Translation: High-Collar Idiot (Happy End)

Regarding the phrase "high-collar," the usage notes on wiktionary say: "Originally coined as a derisive term for Japanese people who imitated Western trends and fashions, the word then gained positive connotations of stylishness and modernity by those who saw Westernization as the way forward for Japanese society. In modern Japanese the term is somewhat dated and evokes an earlier time when everything Western was still exotic and progressive."

The title, along with several spots in the lyrics, turn on a homonymian pun: "High-Collar Idiot" sounds the same as "spitting blood up from the lungs" (note how the "kuchi / spit" that ends the chorus sounds like Ohtaki spitting). I had fun with this in the translation. (Translator's license, okay? Wordplay doesn't translate! Therefore fun is permitted!)

I don't think I need to say anything about the music. Maybe just that it sounds like summer even though Takashi doesn't mention summer. (Yes, we're on a first-name basis now.) Maybe also that if you don't care for this song, rock and roll blood does not flow in your veins. 

Oh yeah, this is an Eiichi Ohtaki tune, and best heard with the track that follows (High-Collar/Beautiful). Together they close Side A. 

:::



High-collar!

High-collar!

High-collar!

I am so high-collar.

The sky is stained with blood from my lungs

and you and I are playing with it.

And I'm drinking Coca-Cola.

You are so high-collar

with your kimono hems tied up,

decorating the metropolis

with flowers of golden lace.

I am a,

I am a high-collar idiot.

High-collar!

High-collar!

High-collar!

I am so high-collar,

spitting blood out from my lungs,

and you have a brain with nothing inside

except for evening twilight.

You are so high-collar,

dressing in crimson-orange

like a hippie.

I am a,

I am a high-collar idiot.

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