Song Credits:
- Original: ZUN, aka Team Shanghai Alice. This is the stage 3 theme from Touhou 4, Lotus Land Story. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7IoHiD0Kuo)
- Alstroemeria Records (https://youtube.com/watch?v=i41KoE0iMYU)
- midi (for vocals): https://freemidi.org/request-detail-153
- video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkgK8eUdpAo
- audio (off-vocal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO5-RpQAIt4
Resource Credits:
- vocal synthesis software: https://dreamtonics.com/synthesizerv/
- voicebank: Kasane Teto AI (Lite)
- mixing and adjustments: https://www.audacityteam.org/
- subtitling: https://aegisub.org/
- merging subtitles: https://www.videolan.org/vlc//
- midi editing: http://www.midieditor.org/
- Urdu keyboard for Windows: https://urdu.ca/
- Hindi keyboard online: https://www.typingbaba.com/typing/online-hindi-typing.php
- Perso-Arabic ↔ Devanagari converter: https://sangam.learnpunjabi.org/
Translation notes:
This translation definitely leans on the more literal side - i.e., accurate to the original meaning even if it sounds a little awkward when translated.
Sometimes when the original meaning was a bit ambiguous (especially since Japanese verbs don't inflect for subject/object), I tried to retain the ambiguity in the translation using e.g. passive tense formations and such, rather than make a call about the intended meaning.
Apart from the number of syllables in each verse (which is of course non-negotiable), I tried my best to maintain the syllabic meter (wazan) as well. Long/short, stressed/unstressed syllables, etc.
Rhyming doesn't seem to be a thing in Japanese at all. Here I have tried to not let the vowels go all over the place, but other than that there's no real rhyme scheme.
Also, I've used a few Urdu words that aren't very common outside of poetry, so a glossary has been included at the end for convenience.
Phonetics notes:
SynthV supports English, (Mandarin) Chinese, and Japanese. What do I use for Urdu/Hindi?
English has a rich phonotactic structure, but the retroflex 'r' and velarised 'l' give it a very strong accent, and the vowels sound a bit off, too.
Chinese has aspirates, which do show up a lot in Hindustani and aren't available elsewhere; but lacks voiced consonants entirely, which is very inconvenient.
Japanese has very limited phonotactics, but SynthV supports timing and editing at the phoneme level, allowing syllables to be chopped up and manipulated more finely.
This was good enough to get a reasonable facsimile of aspirates, consonant clusters, unreleased stops, etc.
A few basic sounds (retroflex stops, velar fricatives, lateral approximant, etc.) are still out of reach, but this is the case across the board, and most other phonemes in Japanese aren't too far off from Hindustani.
So, Japanese it is!
The big constraint with Japanese is the phonotactics (syllable structure), where every consonant is necessarily followed by a vowel.
So how do you approximate consonant clusters or word-final consonants? Pretty much what you'd expect: represent V1C1C2V2 with V1C1V3C2V2, and shorten the epenthetic V3 as much as possible.
(Before I learnt of individual phoneme manipulation, I would just shorten the whole C1V3 syllable, which worked fairly well.)
For a higher-order correction, I assimilated word-final epenthetic vowels to the following sound - using traditional Sanskrit classifications of vowels according to articulatory positions typically associated with consonants, for example.
Of course, this is all still just rules of thumb. Each note is different, and you end up having to play it by ear and fine-tune it a bit differently each time.
As for the velar fricatives, I approximated them with velar aspirates. This is what real people speak like in more Sanskrit-inspired Hindi, so it's cool.
Transliteration notes:
full stop: legato mark (stretching syllable to fit rhythm)
parentheses: phrases sung simultaneously
verses between slashes: not present in short version
capital ⟨T/D⟩ vs small ⟨t/d⟩: retroflex vs dental plosives
capital ⟨N⟩: nasalised vowel
⟨q⟩: uvular plosive
digraphs: ⟨KH/GH⟩ = velar fricatives. ⟨ch/sh⟩ = palato-alveolar affricate/sibilant
otherwise, ⟨h⟩ after a consonant denotes aspiration.
some vowel transcription choices may seem unusual, but it's more consistent this way, trust me.
although, I have kept 'hai' for familiarity's sake, despite 'hae' making more sense. Similarly with 'meiN', which should really be 'meN'.
(For subsequent videos, I have stopped doing this - so all vowels are transcribed systematically, even if you find it weird at first.)
