No God is a track you can throw at someone who is new to Band Maid and say ‘this is indicative of what you’re in for if you listen to more of their stuff’. Band Maid doing Band Maid things, for sure. This was one of the first songs I heard (Dice was the very first), but this is the one where I thought — It sounds like Band Maid were given the same advice as a lot of young bands get, namely ‘You don’t have to make everything a wall of sound’. Then rather than doing what most bands do at that point — i.e. experiment with silence and restraint, they said ‘fuck you, hold my whisky’. As usual, I’ll leave the musical critique to folks more qualified and focus on the lyrics.
One of the things that struck me about the English translation used in the MV is that there seems to be an amount of poetic license taken. It’s somewhat inevitable when you’re interpreting, but particularly in your opening verse, where the framing of the song is set, some care is warranted. Someone seems to have gotten a little carried away. Either that or they worked directly with the band to drag out some deeper intended meaning. My money is on the former.
祈るより今 迎えるは誰
祈る — inoru — pray
より — other than, rather than, instead of,
今 — ima — now
迎える — mukaeru — greet, receive, welcome
誰 — dare — who
Rather than praying, who is there to welcome me now?
火蓋が切られる LuLuLu×2
hibuta ga kirareru is from the idiom ‘火蓋を切る’ hibuta wo kiru — which means to ‘cut the fuse’. It’s an interesting one. ‘hibuta’ is the cover for the touchpoint of a flintlock rifle or cannon, so it’s a saying that’s been around a while. 切られる (kireru) is the passive potential form of kiru (to cut), which might seem counterintuitive to westerners who have been educated by Hollywood to understand that cutting a fuse stops an explosion. In this case, ‘cutting the fuse’ is synonymous with setting something significant and irrevocable in motion.
The fuse has been lit.
なぜ賭して なお闘うのかと
なぜ — naze — why
賭して — toshite — risking, betting, wagering
なお — moreover, let alone
闘う — tatakau — wage war
のか — no ka — a spoken question mark. ‘no ka’ indicates the speaker is curious or wondering
と — to in this case indicates a spoken thought
Why take the risk let alone wage war?
愚問は海底沈んだ
愚問 — gumon — stupid question(s)
海底 — unazoko — the bottom of the sea
沈んだ — shizunda — sank
I sank these stupid questions to the bottom of the sea
This is a bit literal. You could also go with something like ‘I laid these stupid questions to rest’ or ‘I put paid to such foolishness’.
矜りと嗜み 覚悟と探求
矜り — hokori — pride
嗜み — tashinami — etiquette, comportment
覚悟 — kakugo — readiness, preparedness, resolve
探求 — tankyuu — search, quest
Pride and comportment, readiness and searching
痛みを噛み締め
People familar with the lyrics of Domination might recall this one
痛み — itami — pain
噛み締め — kami shime — compound verb of bite and ‘tighten’ or ‘fasten’. Together it means to bite down on, or to chew. The English equivalent would be something like ‘grit your teeth and take the pain’.
Bite down on the pain.
Don’t mix！ Danger！
Handle with care.
Pretty sure Miku came up with this when she forgot to take her phone to the toilet and was forced to read the fine print on her cleaning products. It’s cool though, it gives me a thing I can relate to her about.
敗けて進化する
敗けて — makete — losing
進化する — shinka suru — to evolve
By losing, I evolve.
人生はオーダーメイド
Make
人生 — life
オーダーメイド — o~da~ meido — order made (probably not ‘order a maid’)
(One two three four how be long)
Yeah, your guess is as good as mine here, but that’s the line.
振り返る日々に涙流れるんだ
振り返る — furikaeru — look back, reminisce, reflect
日々 — hibi — days (the second character means ‘same character as the preceding one, which can save you a bunch of time if you’re hand-writing something)
涙 — namida — tears
流れる — nagareru — flow
んだ — contraction of ‘no desu’, which indicates an explanation of how something is.
On the days I reflect, I shed tears.
楽しんだ者勝ち
楽しんだ者勝ち — tanoshiinda mono kachi — (s)he who enjoys, wins. ‘~ mono kachi’ is an idiomatic phrase that basically means ‘the person that does X wins’. 早いもの勝ち — hayai mono kachi — the earliest person wins (or ‘the early bird gets the worm, if you want go with an English idiom).
何処へでも行ける
何処へでも — doko e demo — to anywhere
行ける — ikeru — can go. Potential form of ‘iku’ (to go)
I can go anywhere
私の感情
私 — watashi — me, my
感情 — kanjou — emotions
My emotions
今 何色染まるか識らないよ
今 — ima — now
何色 — nani iro — what colour
染まる — somaru — to be dyed, steeped in, stained
識らない — shiranai — I don’t know
Now I don’t know what colour they will be.
限界(リミット)壊して
限界 — genkai — limits
壊して — kowashite — breaking, smashing
Breaking my limits
全て超えて
全て — subete — everything
超えていく — koete iku — go beyond
I’ll surpass everything.
朝、目が覚めて 気がつけば夜
朝 — asa — morning
目が覚めて — me ga samete —wake up (literally ‘open one’s eyes’)
気がつけば — ki ga tsukeba — notice, realise
夜 — yoru — night
Morning, I awake and I suddenly it’s night again
止まらない針 LuLuLu×2
止まらない — tomaranai — doesn’t stop
針 — hari — needles, but in this case ‘hands of a clock’
The clock doesn’t stop
何故私とか 確率が何？
何故 — naze — why
とか — to ka — and such like
確率 — kakuritsu — likelihood, chances, probability
何 — nani — what
‘Why me?’ and ‘What are the odds?’
