One More Time: A wowaka Medley / もう一回 : wowakaさんに敬意を表して

In honor of wowaka. Rest in peace

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Like a lot of people, Rolling Girl was one of my first vocaloid songs. I'm not sure who did the translation I saw, but I don't think it was very accurate. Still I vividly remember one line that went "Even the hill taunting me is making mistakes now."

Obviously I'm an English-speaker. Beyond the usual degrees of separation between what the artist is actually trying to communicate versus what I end up interpreting, I have to interact with wowoka and his lyrics through the various people kind enough to do translations of his work. In this case, I did attempt a rough translation of "Zureteiku" out of necessity since the only translations available were machine translations (although mine are probably not much better; I'm far from fluent).

Despite all these layers of separation between us, sometimes Unknown Mother Goose will come on and I'll want to cry. On one hand, it is specifically my knowledge of the lyrics that lends to that feeling. Even then his words have to be interpreted to me by another before I can interpret them myself. I wonder sometimes, thinking about that line I mentioned before, whether I can claim to truly enjoy his music. After all, my interpretations, my feelings, regardless of how much the translator tries, will always be influenced by them. Unless I become fluent, I will never be able to interact with his work without that degree of separation.

And yet the simple chord--the actual music that is simply "wowaka"-- at the end of the song might be what impacts me the most.

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0:00 - アンノウン・マザーグース / Unknown Mother Goose
0:55 - グレーゾーンにて。/ In the Gray Zone.
2:09 - ワールズエンド・ダンスホール / World's End Dancehall
3:16 - とおせんぼ / I Won't Let You Through
4:35 - テノヒラ / Palm of Hand
6:12 - ラインアート / Line Art
7:49 - アンノウン・マザーグース / Unknown Mother Goose
8:50 - 僕のサイノウ / My Talent
9:57 - 裏表ラバーズ / Two-Sided Lovers
11:10 - ずれていく / Out of Step
12:12 - 積み木の人形 / Doll of Building Blocks
13:25 - アンハッピーリフレイン / Unhappy Refrain
14:25 - ローリンガール / Rolling Girl
16:14 - アンノウン・マザーグース / Unknown Mother Goose