【Touhou Lyrics】 Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White

  / lyricalive  

A duet for the nameless but fascinating girls from Dolls in Pseudo Paradise. ...ZUN's first music CD, an obscure gem, is the only one whose story does NOT follow the adventures of the Secret Sealing Club or any other known character. Instead, it's a dark murder mystery -- with no explicit answer -- about a group of eight "honest ones" who stumble into Gensokyo and then start getting killed off, one by one. Could the culprit be among them? Could it be "the most beautiful" honest one, who you'd least expect? Meanwhile, there's a morally neutral shrine maiden casually dancing in the mist and keeping track of the body count.

This duet features myself as the shrine maiden, while my partner Lori (   / lori-hime   ) is the most beautiful one... of course. I'm blown away more than ever by the dramatic power of her voice here. Should I be worried that such a scary character comes so naturally to her? In any case, please appreciate it. She's amazing.

In case you haven't, you should read the original story and see what kinds of interpretations you can come up with: https://kafkafuura.wordpress.com/2010... I don't enjoy looking at Gensokyo in a very violent light, but this CD does offer awesome themes of ambiguity and duality of identity that I always love. For example, I interpret that the beautiful murderer gives up her humanity to embrace the nature of a youkai. It also offers my favorite version of this Dichromatic song, otherwise associated with Reimu or with Seihou, but I'll always associate it most with these girls.

DOWNLOAD ON MY BLOG: http://asa-turney.tumblr.com/lyrics
ZUN's Music Collection Vol. 1, Hourai Doll ~ Dolls in Pseudo Paradise
Labelko (The Shrine Maiden) & Jacketko (The Most Beautiful): "Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White"
Original music by ZUN.
English lyrics by me, fandub vocals by me & Lori.
Art from the official source album. Labelko's portrait is from the CD label, while Jacketko's is from the disc jacket cover, hence their fan names. I wish they had better names; then maybe they'd be appreciated more!

---

A pack of humans... no, a pack of villains... no, a pack of strangers wander in freely.
Who else would wind up here, inside a land so strange, except the very strangest of beings?
In keeping up a fence, in keeping up an act, one has to wonder, how much longer?
A precious treasure placed before a stubborn thief, the curious eye's urges grow stronger.

No... nothing in this world will remain the same.
Now as we are gathered, time to begin this most beautiful game.

What’s inside the heart of an honest girl,
Drifting like a star in the sky?
Here tonight is one fewer honest girl...
Now that she’s embracing her lie! (Ha ha ha!)

I’m sworn to keep the peace, but can there ever be peace without a fight?
Each story is a dream -- to struggle through the day, dancing through the night.

So... nothing in this world will remain the same.
Now as we are gathered, time to begin this most beautiful game.

What’s inside the heart of an honest man,
Beating at the edge of a knife?
Here tonight is one fewer honest man...
Now that someone’s taken his life! (Ha ha ha!)

I say, what will it take to taint the perfect world, paint it bloody red?
Oh, just the final trace of sympathy in me, long already dead.
I’m sworn to keep it pure, but is there such a thing as the purest white?
Each day, the numbers change -- but always there’s a balance to make it right.

No rest for the wary...
No commendation for the most early to rise...
Here we play like children, until we are not.
Welcome to my paradise.

A pack of humans... no, a pack of monsters... no, a pack of puppets wander in slowly.
Who else would wind up here, pitched on the strings of fate, and act a play out, broken and lowly?
Unlike a human, unaware of even just how monstrous it is to be human,
I’ll choose to take this mask and do the deed myself, become a monster here with my own hand.

I say, what will it take to taint the perfect world, paint it bloody red?
Oh, just the final trace of sympathy in me, long already dead.
I’m sworn to keep it pure, but is there such a thing as the purest white?
Each day, the numbers change -- but always there’s a balance to make it right.

Two colors clash again, though different as can be, never far apart.
No answer purely right, as surely as there’s no purely honest heart.

No pity for cowards...
No puzzle lacking in a challenge for the wise...
Here we are all equals, until we are not.
Welcome to my paradise. (“Paradise.”)