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So I'm having trouble translating these lyrics (Sorry they aren't in Japanese. The romaji was all I could find, and I was worried about converting it to Japanese, in case I messed something up.)

Yawarakaku atatakaku te

Omoidasenai sukoshi amai nioi...

Nukeochi ta no wa nani

Modoshite ittai nani no hanashi

This is what I could make out of it: Tenderly, warmly... there's a little I can't remember, a sweet fragrance...

My translation of this seemed disjoint, but I thought, perhaps, because the speaker can't remember, it's supposed to be like that? However, I'm unsure about that, so I thought I'd see what all of you thought.

For the next two lines, I have trouble with how 何 is used. My best guess for the next two lines would be: "What has collapsed/fallen out? A story of what returns." I'm unsure if these lines are questions or not, and generally just how 何 is being used in both of those situations.

The song is called Samayoeba Yumeutsutsu, by the way. Thank you for your help!

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  • 柔らかく 暖かく て;思い出せない すこし あまい 匂い;抜け落ち た の は なに;戻して いったい 何 の 話
    – fefe
    Mar 15, 2017 at 1:19
  • I think nani is a mistranscription of nan there.
    – user1478
    Mar 15, 2017 at 5:25
  • @snailplane It seems so: youtube.com/watch?v=PDRR2wQgh2U Mar 15, 2017 at 5:28

2 Answers 2

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Full lyrics here (click 5. 彷徨えば夢現):

深い眠りから覚めたような
夢のような
柔らかく温かくて
思い出せない少し甘い匂い

抜け落ちたのは何
戻して
一体何の話

It's not always practical to split lyrics into "sentences", but in this case I feel the first four lines form one long noun phrase. In other words, everything before 匂い modifies 匂い, because everything before it is in its continuative or attributive form. So it's fragrant which seems as if you woke up from deep sleep, and is dreamy, soft, warm, vague, and a bit sweet at the same time.

On the other hand, the next three lines look like three independent "sentences" to me. "What is it that has fallen off?", "Take back!" and "What are you talking about?"

If you feel the word order of 抜け落ちたのは何 is strange, please read this. It's an emphatic version of 何が抜け落ちた?

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  • Okay, thanks, the first part makes more sense now. As for the second part, is it possible to translate 抜け落ちたのは何戻してas "Take back what has fallen." Or is this more like two separate sentences? Thank you!
    – Smoothie
    Mar 17, 2017 at 19:33
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Song lyrics, just like in English tend to not be the most grammatically correct due to prioritizing making them sound good and rhyme.

Some details seems to be lacking to make an exact translation, but here is how I would translate it.

Yawarakaku atatakaku te

Soft and warm,

Omoidasenai sukoshi amai nioi...

The somewhat sweet fragrance that I cannot remember...

Nukeochita no wa nani

The thing that fell apart, what(何) is it?

Modoshite ittai nani no hanashi

Put it back together... What(何) is this about?

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