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So I'm trying to translate this song (full lyrics here, at 5: http://karent.jp/album/1709/lyric/5) I'm confused about how 願い is being used in this sentence.

遙か遠い昔の願い呑みこんだ渦

Literally, this seems to be saying that the wish belongs to the far-away sound. But that doesn't make much sense to me. The way the sentence makes the most sense is if it was translated, "I wish for the far away-sound of a swallowing whirlpool." However, I'm uncertain if this is supported by the text. Is this correct?

Mostly, I'm confused about how 願い is just sitting there in front of 願い呑みこんだ - it doesn't seem to be modifying it in anyway. I'm guessing a particle was omitted here, but I'm not sure if the word is being used in some other way. Can someone please explain this placement also?

Thank you!

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You seem to be misreading 昔(むかし) , "the past", as 音(おと) , "sound". It's not "faraway sound" but "wishes from the long distant past". 願い is the object of 呑み込んだ、 so the "missing" particle would be を following 願い . The meaning of the whole, I should think, is "the whirlpool which has swallowed [?my] wishes/hopes from long, long ago". 吞み込む is often used to mean "swallow", or "choke back", one's tears.

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  • Well, that was stupid of me... my brain just skimmed right over that! And I went over that so many times, trying to figure out what it meant... sigh Anyways, thank you!
    – Smoothie
    Mar 20, 2017 at 19:57
  • We all do it, Smoothie.
    – Graham Healey
    Mar 20, 2017 at 21:05

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