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J.A. Caesar 5cd box
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sarmoung
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Re: J.A. Caesar 5cd box
May 07, 2008, 19:24
Steve,

I've no idea if Japanese script works on this site or not, but I've just been finished transliterating/lating (-ish! my Japanese is rather rusty) the first two discs for a friend. Don't take this as gospel mind

DISC ONE

1. 転生譚 - Tenshotan - Like many of thes titles, there are various religious/Buddhist references which are rather beyond my ken. "Metempsychosis" might do. That said, I've got two readings: "tensho" and also "tensei". Hmm, and is it "tan" or does it change to "dan"...
2. 国境哀歌 - Kokkyo Aika - National Lament
3. エンプティ・バード変奏曲 - Empty Bird Hensokyoku - Empty Bird (Variation)
4. 首吊りの木 - Kubitsuri no Ki - The Hanging Tree
5. オルフェ・ヒロシマ - Orufei Hiroshima - Orphée Hiroshima - A welcome break into English for non-Japanese speakers.
6. 帝政ロシア顛落のロック - Teisei Roshia Tenraku no Rokku - "The Fall of Imperial Russia" ROCK!
7. 民間医療術 - Minkan Iryou Jutsu - Folk Medicine
8. 人形昇天 - Ningyou Shouten - Ascension of the Puppet - That's Caesar on the ribbon controller of his Electone. A YC model it says here in the booklet. A YC-45 maybe.
9. 大鳥の来る日 - Ootori no Kuruhi - The Coming of the Phoenix. Ootori (lit. Big Bird) is sometimes written with this character 鳳 and is the phoenix (fenghuang) of Chinese mythology.

DISC TWO

1. 狂女節 - Kyoujo Bushi - Song of the Madwoman
2. 東京巡礼歌 - Tokyo Junreika - Tokyo Pilgrimage Song
3. 長髪楚囚~あわれ自由や~ Nagakami ?? Aware Jiyu ya - Hmm. The third and fourth characters, for the best of me, I can only manage to translate as "a prisoner of the Chu dynasty"! Idiom? I've no idea how to read them though as I can only find the word in a Chinese dictionary and I've no idea what it means. It sounds like "soshu" when they sing it. "Long Haired Prisoner of the Chu - A Pitiful Freedom". Err... Anyway, Caesar was known for his very long hair. Perhaps the longest male hair in all of Shinjuku....
4. 英明詩篇 1 - Hideaki Shihen 1 - Hideaki Psalm Number One. This neatly encapsulates one of those frequent headaches for learners of Japanese script. After thinking that the first two characters are "eimei" (the so-called Chinese reading) which means intelligent or clear sighted, I read in the notes that in fact it's named after the performer Sasaki Hideaki whose given name uses exactly the same characters which I never would have worked out otherwise. It's originally from Throw Away Your Books...
5. 越後つついし親不知 - Echigo Tsutsuishi Oyashirazu - What it says on the tin! Echigo is the old name for Niigata and both Tsutsuishi and Oyashirazu (means wisdom tooth) are places there. It is the name of a story by Minakami (sometimes Mizukami) Tsutomu which was also filmed by Imai Tadashi. I guess I might try and watch it one day if I find a copy. Lyrics by Caesar.
6. 母捨般若経 - Bosha Hannyakyou - I spent a fair while reading about Hannya referring to Prajnaparamita. Well, yes. But it's just as much a reference to the Noh mask. The first two characters, hmm, "Abandoning Mother (who abandons who?) Hannya (or vengeaful jealous female demon, I suppose) Sutra". The lyrics at the end of this piece are "Please die, Mother!". Terayama's mother issues really deserve their own post...
7. 母恋しや珊瑚礁 - Bokoishi ya Sangoshou - Mother Love and the Coral Reef. Lyrics by Caesar.
8. 和讃 - Wasan - Wasan is a style of shomyo or Japanese Buddhist chanting. Wasan means it's in Japanese (where bonsan is chanting in Sanskrit, kansan in Chinese).
9. 人力飛行機の為の演説草案 - Jinryoku hikoki no tame no Enzetsu Soan - Err, "A Draught Address In The Cause Of Human Powered Aircraft" which sounds rather pataphysical in its way.
10. 山に上りて告げよ - Yama ni Noborite Tsugeyo - Go Tell It On The Mountain. I think this song title is a direct quote of the Japanese title of James Baldwin's novel.

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