A Girl of Instinct
Togawa Jun
A mid-afternoon storm like a jet
Roaring rumbling up from the earth
Shuddering, they completely surround me
Oh, a kaleidoscope of butterflies
Wings the colors of the rainbow
Steel scales scattering
Butterflies, creatures that know instinctively
About things that can only be done while alive
Rising in the air in gradations
Golden scales fluttering about
Long hair waving
I close my eyes and stand still
An afternoon spring storm like a Mach
Their shape is that of nature
They don’t have human problems
First of all, butterflies don’t commit suicide
Wings the colors of the rainbow
Steel scales scattering
If I were to die, the world wouldn’t change
But that doesn’t mean I need a reason to live
Throw cold water on your vitality
Take off your veil of intelligence and cast it aside
You should value your instinct
It’s the basis for survival
Rising in the air in gradations
Golden scales fluttering about
Long hair waving
I open my eyes and step forward
本能の少女
ジェットのような真昼の嵐
轟いては地響き上げて
おののく私を囲むよに
ああ正体は蝶々の群れ
鮮やかな虹色の羽根
鋼鉄の鱗粉を散らす
生きているうちにしかできないことを
本能のみで知る者達 蝶々
吹き上げるグラデーション
金の鱗粉舞う中を
長い髪なびかせて
目を閉じて立ちつくす
マッハのような春の日の嵐
彼らの姿は大自然
人間のように悩みはしない
第一蝶は自殺をしない
鮮やかな虹色の羽根
鋼鉄の鱗粉を散らす
私が死んだって世界は変わらないし
生きている意味などいらない関係ないわ
生命力に水をさす
知性のベール脱ぎすてて
尊重すべきは本能
基本の生存本能
吹き上がるグラデーション
金の鱗粉舞う中を
長い髪なびかせて
目を開けて歩き出す
Entry No. 1 
Pingback: 本能の少女 – Honnou no Shoujo/A Girl of Instinct | Jun Togawa Collective
Hi, I came across your blog through tumblr; you’ve got some good stuff here. The thing that led me here though was a section of these lyrics:
生きているうちにしかできないことを
本能のみで知る者達 蝶々
The only thing they can do is stay alive
The butterfly people who know only instinct
and I’m afraid I don’t think it’s accurate.
A very literal (for clarity’s sake)/more accurate way of translating it would be “those who know only by instinct things that can only be done while alive – butterflies”. I’ll leave it to you to make it sound nice tho.
Hope that helps, and hope you keep up the translating.
Thank you for coming by the site and taking the time to comment. I’m still very intermediate in my Japanese so, unfortunately, I know I make mistakes now and then because of grammar trip-ups and the like. Looking at it now with your literal take on it, I see just where I tripped up on this one. (Things are always clear when they’re explained, aren’t they?) Thank you for your input. I’ll see what I can do to make it more accurate when I get a chance tonight. Thanks again.
No problem, and nice work with the fix.
Hey. There is also a mistake in the last line. She sings “目を開けて”, but you wrote in the translation “I close my eyes”. That you for your translations, btw!
Thank you for catching that! Don’t know how I made that mistake, except that the kanji looks like a barred-shut door to me, so I guess I made a quick assumption at the time and ran with it.