レプリカは私にとってすぐにお気に入りになった。お気に入りという言葉はちょっと違うかもしれない。この曲、大好きで、聞くたびに新しい発見がありますが、その素材がいかに強く心に響くものであったかという点で、すぐに私の心をつかまれました。
Replica was an instant favourite for me. Actually favourite is the wrong word. I love it and I get more from it every time I listen, but it immediately hooked me because of how strongly the material resonated.
曲全体が心をつかんで離さない。信じられないほどよくまとまっている。下降する半音階、迫力のあるドラムとベース、アニメーションに込められた象徴的な力、複数の声が交わり合う複雑な不協和音、そしてもちろん歌詞がすべて互いに補強し合い、非常に特別なものを生み出している。
The entire song grabs you, shakes the shit out of you and won’t let go. It’s incredibly well put together. Descending chromatic scale, driving drum and bass, the powerful symbolism in the animation, the layered dissonance of multiple voices and of course the lyrics all reinforce each other to create something quite special.
最初のモノローグが、文字通り生計を立てるために働く誰でもあり得る人物を取り囲むような、灰色のコンクリートの枠を描きます。社会のドローンワーカーで、生きる余地のない人生に閉じ込められています。曲自体は、渦に流れ込むような、速い意識の流れのようで、その中心に引きずり込まれ、その深みに向かって加速し、ますます速く回転していきます。
The initial monotone sets a grey concrete frame around what could be literally anyone who works for a living — a societal drone worker trapped in a life that leaves no opportunity for it to be lived. The song itself is like a fast-flowing stream of consciousness that feeds into a whirlpool, accelerating, spinning faster as you’re dragged into the centre and down into its depths.
自分の正体 言える？
自分 — jibun —oneself, you, me
正体 — shoutai — true form, true identity, character
言える？ — ieru? — can you say?
Can you describe your true self?
名前 職業 年収 ルックス それはパッケージ
名前 — namae — name
職業 — shokugyou — occupation
年収 — nenshuu — annual income
ルックス — rukkusu — looks
それはパッケージ — sore wa pakke~ji — It’s a package
Name, occupation, income, looks, it’s a package.
私はどんな人に見える？
私 — watashi — me, I
どんな人 — donna hito — what sort of person
見える — mieru — look like
What sort of person do I look like? (How do I appear?)
映し映される関係 できる限り清く美しくよ いける？
映し — utsushi — reflection
映される — utsusareru — be reflected
関係 — kankei — connection, relationship
できる限り — dekiru kagiri — as much as possible
清く — kiyoiku — pure(ly), honest(ly)
美しく — utsukushiku — beautiful(ly)
いける？ — ikeru? — is possible/doable (colloquial)
What you portray should be as pure and beautiful as possible. Can you do that?
いつも誰かが気掛かり
いつも — itsumo — always
誰か — dareka — somebody
気掛かり — kigakari — anxiety, concern, worry
All the time, I’m worried about someone or other
似たスペック それなりの身なり 取り繕う毎日
似た — nita — resembled
スペック — supekku — spec (specification)
それなり — sorenari — as it is, as befits the occasion
身なり — minari — attire, appearance
取り繕う — toritsukurou — keep up appearances
毎日 — mainichi — every day
Every day, keeping up appearances, making sure my clothes meet spec.
まだ水曜日？ 肩が重い 落とせなかったメイク
まだ — mada — (not) yet, as yet, only
水曜日 — suiyoubi — Wednesday
肩 — kata — shoulder(s)
重い — omoi — heavy
落とせなかった — otosenakatta —negative past potential form of ‘otosu’, to drop or let fall, but in this case to clean off or remove
メイク — meiku — make up
Is it only Wednesday? My shoulders are heavy. Couldn’t get this makeup off.
消したい記憶の数だけ 握り潰した缶ビール
消したい — keshitai — want to erase
記憶 — kioku — memory
数 — kazu — number, amount
だけ — dake — only, nothing but. This could also be some clever wordplay if you substitute 丈 with 岳. Both pronounced ‘dake’, the first is ‘only’, ‘just’. The second is ‘mountain’ or ‘peak’ — so possibly ‘a mountain of memories I want to erase’.
握り潰した — nigiri tsubusu — crushed (i.e. with one’s hands)
缶ビール — kan bi-ru — can(s) of beer
So many memories I want to erase, (like) crushed up cans of beer
今日は5番目のレプリカ
今日 — kyou — today
5番目 — gobanme — number 5 (in a series)
レプリカ — repurika — replica
Today I’m replica number 5
自分らしさ 見失って 私何になればいいの？
自分らしさ — jibun rashisa — sense of oneself, individualty
見失って — miushinatte — lose sight of
私 — watashi — I, me
何 — nani — what
なれば — nareba — potential form of nareru — to become
いい — ii — good, enough, okay
If I lose sight of myself, what should I become?
