SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY

Romaji and English translation of the song SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY from the album STACKED RUBBISH by the GazettE.

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.

SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY: Romaji

Angel who concealed wound, yeah!
Devil who licks the wound, yeah!

Kuzureta Beauty torimidasu haikei
Totemo janai kedo waraenai
Night of pussy

Zoukei no kobi nomi komemasu kachi mahishita Real ni waraenai
Yaketsuita nodo de “mou tobenai” to kimi wa iu

Seni saku “jijou” idaki yosete mo kitto chirasenai ne
Toiki ni mazaru ore wa gizen ka ai ka?

Munamoto kara nijimu me kakushi no sukui
Kobore souna kotoba kimi ni wa ienai
Kore ijou… kore ijou wa…
Toke souna karada to urahara ni kokoro wa tokeaenai kara

Arukenai kimi wa yagate mata ore ni sugatte kuru
Yaketsuita nodo de “mou tobenai” soshite mata kurikaesu

[Seni saku “jijou” idaki yosete mo kitto chirasenai ne
Toiki ni mazaru ore wa gizen ka ai ka?]

Munamoto kara nijimu me kakushi no negai
Kobore souna kotoba kimi ni tsutaetai
Kore ijou… kore ijou wa…
Toke souna karada to urahara ni kokoro wa tokeaenu

Kimi wa DORESU wo matou
Kage wo seotta AGEHA
Yume wo ubatta kanraku no sabaku de
Anata sae… anata sae… to
Ore wo nozonda hibi ni tsuita
Kienu se no “kasane kizu” to ikiru

[Angel who concealed wound, yeah!
Devil who licks the wound, yeah!]

SWALLOWTAIL¹ ON THE DEATH VALLEY: Translation

Angel who concealed wound, yeah!
Devil who licks the wound, yeah!

Your faded Beauty and this scene in disarray
They’re not much, but I’d never laugh [at them]
Night of pussy

[Your perfectly] molded flattery as you swallow down your worth² I’d never laugh at your paralyzed Reality
You say, “I can’t fly free anymore³,” with your blistered throat

Even if you were to readily accept the “circumstances” you have to bear, they wouldn’t just vanish, right?
Is it love or hypocrisy that seeps into my sigh?

This blind help⁴ welling up from my heart [won’t fix things]
But I can’t say to you the words that threaten to spill forth
There’s nothing more… There’s nothing more than this…
Because unlike our bodies that seem to join together [so seamlessly], our hearts aren’t connecting

If you don’t eventually walk away [from this] then I’ll keep coming back to you again and again
“I can’t fly free anymore,” leaves your blistered throat, and now we repeat everything all over again

[Even if you were to readily accept the “circumstances” you have to bear, they wouldn’t just vanish, right?
Is it love or hypocrisy that seeps into my sigh?]

This blind wish welling up from my heart [won’t fix things]
I want to tell you the words that threaten to spill forth
There’s nothing more… There’s nothing more than this…
Because unlike our bodies that seem to join together [so seamlessly], our hearts can’t connect

You’re a swallowtail butterfly in a dress
Burdened by shadows
[Living] in the garden of pleasure that stole away your dreams
Until those “layers of scars” on your back that will never fade away
Are all that remained from the days you longed to see me
Saying, ‘All I need is you…’ ‘All I need is you…’

[Angel who concealed wound, yeah!
Devil who licks the wound, yeah!]

A swallowtail is a type of butterfly.
This song is about a man who is sleeping with the hostess of a club, even though he knows it’s not really good for either of them.

A club hostess’s job is basically to keep guys happy by drinking and talking with them, making them laugh, flattering them, etc. “Swallow down your worth” may be a play on words, meaning both how she drinks with customers as well as swallowing her pride to do her job.
She feels trapped and unable to leave her current situation.
I think this is something like wanting to help so badly but not knowing what he can do specifically to actually be of help. The same phrase is used later as “blind wish,” which would mean the same kind of thing – just wishing blindly isn’t going to do anything to help the situation.