few other times him talking about his own feelings and thoughts (“I”).
What is written is 埋めて umete “to bury, to fill up, to stop [a gap].” I took it to mean something like “suppress” – and ended up going with the more common “hold” in English as related to breathing.
What is written is 立ち尽くす tachitsukusu “to stand stock still.” Obviously the seasons still do change – but to this person who is waiting and hoping for someone to help them, it feels like everything is the same pain and struggle, so nothing is really any different.
Again, because of the gap between the band and the fans, he can’t show favoritism, so the fan might feel like he didn’t want to help or that he’s being hypocritical by criticizing all the other people who didn’t help – but he wasn’t actually in a position to be able to do anything.
Again, he blames himself for not having been able to do more.