This question is an anchor we return to time and again.
悲しい 嬉しい 人ってダルい 基本 誤作動
悲し — kanashii — miserable, sorrowful
嬉しい — ureshii — happy, delighted
人って — hitotte — people are — ‘tte’ funtions as a pointer to a subject. A shorthand of ‘hito to iu no wa’
ダルい — darui — sluggish, lethargic, but also bothersome, tiresome
基本 — kihon — basic, fundamental
誤作動 — gosadou — malfunction
Happy, sad, people are a pain, basic malfunction
不機嫌で人を操る 味方作るためスマイル
不機嫌 — fukigen — sullen, ill humour(ed)
人 — hito — person, people
操る — ayatsuru — operate, manipulate. This is a great word in the context of the song. It has connotations of a puppet master pulling the strings, which fits the MV quite well.
味方 — mikata — ally
作る — tsukuru — make, manufacture
ため — tame — in order to
スマイル — sumairu — smile
Sullenly manipulating people. To make allies I smile.
ホントは寂しいんだよね？ 消えた 夢見夢子ちゃん
ホント — honto — truth, reality
寂しい — sabishii — lonely, sad, also to miss (someone) (いなくて寂しい）
んだよね — ndayo ne — when this is attached to a verb ending a sentence, the speaker is explaning a situation and seeking agreement from the listener.
消えた — kieta — disappeared, gone, extinguished, cancelled, switched off
夢見 — yumemi — in a dream, having a dream
夢子ちゃん — yumeko chan — Could be a name (Yumeko), but more likely a literal translation ‘little dreamer’
The truth is you’re lonely, aren’t you? Broken little dreamer.
This is a heavy line. ‘chan’ is an affectionate diminutive often used to refer to children. In this case, my take is she’s looking at her child self and her broken dreams. The literal tranlation of ‘kieta yumemi’ is ‘disappeared dreams’. I’m taking some license with my translation, but the intent is ‘little dreamer of disappeared dreams’.
自分らしさ 見失って 私何になればいいの？
If I lose myself, what should I become?
私じゃなくたっていいの それくらいわかってる
私 — watashi — I, me
じゃなくたっていい — janakute ii — (not X is okay)
それくらい — sore kurai — that much
わかってる — wakatteru — I understand
It doesn’t have to be me. That much I understand.
自分らしさなんてみんな 一生わからないかも
自分らしさ — jibun rashisa — individuality
なんて — nante — such like, something like, a thing such as
みんな — minna — everybody
一生 — isshou — all through life, one’s whole life
わからない — wakaranai — don’t understand
かも — kamo — I reckon, probably. This is a contraction of ‘kamo shiremasen’ — I think, but am not sure.
I guess people go their whole life without understanding themselves.
空いた穴を埋めるように ハマるように演じちゃって
空いた — aita — open(ed)
穴 — ana — hole, opening
埋める — uzumeru — cover
ように — you ni — in order to
ハマる — hamaru — to fit, to be suited to
演じちゃって — enjichatte — acting, playing a part
Like covering an open hole you fit yourself to the role.
The use of katakana for ハマる is interesting as it has a number of kanji that would fit, each with multiple possible meanings. It could be that the kanji just isn’t commonly used, but if it’s intentional it’s clever in that it seems to be left open to interpretation as to which it could be. The MV translates this as ‘trying to get hooked’ which to me seems incorrect. The first thing that came to my mind was ‘trying to fit’, which seems to go with ‘enjichatte’ (acting) — i.e. fiting yourself to a role’.
We’re into the chorus now, but rather than the monotone hamster wheel, the chorus feels like something between a lament and a cry for help. Regardless, the relentless mental onslaught continues. No time to breathe.
うんざりレプリカピーポー お見事ね
上っ面に笑ってさHaha…
うんざり — unzari — being fed up with
レプリカ — repurika — replica
ピーポー — pi-po- — people
お見事 — omigoto — bravo, well done
上っ面 — uwattsura — surface (as in appearance)
笑って — waratte — laughing
I’m sick of these replica people. Good job eh? Laughing on the outside. Haha.
仮面を被っては 本物はどこ？
仮面 — gamen — mask, disguise
被って — kabutte — wear (a hat, a mask)
本物 — honmono — real thing
どこ — where
Hiding their real intentions. Where is your true self?