Lyrics (roman transliteration):
behte huwe waqt ki saelaab ke biich khaDi huN; phir bhi hai susti, dekho go.l go.l ghumrahi hai
dil mera jo duur hote ja ra ha hai wo bhi; dikh nahi raha ha.i, kya pata tha
KHud se to ab hilna bhi mushkil ho raha hai; behte rehgaye, waqt ka aage baDhna koi na roke
pata nahi hai, aazu baazu kya hai mere; ma.eN to. maeN hu.N, bas it(na hi)
(kya maeN) sapna dekh rahi? ya kuchh dikh raha nahi? ab kuchh bole to bhi kya, haeN alfaaz mere bekaar
ye koi GHam ki baat nahiN, bas hai thoDi si thakaan; na KHushi aur naaki GHam, yuuN hi rehna Thiik hoga
khogaye the jo alfaaz agar mile kahiN se; to phir bhi mere KHayaal rahinge khoye huwe
mujh se hilna agar ho, sab badalne ka hai to; sab badlaana agar hai, to andhera chhaayega
aise dunya meiN mere liye jage hogi kya? mere jaisoN ke liye ummiid-e-farda hai kya?
kya ye dukh ki ba.at hai? kya afso.s-na.ak hai? KHud ke baare meiN nahi hai mujhe koi andaaza
chalte chalte rehne se, ab bas thak gayi huN maeN; logoN ko samajh. na, mere bas ki baat nai hai
mere jaise kisi ko, gar sudharna mumkin ho, rasta hai badalne to, roshan hai mujhe banna
{lines 1-8 repeat}
/ye fuzu.ul dinoN se, kal ka din kya KHaak aaye? mera rehna hai kya mum.kin aesi jaga. meiN
mere KHud ke baare meiN, kuchh agar kehna paDe; kaafi hai bas itna sa, 'kamtariin' hai mera naam
mera rehna hai kya mum.kin aesi jaga. meiN? kya aese dinoN ke biich mera rehna mumkin hai?
{line 12}
{lines 5-8}/
yahaN se agar hiluN, ek qadam bhi aage luN; sab tabaah ho jaayega, sab kuchh hoga satyanaash
dukhi ka izhaar karuN, ya gila-e-GHam gauN; to kya ho ki mera dil shaayad roshan banega
.tumhaare baare meiN, mere KHud ke baare meiN, har koi chiiz ke baare meiN, abhi bhi nahi pata
gar mayassar ho bedaa,ri ya aankhoN ka khulna, sab tabaah hone ka ho, to hojaaye andhera!!!
Glossary:
saelaab: torrent, flood
alfaaz: words
yuuN hi: just like this
farda: tomorrow
ummiid-e-farda: hope for the future
afsos-naak: causing sorrow
gar: short for 'agar' (if)
KHaak: dust
kya KHaak aaye: (idiomatically) what good will come (of this)?
kamtariin: inferior
izhaar karna: to express
gila: complaint, lament
mayassar: within reach, facilitated
bedaari: wakefulness
Literal English Translation:
I stand in the midst of time's torrential flow; yet my indolence remains, look, it spins round and round
My heart, that drifts further and further away; I cannot even see it, did you know?
Moving by myself grows ever more difficult; we are left drifting, none can stop time's onward march
I don't know anything of what is around me; I am just me, that is all
Am I seeing a dream? Or seeing nothing at all? Even if I speak now, what of it? My words are worthless
This isn't a matter of grief, I'm just a bit tired; neither happy nor sad - it's best to just go on like that
Even if I found the words I had lost; I will still remain absent-minded
If it moves from me, if everything is to change; if I am to change everything, darkness will be cast
Will there be space for me in a world like this? Is there hope for tomorrow, for people like me?
Is this something sad? Does it cause sorrow? I hardly have any idea about myself
Walking on and on, I'm just tired; understanding people is beyond me
If someone like me can reform; if there's a way to change, I'd like to be full of light
{lines 1-8 repeat}
/What kind of lousy future can you expect from these lousy times? Is it possible for me to be in a place like this?
If I had to say something about myself; it would suffice to say, my name is 'inferiority'
Is it possible for me to be in a place like this? Is it possible for me to be amongst such days?
{line 12}
{lines 5-8}/
If I move from here, if I take another step; all will be ruined, everything will be destroyed
If I express pain, or sing a lament of grief; then it may be possible that my heart will fill with light
About you, about me; about everything, I still don't know
If it is feasible to wake up, or to open my eyes; if everything is to be destroyed, then let there be darkness!!!
