Lyrics Translation: My Generation ~ YUI

Singer-songwriter YUI is a strange but talented individual. Her strangeness is not so much "weird" as it is an "anomaly", because it is not often that one sees an individual so shy and introverted making her presence felt in the world of entertainment. Indeed, even when she does appear on talk shows, she is visibly uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, she holds a well-deserved spotlight in the entertainment scene because of her talent to make excellent music and it is with music that she becomes someone completely different. On stage with her guitar, YUI's introverted personality disappears and in its stead comes a confident, independent person that has no reservations about her gift as a musician. The change is swift and the difference is striking - which is why I could only label her as "strange".

My Generation, besides being the theme song for the drama 生徒諸君! ("seito shokun!" trans: "all you students!" or "attention students!"), is a song that seems to have a personal connection to YUI herself because the lyrics fit quite well with her known personal profile. It's not as catchy as her previous singles in my opinion, but it's still really good. Overall it's a reflection of one's personal experience of secondary school (or high school, as the North Americans prefer to call it) and though many people have great memories, this one is about an individual who doesn't quite share that.

The age of 16 is significant for YUI because that was the age when she gave up mainstream schooling and went on to pursue her dreams in music. It would not be until the age of 17 that she will release her first indie debut. The rest of the song only seems to be personal in that her personality seems like those that would attract bullying and criticism from peers in secondary school though that is not to say that she actually went through this. Nonetheless, from what I know of her (which isn't much, LOL) this song really seems to define her quite well.

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Song information:

First appearance:
Track 1 from YUI's single, My Generation/Understand (Released 2007/06/13).

PV availability:
Yes, a PV was released with the single in 2007.

Theme song:
The song is the theme to the drama: 生徒諸君! ("seito shokun!")

Alternative versions:
1. My Generation -YUI Acoustic Version- (Released with the single LOVE & TRUTH on 2007/09/26)
I should have been a fortune-teller! But as predicted, a "YUI acoustic version" of My Generation was released with LOVE & TRUTH. Like all other such versions, this is the track with a completely acoustic background track which really only helps to display the wonderful skill of this young musician on her guitar. In essence, the song comes across as having a more "unplugged" feeling to it. As with all her personal acoustic versions (which are actually different from the "normal" acoustic versions of the same tracks), this track is just as pleasant on the ears as the original.

Comments:
My Generation is not really a song about YUI's generation in general, but rather one person's view of this generation. It is mainly a song about transition. Much of the symbology is moving from the past into the future - turning points in one's life. Besides transition, the song also notes the concept of freedom - something that has always been available but is constrained only by the individual's self-imposed limitations (I don't personally agree with this, but I am not the one writing the lyrics, LOL).

Nonetheless, in YUI's own personal experience, hard work and determination do lead to the realisation of dreams. From being a quiet secondary school student one year she rose to become a musical inspiration within a time span of two years - all by her own hands as sings, plays, composes, and writes her own music (it must be noted that unlike some artists she had no connections to the entertainment industry - she started by performing in the middle of farms and sidewalks hoping to attract a crowd with her guitar, then she walked into an open audition by Sony Music...).

Finally, the age of 16 is not a normal age to leave secondary school in Japan - it is the age when the law no longer requires one to have compulsory education, but almost all students continue with secondary education. Thus, placing her dreams at the age of 16 and ultimately, leaving school at that age could be understood as a determination to live her dreams.

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Lyrics:
Japanese lyrics retrieved from www.uta-net.com.

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日本語:
My Generation
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歌手: YUI
作詞: YUI
作曲: YUI
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グランドに吹いた風を
ちいさな窓から吸い込んで　ため息

期待することに　イヤんなって
孤独になったけれど

でも諦めたつもりじゃなかった

チャイムが鳴り終われば
現実はもっと　早く進んでゆくでしょ?