‘gamen wo kabutte’ means to wear a disguise or to hide one’s true intentions.
終点はない 見栄っ張りくだらない
終点 — shūten — end point (e.g. last stop on a train line)
ない — not, isn’t
見栄っ張り — mieppari — vain, show-off
くだらない — kudaranai — worthless, trivial, foolish
There’s no end in sight. You’re vain and worthless.
わかってやめらんない
わかって — wakatte — understand(ing)
やめらんない — yamerannai — cannot stop. A contraction of ‘yamerarenai’
I know and I can’t help it.
ねえ ダメじゃないよね？ 誰か言って
「これでいいんだ」って
ねえ — ne — hey — this is softer than ‘hey’ suggests. This phrase is pleading, almost begging. It’s a verbal nudge for attention.
ダメじゃない — dame ja nai — sort of a double negative. ‘not no good’ or ‘not forbidden’. A colloquial translation might be closer to ‘still okay’ or ‘it’s alright’.
よね — yo ne — isn’t it
誰か — dareka
言って — itte — say
これでいいんだ — kore de iinda — this is (good) enough
って — tte — (s)he says, I hear
ne, it’s okay isn’t it? Won’t somebody say
‘It’s going to be alright’?
A pause at last. A check to see if the cry has been heard. Oreo’s piano fill is somehow hopeful. Lyrically the chorus gives us an interesting dichotomy. It starts out panning the shit out of replica people an their fakeness, but then flips it around and owns it; internalises it and gives up any real agency to do anything about it.
Angie’s acting background is on full display. Her emotional connection to the material is superb. I particularly like the repeated use of showing the whites of her eyes above the iris to indicate madness. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention how on-point Yuri’s drumming is. I’m no drummer, but to my ear it sounds tight and controlled, and between her and Koga, they provide the relentlessness of the drive for this song. Her chops as a musician are properly on show. It’s great to see.
(かわいそう…)
かわいそう — kawaisou — pitiful, pathetic. Often used as ‘Oh, poor thing’ (I pity you).
その言葉嫌い じゃあなんて言って欲しいの？私
その — sono — that, those
言葉 — kotoba — words
嫌い — kirai — dislike, hate
じゃあ — jaa — well then
なんて — sort of thing
言って — say(ing)
欲しい — hoshii — want
私 — watashi — I, me
I hate that phrase. “Well what do you want me to say then?”
ひとまず返すね ’ありがとう’
ひとまず — hitomazu — for the moment, for now
返す — kaesu — to return (an object, a favour), to respond
’ありがとう’ — arigatou — thank you
For now, let me just respond with ‘thank you’.
「かわいそう」ってさ
「かわいそう」ってさ — kawaisou tte sa — when you say ‘kawaisou’…
身体は隣にあっても心が上からじゃない？違う？
身体 — karada — body
隣にあっても — tonari ni atte mo — even though (you’re) next to (me).
心 — kokoro — heart, mind
上 — ue
から — kara — because, since
じゃない? — ja nai? — isn’t it?
違う？ — chigau? — (am I) wrong/mistaken?
Even though your body is next to me, your mind is above isn’t it. Am I wrong?
今日はこう感じちゃうレプリカだからごめんね
今日 — kyou — today
こう感じちゃう — kou kanjichau — this kind of sense/feeling
だから — because, therefore
ごめんね — sorry, apologies
Sorry. Because today I’m this sort of replica,
どんな言葉もナイフ 明日の私ならどう思う？
どんな言葉も — donna kotoba mo — whatever words, every word (you say)
ナイフ — naifu — knife
明日 — ashita — tomorrow
なら — nara — if it is, in the case of
どう思う — dou omou — how do/will (I) think?
every word is a knife. I wonder what tomorrow’s me will think.
うんざりレプリカピーポー お見事ね
上っ面に笑ってさHaha…
仮面を被っては 本物はどこ？
I’m sick of these replica people. Good job eh?
Laughing on the outside. Haha.
Hiding their real intentions. Where is your true self?
気持ちなんてない いいよって思ってない
気持ち — kimochi — feelings, mood, state of mind
なんてない — nante nai — nothing like, no such thing as
いいよって — ii yo tte — (to say) it’s okay
思ってない — omottenai — not think
I feel nothing. I don’t think it’s okay.
共感なんかしてない
共感 — kyoukan — empathy, sympathy
なんか — nanka — some, any
してない — not do(ing)
I have no sympathy
この気持ちを見せたら
この — kono — this
見せたら — misetara — if I show (x), in this case ‘If I show this feeling (openly)’. Potential form of ‘miseru’, to show
ここで生きていけなくなるの？
ここ — koko — here
生きて — ikite — live, living
いけなくなるの？ — ikenakunaru no? — become not good, become not viable, become bad.
