Song lyrics, unknown language (written in cyrillic)-English

[Runa27]

Well, let's see...

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- Please also indicate the context and the goal of your request

Context: They're song lyrics, from the (very beautiful!) opening theme song for the Japanese television series "Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex"; the song's title is "Inner Universe".

I managed to find a scan of the lyrics book online, but it has no translation, let alone to English (the lyrics book was, of course, printed for the Japanese release of the soundtrack CD).

Parts of it are in English ("I am calling calling now, spirits rise and falling/[something not in English]/Calling calling, in the depth of longing/[something not in English]", for example), but the rest is written in what appears to be cyrillic (I've never studied that writing system, so I'm not 100% sure it's what I think it is!).

Listening to the song itself, it sounds like it could be a slavic language, so cyrillic sounds right.

The goal? To know what the heck the singer's saying, because it's been driving me nuts lately.

If you recognize the language that makes up the non-English lyrics and can provide a translation, I will be SO grateful!

If at all possible, I would also like a rough romanization of the cyrillic, because I've been sort of trying to learn Romanian (a slavic-influenced tongue) in my spare time, and am curious about the pronunciations in similar-sounding languages, since not all Romanian sounds have very direct equivalents to English...

But mostly, I want a translation so I know what the song is saying and what language it is saying it in.

- Please indicate the source and target languages in the subject of the topic.

Unfortunately, especially since I have heard that more than one language uses the cyrillic writing system, I have no idea what language the source is, only that it is very likely a slavic language, and MOST probably (but not definitely) Russian. Heck, I didn't even have a clue what language it was at all until I found the cyrillic lyrics (I guessed everything from French to Arabic or Farsi, because of the very pretty and exotic sound; all I knew what that it probably wasn't Japanese, because it didn't sound enough like Japanese, and if it was English, it wasn't being pronounced like normal English).

The scan is here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/ ... iverse.jpg

Very, VERY big thanks to anyone who can help me!



-Runa27

[didine]

It's Russian. I'll post the translation here a bit later today as I'm in a bit of a hurry right now.

[sv]

it's russian as didine said.
translation is (i'll drop original english text):

angels and demons circled above me
[they] were breaking thorns and star ways
only that doesn't know happiness
who couldn't undertand the call

-//English//-
To remain yourself longer
-//English//-
To remain yourself longer

-//English//-
-//English//-

Never-ending run
As long as I live i can try not to fall flying
Not to unlearn to dream, to love
Never-ending run

-//English/-

-//English//-
To remain yourself longer
-//English//-
To remain yourself longer
-//English//-
To remain yourself longer

[Runa27]

Thanks so much! Out of curiousity, what's the sentence structure for Russian? Because the begining of the song, I can definately hear the part that translates to "angels and demons" (it sort of sounds almost like "ahngaley-hee"-something and "deymonah" - using a form of English "phonetics" there, so don't worry if that looks stupid, because I can't read the international system - are in there, so... putting two and two together...), so it seems like the subject comes first. Unless "me" is the subject... hmm... man, my grammar skills are bad!

it's russian as didine said.
translation is (i'll drop original english text):

angels and demons circled above me
[they] were breaking thorns and star ways

Does this mean "toward the stars", or "in the way of the stars"?

only that doesn't know happiness
who couldn't undertand the call

Is "that" the subject here, the same one as "who"? Just clarifying...

Never-ending run
As long as I live i can try not to fall flying

Whee! I think I know what that means! What I mean is: the "not to fall flying" sounds like it refers to Major Kusanagi! She does this thing where she leaps backwards off of a building and then does a back flip and lands on her feet (it's even in the opening credits sequence!). I wonder then, if this is a pun? (Oh, and yes, she's not human, she's a cyborg, which is why she doesn't break her legs doing that. ) It sounds like it...

Not to unlearn to dream, to love
Never-ending run

I wonder if this is a reference to some of the series' subtexts and themes? A big part of the series is "What does it mean to be human?". Like, "Are you still 'human' if your entire body and even brain are mechanical or computerized?". After all, if your body can be easily replaced (which Kusanagi's can), can't that make you maybe immortal ("Never-ending run")? Interesting.

It's a pretty interesting series. I mean, it has such cool action sequences, and it looks and sounds great, and the technology is cool... but at the same time, it's a great mystery series, intelligent, and a fascinating look at a potential future for humanity. And it has the best opening credits sequence ever!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much for the translation!



-Runa27

[sv]

i translated the text very roughly and as literal as possible without losing sense in English. it shows youa bit how words are put together in russian.

"ahngaley-hee"-something and "deymonah"

there is a sound in russian which is absent in English. it's the sound you spelled 'ey' at the end of ahngaley, and 'ah' at the end of deymonah. it's ы - plural ending of some nouns. 'hee' is 'and' in russian.

