#the way that this song makes me cry fr truly so beautiful...... bridge gives me chills eeeevery time

[wutaijiemei]

english tl from amis/japanese ❤️

o nani cowaay kita? where have we come from? nani tira i kahadakan no cidal from the place where the sun rises tatalacowa kita? micelemayto ko cidal where are we going? the sun has already set malingad to kita! we are setting off! pasiwali kita heading all the way east

a~a taiyō ni se o mukete katana o futte with the sun behind me, i will carve my path forward michi o terashite kureta hachibōsei as the eight-pointed star¹ guides my way yoru no tobari ga orita kuroku nure night falls and slowly dyes the sky black “sonata wa doko ni mukau?” “where are you going?” oshiete please tell me

awaay ma’araw ako ko soda i ca’ang no kilang. we may know nothing of snow-covered branches awaay ma’araw iso ko taneng niyam. but you know nothing of our wisdom latek cowa kafana’ kako to kararoman no miso. perhaps i am simply unable to understand your struggles kaorira i, caay ka patadoen ako kiso a malalo’od. but i will not fight your battles

tatalacowa kita? micelemayto ko cidal. where are we going? the sun has already set minokay to kita! we’re going home!

a~a higashi ni mukatte yama o koete to the east, past the mountains mimimoto de sasayaite ita hachibōsei the eight-pointed star whispers in my ear and guides my way boya no kiri ni daka reta aoku nure the fog of night surrounds us and slowly dyes the world blue “sonata wa nanto yoba reru?” “what is your name?” oshiete please tell me

a~a kyokujitsu ga iranai ya jū o sutete abandon the rising sun, lay down your guns hirahara ni shizunde ita hachibōsei as the eight-pointed star sinks beneath the plains akatsuki ga akete kita akaku nure day breaks and slowly dyes the sky red darenimo nozoki koma renai yukusue and we reach the end of our journey, safe from prying eyes

¹reference to an important amis/pangcah cultural symbol, visible in the cover art in the center of the soldier's hat. i could not find the actual word for it in amis and, interestingly, it only appears in the japanese sections of the song. will edit the post if i find it T-T

this song is the story lead singer (and lyricist on this song) Natsuko once heard from her father about her grandfather's experience as an amis volunteer soldier during the final days of WWII. full translation of the portion of the interview that talks about this particular song in very great depth here. brief excerpt for basic contexts:

In 1945, the US military began bombing Taiwan, and Japan was on the verge of facing the reality of their imminent loss. A group of young Amis men were at the Takasago volunteer military camp in Taichung, witnessing the chaos firsthand and fearing deployment under such circumstances. They resolved not to fight any more on another nation’s behalf, and a number of them decided to desert and return to Taitung on foot. Natsuko’s grandfather was among them.