If I show how I feel, will I become unable to live here?
「演じちゃって」
演じちゃって — enjichatte — this is in quotation marks, so it’s somebody saying ‘You’re (just) acting’.
自分らしさ 見失って 私何になればいいの？
私じゃなくたっていいの それくらいわかってる
If I lose myself, what should I become?
It doesn’t have to be me. That much I understand.
今日は何番目の私？
何番目 — nanbanme — what number (in a sequence)
Which number me am I today?
何のためのレプリカ？
何のため — nan no tame — for what purpose(?)
A replica for what purpose?
穏やかに居たい ホワイト 負けたくない日は ブラック
穏やか — odayaka — quiet, calm
居たい — itai — want to be, want to stay
ホワイト — howaito — white
負けたくない — maketakunai — don’t want to lose
日 — hi — day(s)
ブラック — burakku — black
When I want to stay calm, (I wear) white. On days I don’t want want to lose, it’s black.
どんな声でどんなトーン？ 選択ミスご愛嬌
どんな — donna — what sort of
声 — koe — voice
トーン — to-n — tone
選択 — sentaku — choice
ミス — misu — mistake, error
ご愛嬌 — goaikyou — amusement, entertainment
What sort of voice? What sort of tone? Wrong choice. That’s cute.
御守り代わりのアクセに 鞄に潜めたキャンディ
御守り — omamori — lucky charm
代わり — kawari — substitute
アクセ — akuse — accessory
鞄 — kaban — bag
潜めた — hisomeru — conceal
キャンディ — kyandi — candy
A lucky charm. A swappable accessory. Candy concealed in a bag.
サイテーから少し浮上 ないよりはずっとマシ
サイテーsaite~ — a slang pronunciation of 最低 (saitei), the worst, the lowest, terrible, disgusting
から — kara — from
少し — sukoshi — a little bit
浮上 — fujou — rising, surfacing
ないより —nai yori — more than nothing
ずっと — zutto — always, throughout
マシ — mashi — preferable
A step above loathsome, but it’s still better than nothing
どれもこれも私だって 偽物なんかじゃないって
どれもこれも — dore mo kore mo — each and every
だって — datte — in this case ‘datte’ acts like spoken quotation marks around her thoughts
偽物 — ikamono — fake, forgery
なんか — nanka — something like
じゃない — ja nai — am/is not
All of these (replicas) are me. I’m not some sort of fake.
コーラスと同じように、レプリカの人たちの偽物っぽさと、実用性のある別個のものとして所有することの二律背反が並存している。
Like the chorus there’s a dichotomy of the fakeness of replica people juxtaposed with an ownership of them as distinct things with utility.
使い分けて 自分も誰かも傷つけないように
使い分けて — tsukaiwakete — using properly
自分 — jibun — (my)self
誰か — dareka — somebody, anybody
傷つけない — kizutsukenai — to not wound
ように — you ni — in order to
心ごと切り離せたら きっと楽になるけど
Use each one as intended, so as not to hurt yourself or others
この歌には深みがある。私たちはそれぞれ、人生の中で複数の役割を担っている。仕事では、私たちがどのように行動するかを規定する一定の期待やルールがある。家族の一員であれば、別の明確な期待やルールがある。チームやクラブ、社会的グループの一員であれば、また別の期待やルールがある。これらのルールはそれぞれ、ある種の合意された社会契約であり、私たちを変化させる共進化的な制約となる。これらの役割のどれかひとつが、あなたの「真の」アイデンティティだと言えるだろうか？他人を喜ばせるために行動することが生存メカニズムであるならば、それは有効な役割なのだろうか？
There is so much depth to this song. We each of us have multiple roles we play in our life. At work, there are certain expectations and rules that govern how we act. As a member of a family, another distinct set of expectations and rules. If you’re a member of a team or club or social group, there’s a different set of expectations again. Each of these sets of rules are a sort of agreed social contract that becomes a sort of co-evolutionary constraint that alters us and in turn is altered as we interact with them. Can you say that any single one of these roles is your ‘true’ identity? Is acting to please others a valid role if it’s a survival mechanism?
心ごと —kokoro goto — one’s entire heart
切り離せたら — kiri hanasetara — if/when (you) cut off/separate/detach
きっと — kitto — surely, undoubtedly
楽になる — raku ni naru — become easy/easier
けど — kedo — although. Contraction of ‘keredomo’.