[they] were breaking thorns and star ways

Does this mean "toward the stars", or "in the way of the stars"?

in russian is could mean both 'ways of the stars', or 'ways where there are stars - among stars'. there's an adjective звездный - of the star/s

there is a phrase in latin: per aspera ad astra. which is transtaled into russian: через тернии к звездам - 'through thorns to the stars'. it's a popular phrase cause there was a movie in russia (science fiction) called 'через тернии к звездам'. this group simly changed the phrase into 'destroying thorns and the ways of/to the stars'. meaning destroying both thorns and ways of/to the stars.

Is "that" the subject here, the same one as "who"? Just clarifying...

yes . in russian they simply say 'that' instead of 'that person'. it's the same one as 'who' :-)

the idea of the song as i understand it (i have no idea about that movie ) is that they say that people now lose themselves - they can't dream, they can't love - they fell flying.
angels and demons circled above. the first destroying thorns, and the last - ways of/to the stars. they were both at a place. and together destroyed both good and bad above the person. and the one who never heard the call will never be happy. and the call as i undestand it is to remain human, to remain yourself. this life is a never-ending run. and you have to be aware of losing your self during this run. and you have to remain yourself as long as possible. they even don't say about never losing yourself, but they say, don't lose your self as long as possible.

[svernoux]

Thanks so much! Out of curiousity, what's the sentence structure for Russian?

(...)

so it seems like the subject comes first.

Don't worry. There is no compulsory word order in Russian, so don't try to make out which is the right order. In Russian, like in many languages that use declination I think, it is the declination that allows to understand what is the function of each word/word group, not the word order

[Kagmi]

I've found translations for the Russian parts of "Inner Universe", but I can't seem to find one for the Latin lines. It's driving me crazy because my mom and I both know small bits of Latin, and we totally disagree about what she's saying in those lines. Does anyone have/know where I could find a translation for them?

[Just me..]

Ok first off some of your translations are way off XD.

ok russian first.

Angeli i demoni kruzhili nado mnoj
Rassekali ternii i mlechnye puti
Ne znaet schast'ya tol'ko tot
Kto ego zova ponyat ne smog

mana du vortes, mana du vortes
Aeria gloris, Aeria gloris
Nalybuites' nalyubuites
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris

I am calling, calling now
Spirits rise and falling
S toboi ostatsa dol'she
Calling, calling, in the depth of longing
S toboi ostat'sya dol'she

Nalybuites' nalyubuites
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris
Nalybuites' nalyubuites
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris
_________________________ rest after this is from the OST version.

Stand alone . . . Where was life when it had a meaning . . .
Stand alone . . . Nothing's real anymore and . . .

Beskoneshnyj beg . . .
Poka zhiva, ya mogu starat'sya na letu ne upast'
Ne razuchit'sya mechtat' . . . lyubit' . . .
. . . Beskoneshnyj beg . . .

Calling, calling, for the place of knowing
There's more than what can be linked
Calling, calling now, never will I look away
For what life has left for me

Yearning, yearning, for what's left of loving
S toboi ostat'sya dol'she
Calling, calling now, spirits rise and falling
S oboi ostat'sya dol'she
Calling, calling, in the depth of longing
Soboj ostat'sya dol'she . . .

Nalybuites' nalyubuites
Aeria gloris, Aeria gloris
Nalybuites' nalyubuites
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris

translation:

Angels and demons were circling above me
Crossing a brambly patch of thorns and Milky Way
Not knowing happiness is the only one
The one who couldnt understand its call

The flow may swallow you
The flow may swallow you

Flying in glory
Flying in glory

The flow may swallow you
The flow may swallow you

Flying in glory
Flying in glory


I am calling, calling now
Spirits rise and falling
To stay with you longer
Calling, calling in the depth of longing
To stay with you longer

The flow may swallow you
Flying in glory.

That is all that is in the actualy episode song verses the rest is from the OST ( offical sound track)

Stand alone . . . Where was life when it had a meaning . . .
Stand alone . . . Nothing's real anymore and . . .

Neverendless run
While I'm alive, I can try to fall in flight
Not to forget how to dream... to love
Neverendless run

Calling, calling, for the place of knowing
There's more than what can be linked
Calling, calling now, never will I look away
For what life has left for me

Yearning, yearning, for what's left of loving
To stay with you longer
Calling, calling now, spirits rise and falling
To be with you longer
Calling, calling, in the depth of longing
To be with you longer

Nalybuites' nalyubuites ( russian pronounciation/ translation of mana du vortes.)
Flying in glory
Flying in glory.
The flow my swallow you