Sukidattanda

December 11, 2016

好きだったんだ (Sukidattanda) · 一直喜欢着你 · I Was In Love With You

In:
[Album] Prism – track 4

The title’s Chinese translation, 一直喜欢着你, means “I always liked you” when adjusted for the past tense. I’m not sure why the “always” is in there. 好きだったんだ (Sukidattanda) can be broken down into:

好き (suki) means “like” or “love”.

だった (datta) is the past tense of だ (da), which in the present tense is used for saying “is” or “be”.

んだ (nda) is basically defined as an expression used for stating something as a fact. There are several ways it can be used in conversation, and in a nutshell it uses the fact to explain something.

Thus, I think the translation would likely be “I was in love with you (so…)”.

The phrase is said twice in each of the first and third lines of the chorus. As such, the inclusion of “always” can add emphasis. In fact, in the chorus, the Chinese translation includes “always” for the first time the phrase is said and omits “always” for the second time.

Come to think of it, “I was in love with you” could be the translation for 愛してた (Aishiteta), and it sounds more elegant than “I used to love you” (the current translation for that title). I believe the difference in Japanese would mostly be in the degree of affection conveyed by 好き (suki) and 愛 (ai).

 

English

My tears have dried up, there were nights when I cried non-stop¹
You always had a nonchalant look on your face as you gazed ahead

Honesty might hurt someone
I’m sure neither you nor I knew what we wanted to protect²

I was always searching for the missing happiness
But someone truly important was by my side

I was in love with you, I was in love with you, I was thinking about you
Why is it only now do I realise that all I think of is you
I was in love with you, I was in love with you, despite having no reason
I’m going to meet you now so you can hold me tight

There is no end to your list of shortcomings
You’re sloppy, slow-witted, and should be kinder

Even so, everything is meaningless if you’re not the one
Just holding hands and exchanging smiles with you will make me happy

I was in love with you, I was in love with you, I truly was thinking about you
I didn’t say sorry, I didn’t show kindness, I just stayed away from you
I was in love with you, I was in love with you, just like when we first met
I’m going to meet you now so you can hold me tight once again

I was in love with you, I was in love with you, I was thinking about you
Why is it only now do I realise that all I think of is you
I was in love with you, I was in love with you, despite having no reason
I’m going to meet you now so you can hold me tight

 

Translation notes

1.

Verse 1, line 1

My tears have dried up, there were nights when I cried non-stop

In this line, the Chinese translation includes a “but” between the two statements:

泪已干涸  却仍不断哭泣的夜晚

My tears have dried up, but there were nights when I cried non-stop

Literal: tears already dried up, but nights of crying non-stop

This line in Japanese ends with けど (kedo), which is used to mean “but”. However, to my knowledge, it should go between two statements. If けど (kedo) appears at the end of a statement, it may have another meaning. Of these meanings, I think “making your point (conversational)” is somewhat appropriate. Maybe it would change the translation to:

My tears have dried up after all the nights when I cried non-stop

Lyrics are poetic, however, so lines do not necessarily follow regular sentence structure. With that in mind, the second statement for けど (kedo) may be the second line of the verse. This would make the translation:

My tears have dried up, there were nights when I cried non-stop
But you always had a nonchalant look on your face as you gazed ahead

Since I think “there were nights when I cried non-stop” could be joined either with the first part of the first line or with the second line, I decided to let it float between the two.

 

2.

Verse 2, line 2

I’m sure neither you nor I knew what we wanted to protect

The Chinese translation interprets this line to mean that “you and I” are the things to protect:

想要守护的东西  虽然并不清楚  你我必定都是

I don’t know what I want to protect, but I’m sure about protecting you and me

Literal: thing want to protect, although not clear, you and I must be

The line in Japanese, along with my attempt at a literal translation of it, assisted by machine translation:

守りたいもの　分からずにいた　きっと私も　あなたも
Mamoritai mono wakarazu ni ita kitto watashi mo anata mo

Literal: thing want to protect, was not known, surely I too, you too

Although I cannot claim to know Japanese grammar, I think that the line is saying that “you and I” did not know what to protect instead of being something to protect.

 

I see the tale told by this song as being the singer realising that she was and is in love with the listener after their relationship went cold. They may have broken up. At first, the singer had feelings for the listener as shown by “I was in love with you, just like when we first met” in the second version of the chorus.

Later, the singer wasn’t sure about her feelings, and believed that the listener wasn’t sure about his feelings either. This is shown by “I’m sure neither you nor I knew what we wanted to protect” in the second verse. The cause may be the listener being a bit of a jerk. The singer lists “should be kinder” as one of the listener’s deficiencies, and says that the listener looked “nonchalant” when she cried at night.

Now, the singer realises that she did indeed love the listener, and that she still does. This is most telling in the line “I’m going to meet you now so you can hold me tight once again” in the second version of the chorus.

 

Simplified Chinese

泪已干涸  却仍不断哭泣的夜晚
你总是摆出  若无其事的表情  注视着前方

诚实以对  或许会伤害到谁
想要守护的东西  虽然并不清楚  你我必定都是

一直在寻找着  这里所没有的幸福
但是真正重要的人  就这么在我身边

一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  想着你
为何到此刻才发现  想着的都是你
一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  毫无来由
现在就想去见你  把我抱紧

你的缺点  真要说也说不完
散漫  不机灵  也不够温柔

即使如此  若非是你  一切都将失去意义
牵起手  相视而笑  光是这样就可以了

一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  真的想着你
不说抱歉  不对你温柔  只是一味远离你
一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  如同当初邂逅之时
现在就想去见你  再一次把我抱紧

一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  想着你
为何到此刻才发现  想着的都是你
一直喜欢着你  喜欢着你  毫无来由
现在就想去见你  把我抱紧

 

Written by Edward Posted in Prism album Tagged with Chinese, English, Hanako Oku, lyrics, Oku Hanako, Song, Sukidattanda, translation