Translation: An Apple Pie Love Letter (Agnes Chan)

(short version intro)

Man, this song is FANTASTIC.

But really, all three of the Agnes-via-Takashi songs on Anata to Watashi no Concert are splendid, each in a different way.

(long version intro)

Lane Dunlop wrote a translator's note for his portion of work on Yasunari Kawabata's magnificent Palm-of-the-Hand Stories, explaining how his interest in the stories grew very slowly, and did not blossom until seven years after his first encounter with them... "My experience as I reread the stories reminded me of the biblical phrase about the scales falling from one's eyes. Even those that I did not immediately understand seemed to say, 'Translate me.' I did, and then they yielded their point."

I thought of this while working on An Apple Pie Love Letter (Hoguchi/Matsumoto). Translation gets you into really, really close contact with a text. Add to this that my Japanese hasn't reached the stage where I could listen to a song and understand it just by hearing it. Depending on the song, I'll understand anywhere from 30% to 70% (or occasionally, like, 5%... 'I have never seen or heard this language before'). Looking at a song's lyrics in their written form, with kanji, will get me another 20% or more of the way to comprehension (that's where knowing Chinese helps). But if I want to reach 100% (or, since sometimes I can't get any higher, at least 93%), I need to work through the lyrics carefully, with a dictionary and Google and and and... it's fun but definitely/obviously the most painstaking part of the process. 

Point being, I'm in an especially great position to have the Dunlop Experience, since I need the scales of unfamiliar vocabulary lifted from my eyes before I can even engage with the text in the way Dunlop refers to. So the beauty of the average Takashi Matsumoto lyric (and so far, the awesome have outnumbered the lazy) takes me by surprise first as I understand the lines fully in the first place, and again as I translate.

So my next point is: this song is seriously wonderful.

The Japanese comment section on YouTube is full of people marveling, as I do, at the extreme cuteness of Takashi's words and Agnes's delivery. Her record company, concerned about this lyricist-transplant from the rock music world, supplied Takashi with notes about how to write in character, but I get the sense Takashi gave the notes a once-over and tossed them aside. You can't write a set of lyrics like this if you're writing according to company guidelines. No, Takashi was a natural.

Fortunately, his collaboration with Yusuke Hoguchi, who wrote the tune, would turn out fruitful. There's lots more on the Hoguchi/Matsumoto shelf.

:::

All this love I feel —

I can't express it well over the phone.

However, I can write out the letters "l-o-v-e"

in sweet cream.

An apple pie love letter!

An apple pie love letter!

I've just got done baking an apple pie.

It's nicely browned, and the color of a heart.

I made it while constantly checking the cookbook.

I made it for someone I love a lot —

I made it for you!

What exactly should I say to you?

That's what I was wondering

as I stood in the kitchen by myself.

Maybe I'm not very good at talking,

but what I can definitely do

is convey my feelings to you

through an apple pie love letter.

All this love I feel —

I can't write a letter that will get it across.

However, I can write out the letters "l-o-v-e"

in sweet cream.

An apple pie love letter!

An apple pie love letter!

I wonder what you'll say.

In fact, I'm super worried.

If you don't think it's delicious,

I know I'll cry my eyes out.

But even so, it's alright.

One way or another,

I'll keep smiling!

All this love I feel —

I can't express it well in words.

However, I can write out the letters "l-o-v-e"

in sweet cream.

An apple pie love letter!

An apple pie love letter!

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