Perso-Arabic Script
بہتے ہوے وقت کی سےلاب کے بیچ کھڈی ہوں، پھر بھی ہے سستی، دےکھو گول گول گھوم رہی ہے
دل مےرا جو دور ہوتے جا رہا ہے وہ بھی، دکھ نہی رہا ہے کیا پتا تھا؟
خد سے تو اب ہلنا بھی مشکل ہو رہا ہے، بہتے رہ گیے وقت کا آگے بڈھنا کؤی نہ روکے
پتہ نہی ہے آزو بازو کیا ہے مےرے، مَیں تو مَیں ہوں بس اِتنا ہی
کیا مَیں سپنا دےکھ رہی؟ یا کچھ دکھ رہا نہیں؟ اب کچھ بولے توبھی کیا ہیں الفاظ میرے بےکار
یہ کؤی غم کی بات نہی بس ہے تھوڈی سی تھکان، نہ خشی اور نہ کی غم یوں ہی رہنا ٹھیک ہوگا
کھو گیے تھے جو الفاظ اگر مِلے کہیں سے، تو پھر بھی میرے خیال رہںگے کھویے ہوے
مجھ سے ہلنا اگر ہو سب بدلنے کا ہے تو، سب بدلانا اگر ہے تو اندھےرا چھایےگا
ایسے دنیا میں میرے لیے جگہ ہوگی کیا؟ میرے جےسوں کے لیے امّیدِ فردا ہے کیا؟
کیا یہ دکھ کی بات ہے؟ کیا افسوس ناک ہے؟ خد کے بارے میں نہیں ہے مجھے کؤی اندازا
چلتے چلتے رہنے سے اب بس تھک گیی ہوں مَیں، لوگوں کو سمَجھنا میری بس کی بات نی ہے
میرے جیسے کسی کو گر سدھرنا ممکن ہو، رستہ ہے بدلنے تو روشن ہے مجھے بنّا
{lines ۱-۸ repeat}
یہ فضول دنوں سے کل کا دن کیا خاک آیے؟ میرا رہنا ہے کےا ممکن اَےسی جگہ میں؟/
میرے خد کے بارے میں کچھ اگر کہنا پڑے کافی ہے بس اتنا سا 'کمترین' ہے میرا نام
میرا رہنا ہے کیا ممکن ایسی جگہ میں؟ کیا ایسے دنوں کے بیچ میرا رہنا ممکن ہے؟
{line ۱۲}
/{lines ۵-۸}
یہاں سے اگر ہلوں اِک قدم بھی آگے لوں، سب تباہ ہو جایےگا سب کچھ ہوگا ستیَناش
دکھی کا اِظہار کروں یا گلاِ غم گاؤں، تو کیا ہو کی مےرا دل شاید روشن بنےگا
تمہارے بارے میں میرے خد کے بارے میں، ہر کؤی چیز کے بارے میں ابھی بھی نہی پتا
!!!گر میسّر ہو بےداری یا آنکھوں کا کھلنا، سب تباہ ہونے کا ہو تو ہوجایے اندھےرا
(Note: Don't kill me for saying this, but I hate the Perso-Arabic script so, so much. Especially for Urdu. Devanagari is so much better in every way, it's actually logical and consistent!)
Devanagari:
बहते हुए वक़्त की सैलाब के बीच खडी हूँ; फिर भी है सस्ती, देखो गोल गोल घूम रही है
दिल मेरा जो दूर होते जा रहा है वो भी; दिख नही रहा है क्या पता था
ख़ुद से तो अब हिलना भी मुश्किल हो रहा है; बहते रेहगए, वक़्त का आगे बढ़ना कई ना रोके
पता नही है, आज़ू बाज़ू क्या है मेरे; मैं तो मैं हूँ, बस इतना ही
क्या मैं सपना देख रही? या कुछ दिख रहा नहीं? अब कुछ बोले तो भी क्या, हैं अलफ़ाज़ मेरे बेकार
ये कई ग़म की बात नही, बस है थोड़ी सी थकान; ना ख़शी और ना की ग़म, यूँही रहना ठीक होगा
खो गए थे जो अलफ़ाज़ अगर मिले कहीं से; तो फिर भी मेरे ख़याल रहेंगे खोये हुए
मुझसे हिलना अगर हो, सब बदलने का है तो; सब बदलाना अगर है, तो अंधेरा छायेगा
ऐसे दुनिया में मेरे लिए जगह होगी क्या? मेरे जैसों के लिए उम्मीद-ए-फ़र्दा है किया?
क्या ये दुख की बात है? क्या अफ़सोसनाक है? ख़द के बारे में नहीं है मुझे कई अंदाज़ा
चलते चलते रहने से, अब बस थक गई हूँ में, लोगों को समझना, मेरे बस की बात नै है
मेरे जैसे किसी को, गर सुधरना मुम्किन हो; रस्ता है बदलने तो, रोशन है मुझे बन्ना
{lines १-८ repeat}
/ये फ़ुज़ूल दिनों से कल का दिन क्या ख़ाक आए? मेरा रहना है क्या मुम्किन ऐसी जगह में?
मेरे ख़द के बारे में कुछ अगर कहना पड़े काफ़ी है बस इतना सा 'कमतरीन' है मेरा नाम
मेरा रहना है क्या मुम्किन ऐसी जगह में? क्या ऐसे दिनों के बीच मेरा रहना मुम्किन है?
{line १२}
{lines ५-८}/
यहां से अगर हिलूं, एक क़दम भी आगे लूं, सब तबाह हो जायेगा, सब कुछ होगा सत्यनाश
दुखी का इज़हार करूँ, या गिला-ए-ग़म गाऊँ, तो क्या हो की मेरा दिल शायद रोशन बनेगा
तुम्हारे बारे में, मेरे ख़ुद के बारे में, हर कई चीज़ के बारे में, अभी भी नही पता
गर मयस्सर हो बेदारी या आँखों का खुलना, सब तबाह होने का हो तो हो जाए अंधेरा!!!
Phew, that took awhile. I am never doing something like this again.
If you read this far, you are awesome! Please leave a comment saying 'saDa seb' or something.