Secret Garden
Music and lyrics by Gackt C.
English translation by !Super Cat

My eyes, floating in glass, only ever
Looked at you

As lips, which never showed a semblance of kindness,
Continued to speak of love repetitively
I tore out the plugs running from my body
Stood with my own legs once more
And looked up at the sky

The world that expands inside of dreams is . . . the last secret garden
I'm going to disappear from inside of you, but just don't forget
My name

In this distorted world
The knife that stabbed me in the back gives me wings
And I keep looking at the sky
In order to burn away the memories
Running through my body

I only looked at you . . . 

The world that expands inside your arms is . . . the last secret garden
I'm going to disappear from inside of you, but just don't forget
The things that you embraced

Softly close your eyes
If you want to dream
Let the light fade

"But . . . they’ve already noticed . . . "
You, your waving hand, your everything

The world that expands inside of dreams is . . . the last secret garden
I'm going to disappear from inside of you, but just don't forget
My name

The world that expands inside your arms is . . . the last secret garden

I only looked at you

Only you
 

Translator's notes:  This is my favourite song.  It was also almost impossible to translate.  Many of the lines have multiple meanings in Japanese that I could not duplicate in English.  For example, in the last two lines, kimi dake o mita / kimi dake o. . . (I only looked at you / Only you . . . ). Kimi dake literally means only you, however in the last line Gackt adds an o, which in Japanese is a particle that preceeds a verb.  There is a strong sense in this last line kimi dake o . . . that the verb is missing-- that we are held suspended, waiting to see what that verb might be.  The only way to express this in English would be to clumsily re-write the sentence in passive voice:  It was only you I looked at / It was only you I . . . 

(Loved?)

I could not use passive voice in the main translation, because it sounds artificial in English, whereas the Japanese is very simple and direct.

Sometimes, the words that Gackt sings differ from the written lyrics-- Gackt particularly likes to play with kanji (Japanese characters) to create multiple meanings.  In Secret Garden, the word sora, which means sky, is manipulated to startling effect.  In the second verse, Gackt sings kono ashi de mou ichido dake / kono sora o mita (I stood with my own legs once more / And looked up at the sky).*   However, in his written lyrics, Gackt uses the character for genjitsu (reality) in place of sora (sky).  So the line could be read, I stood with my own legs once more / And faced reality.   But when used together, sora/genjitsu (sky/reality), there is the implication that in this world, the sky is the only solid reality that he can turn to.

In the second verse, Gackt adds yet another layer to the meaning of sora (sky), when he sings, sora o aogitsuke / boku no karadajuu o meguru kioku no baitai subete o / yakitsukusu tame (I keep looking at the sky / In order to burn away the memories  / Running through my body).  This time, Gackt writes uchuu (universe) instead of sora (sky).  So we have sky/universe/reality, and an sense of staring into endless blue, imbued with strangeness and new meaning. 

(Of course, I looked up at the sky itself serves to echo one of the strongest lines of the song, I only looked at you, and the doubled act of looking (at the sky/at you), merge together to create a single lonely, overall impression).

Further notes:  Secret Garden is a song about the last secret garden; that is, the last secret space inside yourself, a space for your dreams, or hopes, or imagination (there are many possible interpretations).   In an interview, Gackt said that he intentionally chose a public place where personal space is non-existant (an enormous, crowded bus terminal), as the location for Secret Garden's promotional video.  Gackt is famous for making dreadful PVs, but I think that the promotional video for Secret Garden is incredible.  In it, we are shown a dreary public place, no space, no privacy-- watch the ways the privacy/private space of the various characters is violated.  It's also hinted that the main character, a young girl, is a prostitute, someone who is least likely to have preserved a secret garden of her own.  Painful counterpoint to the lyrics of the song.
 

* This line gave me a lot of trouble.  Yet another translation might be, I stood with these legs for the last time / And looked at the sky.
 

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