Translation: Juliet (Shigeru Suzuki)

Come the back half of the 1970s, Takashi was writing mostly for female singers. The Shigeru collaborations were a relief valve. A song like Juliet ... "pent-up" would be one way to describe it, no?

Musically it's peak SSSRT, so unless you're a veteran city popper or love Eric Clapton's Backless as much as I do, I would recommend ... uh ... caution. But if you do happen to fit in one of those two categories, follow the link to Juliet and bliss out.

For a song this raunchy, the last line is both raunchy and romantic — mystically beautiful, even.

Also, "come on and flaunt your naked love" (むきだしの愛を見せつけてやれ) is one of those lines where I thought, "Surely this can't be an accurate translation...?" And maybe it isn't, I do make flagrant errors and only realize months later, but to the best of my current knowledge (and also based on how Shigeru sings it), that really does seem to be the gist.

:::

Juliet, 

bathe your golden skin

in the cascade of light,

and sleep.

Juliet —

the alcohol I drank

is spurring me on,

merging with the tidal wave

that's rising in my heart.

The summer's hot enough to burn the sand to ashes.

Come on and flaunt your naked love!

Juliet 

combs her hair out in the water.

She looks like a fairy

with the light behind her.

Juliet

has taken off her bathing suit.

I am drowning in the ocean

of her back.

The summer's hot enough to burn time itself to ashes.

You'll find eternity in our entwined fingers.

(Back to: List of Translations)