窓ガラス　割るような
気持ちとはちょっと　違ってたんだ

はじめから自由よ

My Dream　言葉に出来ないだけなのに
誰でもいいからと傷つけて泣いた夜
わかってほしいなんて思わないけど
描いた夢を信じきれない弱さにただ支配されてた
Sixteen My Dream

制服　脱ぎ捨てた16のアタシに
負けたくはないから

うしろ指　さされたって
振り向いたりしなかった

あたしならまだやれるはずだって

犠牲にできないのは
こみ上げる希望 無くしたら　また道に迷うだけ

邪魔なんてされたくない
わかっているの　覚悟があれば

いつだって自由よ

My Dream　壊れることなんてないから
待ちきれない季節の中　歩き始めたの
うつむいてた時間を取り戻して
描いた夢を強く信じきれた時から変わるGeneration
Sixteen My Dream

ひび割れた校舎の壁にもたれて
誓ったの　叶えてみせるから

My Dream　言葉に出来ないだけなのに
描いた夢を信じきれない弱さにただ支配されてた
Sixteen My Dream

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romaji:
My Generation
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kashyu: YUI
sakushi: YUI
sakkyoku: YUI
romaji: crystalise
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gurando ni fuita kaze wo
chiisana mado kara sui konde   tameiki

kitai suru koto ni    iyannatte
kodoku ni natta keredo

demo akirameta tsumori janakatta

chaimu ga nari owareba
genjitsu wa motto   hayaku susunde yuku desho?

mado garasu   waru you na
kimochi to wa chotto   chigattetanda

hajime kara jiyuu yo

My Dream   kotoba ni dekinai dake na no ni
dare demo ii kara to kizutsukete naita yoru
wakatte hoshii nante omowanai kedo
egaita yume wo shinji kirenai yowasa ni tada shihai sareteta
Sixteen My Dream

seifuku   nugi suteta juuroku no atashi ni
maketaku wa nai kara

ushiro yubi   sasaretatte
furi muitari shinakatta

atashi nara mada yareru hazudatte

gisei ni dekinai no wa
komi ageru kibou   naku shitara   mata michi ni mayou dake

jama nante saretakunai
wakatteiru no   kakugo ga areba

itsu datte jiyuu yo

My Dream   kowareru koto nante nai kara
machi kirenai kisetsu no naka   aruki hajimeta no
utsumuiteta jikan wo tori modoshite
egaita yume wo tsuyoku shinji kireta toki kara kawaru Generation
Sixteen My Dream

hibiwareta kousha no kabe ni motarete
chikatta no   kanaete miseru kara

My Dream   kotoba ni dekinai dake na no ni
egaita yume wo shinji kirenai yowasa ni tada shihai sareteta
Sixteen My Dream

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English:
My Generation
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Performed by: YUI
Lyricist: YUI
Composer: YUI
Translated by: crystalise
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Breathing in the wind from the baseball field
As it seeps through the little window... I let out a sigh.

Many of my aspirations have not materialised,
Though I have been lonely.

Still, I don’t consider these abandoned hopes.

I wonder if the end of the chiming school bells
Usher reality in any faster?

Unlike the broken windowpane
That seems to mirror my feelings.

I know that I’ve been free from the very beginning.

It’s just that I can’t seem to place my dreams into words
And though I don’t think I want to understand it,
It’s like a night of wounded tears – a night when anyone’s company would do.
It’s just the weakness of disbelief that binds me from believing in my dreams,
My dreams at sixteen.

I don’t plan on losing to
My 16-year-old self who cast away her school uniform.

And though I’ve been stung by the pain of other’s talking behind my back,
I am not going to turn around.

There are still things for me to do.

I won’t allow myself to be a victim,
If it wasn’t for this great rush of hope, I would only lose my way again.

Now that I am mentally prepared,*
I will no longer be hindered.

As I’ve always been free.

Because my dreams are unshakable,
In the midst of an impetuous season, I began my journey**
To reclaim the time that was lost to diffidence.
Since I entrusted myself to my dreams, this generation has been one of change.
Those dreams at sixteen.

Leaning against the wall of the crumbling school building,
I vowed to realise my dreams.

My dreams that I just can’t seem to place into words.
My dreams that have only the weakness of my disbelief barring them from me.
My dreams at sixteen.

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Notes:
*Note 1: This was quite tricky to translate (the song in general posed quite a few challenges) but literally she says, “In this understanding preparedness…”
**Note 2: Literally, “In the middle of a season that cannot wait, I started to walk”

I have to thank Deedee for reassuring me that I wasn't as stupid as I thought because I couldn't figure out what some of the lyrics meant. Apparently, the song isn't all that straightforward in some points. Hopefully I've figured it out but I am prone to mistakes - so feel free to correct me if you come across an error in any of my translations. (^___^)

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Links:
YUI official website (maintained by Sony Music)
Purchase My Generation/Understand online (via YesAsia Global)