GANJISU ni akai bara

Romaji and English translation of the song ガンジスに紅い薔薇 (GANJISU ni akai bara) 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.

GANJISU ni akai bara: Romaji

Tatoeru nara sou kimi wa
Hane hiroge suimen ni rakkashita gatte ita Crow
Mujaki ni asobu me wa nani wo miru

Yaseta te ten wo sasu shoujo ni douka anraku wo…

Kubi ni bura sagaru Brass no ROZARIO
Sashikae rareta no wa usucha no Leather Rope
Bishou majiri no Hymn togireru to douji ni kimi wa fumihazu su

Yureru kage wo mite risei wa sogareta
Rikai wa mui mito chirabaru Cult tsumetaku naku kane no ne

Kamoku wo kazatta February     kasaneta tenohira    inori wa fukaku
Sukuenu kami yo     douka kaitou wo
Inochi¹ no kachi wo shi de kanji     sono shi wa inochi no hana wo sakasu to
Mushoku no kami to nemuru kareta bara
Oboreteru kimi wo kakae    utsukushiki yami he to mukaou

Rou ga tokeru youni katachi wa ubawareta
Kage nokosenu asu ni ima² ijou no nani ga aru darou ka

[Tsu tsu tsura tsura tsurai]³

Kimi ni tsugeru douka kanashimanai de sono me ni nani mo utsuranakute mo

Kamoku wo kazatta February     kasaneta tenohira    inori wa fukaku
Sukuenu kami yo    douka kaitou wo
Inochi no kachi wo shi de kanji     sono shi wa inochi no hana wo sakasu to
Okizari no kotoba ga utau

Kamoku wo kazatta Birth day ikudomo iwai tsudzuketa kono hi ni
Umare sodachi aishita koko de
Yowaku yurare nagarete iku sono nemuri yo towa ni utsukushiku
Kimi no tabiji wo kazatta akai bara

Yasuraka ni to negau no wa kesshite jou makase no kotoba janai
Kimi ga kokoro kara waraeru youna koufuku wa soko ni aru no ka

[Tsu tsu tsura tsura tsurai]³

Red Roses in the Ganges⁴: Translation

If I were to compare you to something,
You’d be a Crow who spread its wings only to fall towards the surface of the water
What do you see with those eyes once filled with playful innocence?

Please, let comfort [come to] the girl raising her slender hands towards heaven…

The Brass rosary hanging from your neck
Was replaced by a light brown Leather Rope⁵
That Hymn interwoven with smiles is cut short at the moment you miss your footing [and fall]

Looking at your swaying shadow their reasoning was flawed
Comprehension is meaningless, and the Cult is scattering to the winds; the tolling of the bells is cold and unfeeling

February is draped in silence;     I press my palms together     and fervently pray
O God who won’t help     please answer
If the value of life can only be felt through death     then perhaps only death can cause the flowers of life to bloom
The withered roses lie before your colorless God
I’ll hold you as you sink below the surface     and head towards that beautiful darkness

Your very form was stolen away just like melting wax
In a future where even shadows won’t be left behind what will be left of this present existence?⁶

[Even though you were so very broken-hearted]³

I’ll say to you please don’t be sad even though there’s nothing left shining in your eyes

Your Birth day is draped in silence; the day we’d celebrated so many times
Here in this place you loved, where you were born and raised
You’re gently carried away on the weak current and you’ll be forever beautiful in that sleep
Red roses accompany you on your [final] journey⁸

It’s never mere sentiment to say the words, ‘I hope you’ll go in peace’
So are you content there, is your heart able to laugh again?

[Even though you were so very broken-hearted]³

生命 seimei “life, existence” is written, while 命 inochi “life, life force” is sung. (Well, technically, according to one of my dictionaries, 生命 is another way of writing inochi, it’s just not regularly used that way – and it only shows up if you search for 命; the alternate pronunciation doesn’t show up by searching for 生命, oddly enough.)
現実 genjitsu “reality, actuality, hard fact” is written, but 今 ima “now, the present time” is sung.
He scats something in the background throughout the song that sounds like, “つつつらつらつらい / tsu tsu tsura tsura tsurai.” It could either be just repetition/build-up of the full final word つらい tsurai meaning “(emotionally) painful, bitter, heartbreaking” – or it could be translated as a sentence (the way I chose to do it) meaning roughly, “Even though it’s profoundly heartbreaking” – but it wasn’t written in the lyrics. There’s also another part at the end and the only thing I can make out for sure is “akai bara,” but again, not printed in the lyrics.
The Ganges (or Ganga) is a river that flows through India and Bangladesh that is sacred to those of the Hindu faith, and is believed to be the personification of the goddess Gaṅgā. She is also the one responsible for carrying souls from earth to heaven. While the girl in the story is Christian/Catholic (reference to her rosary, and confirmed by Ruki in an interview), it appears the person narrating the song (and possibly her family) are Hindu because of some of the rituals performed throughout the song and views expressed by the person singing. More on the Ganges.
While it’s not explicitly stated that she committed suicide by hanging herself, it’s kind of implied based on the rest of the song. In the Catholic faith (as well as many other Christian denominations), suicide is considered a mortal sin which may deny the person salvation and used to preclude the deceased from being allowed a Christian burial. The singer seems to be saying in the next lines that the others of the deceased’s faith were judgmental and turned their backs on her after her death, which is why it can be inferred she committed suicide as opposed to being killed by someone else. He even goes so far as to call them a cult that scatters after her death (so they’re no longer standing by her); still, he appeals to her God on her behalf but gets no answer.
This is kind of a strange way to do it, I guess, but I mushed together the written 現実/reality and sung 今/now words. This line seems to reference the possibility of rebirth – which is a Hindu belief, but not a Catholic one, so probably being hoped for by the singer/her family. Also, this whole verse is about her body being cremated (melting wax reference).
Since her God is silent (not answering), his silence almost says more than words ever could – that she will not be granted salvation by him.
Her ashes and rose petals are being scattered on to the surface of the river in a farewell ceremony/funeral rite. According to the Hindu faith, having your cremated ashes spread on the surface of the Ganges results in the redemption of the dead/instant salvation. So it’s implied that even though she was of a different faith, since her God won’t grant her salvation (presumably due to her suicide), her family/the singer is trying to get it for her through the Hindu faith instead.