If I could separate my entire heart it would surely be easier, but
If you wanted to go for something less literal, you could go with ‘If I could switch off my feelings’, or ‘If I could separate my heart from my mind’ (the MV translation).
痛み 涙 忘れないわ いつかの私救うため
痛み
涙
忘れないわ
いつかの私 — itsuka no watashi — ‘the me of someday’ or ‘future me’ if you like.
救う — sukuu — rescue
ため — purpose, sake
I can’t forget the pain and tears. They’re there to save me one day.
うんざりレプリカピーポー お見事ね
上っ面に笑ってさHaha…
仮面を被っては 本物はどこ？
終点はない 見栄っ張りくだらない
わかってやめらんない
I’m sick of these replica people. Good job eh?
Laughing on the outside. Haha.
Hiding their real intentions. Where is your true self?
There’s no end in sight. You’re vain and worthless.
I know and I can’t help it.
ねえ ダメじゃないよね？ 誰か言って
「これでいいんだ」って
ne, it’s okay isn’t it? Won’t somebody say
‘It’s going to be alright’?
自分らしさ 見失って 私何になればいいの？
私じゃなくたっていいの それくらいわかってる
If I lose myself, what should I become?
It doesn’t have to be me. That much I understand.
自分らしさなんてみんな 一生わからないかも
空いた穴を埋めるように ハマるように演じちゃって
I guess people go their whole life without understanding themselves.
Like covering an open hole you fit yourself to the role.
自分らしさ 見失って 私何になればいいの？
私じゃなくたっていいの それくらいわかってる
If I lose myself, what should I become?
It doesn’t have to be me. That much I understand.
生き抜くため 演じてるの 他に術があるなら教えてよ
生き抜く — ikinuku — to survive, live through
演じてる — enjiteru — acting, performing
他に — hoka ni — besides
術 — jutsu — art, technique. This is the ‘jutsu’ of martial arts like kenjutsu or jujutsu. It implies something that can be practically applied.
あるなら — aru nara — if you have, if there is
教えてよ — oshiete yo — tell me(!). ‘oshieru’ means ‘to teach’, so ‘teach me!’ would be a valid translation, though ‘tell me’ is closer to its general colloquial usage.
Acting to survive is all I have. If you have anything else up your sleeve, tell me!
A bit of poetic interpretation here. A more literal translation would be ‘If you know any technique other than acting to survive, teach/tell me!’.
今日はバースデイ 6番目のレプリカ
今日 — kyou — today
バースデイ — ba-sudei — birthday
6番目のレプリカ — rokubanme no repurika — replica number 6
Today’s my birthday. (Now) I’m number 6 replica.
この曲の終わりの必死の執拗さは、『マルホランド・ドライブ』のエンディング・シーンをフラッシュバックさせる。同じような静寂の後、「私は一体何を体験したのだろう」と不思議に思う。
The frantic relentlessness of the end of this song gives me flashbacks to the ending scene of Mulholland Drive. There’s the same silence after that leaves you wondering ‘what the hell did I just experience?’.
特にセルフ・タイトル・アルバムと今回の「W」で、Gacharic Spinはメンタルヘルスと社会の期待に合わせることの難しさについて掘り下げている。I wish I」、「Mindset」、「Replica」（カチカチ山がサポート）などの曲には、ある種の物語の糸が織り込まれている。ここ数枚のアルバムでは、以前のバンドにはなかったある種のまとまりがある。 これは、彼らが率直に弱さをさらけ出そうとする姿勢によるところが大きいと思う。キャッチーで、彼らの音楽的才能が発揮された曲はたくさんあった。しかし、人間的なつながりを強く感じさせる曲はそうではなかった。
Particularly with their self-titled album and now with ‘W’, Gacharic Spin have delved into the topic of mental health and the challenges of conforming to societal expectation. Tracks like I wish I, Mindset and Replica (with some support from Kachikachi yama) have a sort of narrative thread that weaves through them. With the last couple of albums, there’s a sort of cohesion to the band that wasn’t there in previous incarnations. I think in large part this is due to their willingness to be openly vulnerable. They had plenty of tracks that were catchy and showed off their musical talent. Songs with such a strong, visceral human connection not so much.
これは典型的なGacharic Spinのトラックとは違うが、もしこれがこれから彼らが届けてくれる音楽のレベルだとしたら、彼らの人気が高まるのは目に見えている。
This is not. your typical Gacharic Spin track, but if this is the calibre of music they’re going to be bringing us from now on, I can only see their popularity growing.