哲学的問題
哲学的 — tetsugakuteki — philosophical
問題 — mondai — problem(s), questions (e.g. on an exam)
Philosophical questions
混乱中。
混乱 — konran — mayhem, chaos, confusion
中 — chuu — means ‘middle’, and adding it to the end of a word means ‘in the midst of x’, or ‘doing x’
Throw me into confusion.
The MV goes with ‘tumble through my mind’, which I think is a pretty good interpretation.
リズムに乗り込み
リズム — rizumu — rhythm
乗り込み — norikomi — get into (i.e. a vehicle). ‘riding the rhythm/beat’ is a Japanese idiom whose English equivalent would be something like ‘get into the rhythm’, which is quite literal, or possibly:
Groove to the rhythm
思うがまま oh
思うがまま — omou ga mama — to your heart’s content, as one desires
Just as I like
天 — ten — sky, heavens
まで — made — to, until
登れば — noboreba — if/when you ascend. Potential form of noboru — to climb or ascend.
天まで登れば
Ascending to heaven
I’m greeting an Angel.
How are you doing?
紳士淑女皆、手をとり
紳士淑女 — shinshi shukujo — ladies and gentlemen
皆 — minna — everyone
手をとり — te wo tori — take (someone’s) hand, join hands
Ladies and Gentlemen, everyone join hands
さあ創りましょ
Next new world
さあ — saa — well then, right then
創りましょう — tsukurimashou — let’s create/build/make
Let’s build the next new world
澄ましたお顔に
1発どうですか？
澄ました — sumashita — one of those overloaded verbs that can mean a few things; frequently it means ‘to clear’. In this case, it’s referring to a face, so it’s going to be ‘feigned indifference’, or ‘putting on airs’.
お顔 — okao — a polite way of saying ‘face’
1発 — ippatsu — one shot, one punch
どうですか — dou desu ka — how about it?
How about I punch that smug look from your face?
唇指当て
唇 — kuchibiru — lips
指 — yubi — finger
当て — ate — apply, put against, hold to
A finger to your lips
You are kidding!
Goodbye with a smile.
愛は万人に、信頼少数に
Make
(One two three four how be long)
愛 — ai — love
万人 — man nin — ten thousand people
信頼 — shinrai — trust
少数 — shousū — few
Love all, trust a few
Miku has been reading her Shakespeare.
振り返る日々に涙流れるんだ
楽しんだ者勝ち
何処へでも行ける
私の感情
今 何色染まるか識らないよ
限界(リミッGET DOWN！！)壊して
全て超えていく
This must be one of only a handful of songs where the second chorus is the same as the first.
GET DOWN！！
You are thusly commanded to enjoy Misa’s bass solo.
I believe the story.
I still believe that.
アダムとイブはきっと
愛し続けてる 夢の先まで
アダムとイブ — adamu to ibu — Adam and Eve
きっと — kitto — certainly
愛し続けてる — aishi tsudzuketeru — continue to love
夢の先 — yume no saki — beyond (their) dreams. ‘saki’ can mean ‘end’ as in the tip of something, but also ahead or beyond.
まで — made — until, unto
…I still believe that surely Adam and Eve loved one another beyond their dreams.
The world continues.
目そらさないで 愚かでも
目 — me — eyes
そらさないで — sorasanai de — don’t turn away
愚か — oroka — silly, foolish
でも — demo — even if, although
Don’t avert your gaze, even if it seems silly
これも 嘘じゃない
これも — kore mo — this too
嘘じゃない — uso janai — not a lie
This too is not a lie.
あなたの声だから
あなた — anata — you
声 — koe — voice
だから — dakara — because
Because it is your voice
Then we’re back to our chorus one more time, and this time true to form, it’s a change up. Incidentally, I love the bend Kanami does around here. It doesn’t quite reach the next note before falling away again. Not like her to mess with your expectations eh?
振り返る日々に涙流れるんだ
時間を進めて
時間 — jikan — time
進めて — susumete — advancing. This is a transitive verb, so they’re talking about actively taking time forward.
Push the clock forward.
何処までも行ける
あなたの感情
今 何色染まるか見せてよ
あなた — anata — you
見せて — misete — show, display
We can go anywhere.
Your emotions
Now show me what colours they will be
限界(リミット)塗り替え
全て貫いて
Breaking our limits
We’ll surpass everything
The lyrics here are the same as earlier. There’s no pronoun to point at, but because of the change in context (your emotions, show me), we can conclude that it’s now ‘we’ and not ‘me’.
WE HAVE GOT TO WIN
So all in all, the song does what it says on the tin. There are a few biblical references but nothing really about the old invisible sky wizard. Happiest drummer in the world intro, some great guitar work and chromatic scale fun, bass line with proper attitude, a funky bass solo, a ton of kazari eigo and some wo-eh-oh-eh-ohs for us non-Japanese fans to sing along to, a dash of messing with each other and cracking up, and a hard stop (at least in the album cut). Classic Band Maid.
Thinking back to the MV of Thrill and watching their onstage chemistry, it’s great to see how far they’ve come. Early BM Saiki started out with this sort of, I want to say stand-offish cross between ‘giving attitude because I’m finding my feet and slightly unsure of myself’ crossed with ‘fuck you for making me wear this outfit’ vibe. Fast forward to now and she has this very self-assured Jack Sparrow fucking swagger. Going to just put my foot up on the speaker here because it’s mine along with I everything else I see. Very evident in their lollapalooza gig too. Very cool. Anywho, No God. Fun song. Interesting translation choices. Tell your friends.
