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I'm finding this sentence a bit tricky.

光{ひかり}の川{かわ}へ願{ねが}いの橋{はし}を掛{か}け奇跡{きせき}は渡{わた}るよ

This sentence is confusing me very much! I am not sure what it means. Does it mean:

Build a bridge of wishes over the river of light and miracles will cross.

What does 掛け here mean? Does it mean to hoist a bridge ? And are the 奇跡 crossing the bridge? Sorry if my question is a bit vague!

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  • Despite having answered your question, I would suggest that you leave song lyrics out of this discussion board for the reasons stated below. Also, when asking questions, please be sure to provide source material for context. Always provide context.
    – BJCUAI
    Feb 18, 2018 at 21:14
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    [七夕]{たなばた}のことを歌ってるんですよね。 「光の川」ってつまり、「[天]{あま}の[川]{がわ}」のことですよね。「光の川に願いの橋を掛けて、奇跡は渡るよ」、"Build a bridge of wishes over the river of light and miracles will cross." でいい線行ってると思いますが。
    – chocolate
    Feb 19, 2018 at 6:44
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    @Chocolate 🎶 回答欄へ、知恵の橋を掛けて、ポイントは渡るよ 🎶
    – Earthliŋ
    Feb 19, 2018 at 8:43
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    @user27280 I agree with providing source material for context, but specific questions about song lyrics are considered on-topic. (Take a look at the song-lyrics tag.)
    – Earthliŋ
    Feb 19, 2018 at 8:50
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    I'd probably translate/interpret it the same way you do, but this is a song lyric so there's no definite answer, it could be interpreted in different ways, so I said いい線行ってると思いますが... I also think it could be interpreted as 「(僕たちが)光の川に願いの橋を掛けて、奇跡は渡る」(We'll build a bridge of wishes over the river of light (the shining river?), and miracles will cross (the bridge?)), or maybe 「(奇跡が)光の川に願いの橋を掛けて(奇跡は)渡る」(A miracle will build a bridge over the river of light and cross it)... perhaps??
    – chocolate
    Feb 19, 2018 at 15:24

2 Answers 2

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What does 掛け here mean? Does it mean to hoist a bridge?

The 「掛け(る)」 here means "to build / throw (a bridge over/across a river)".
(It's usually written as 橋を[架]{か}ける.)

The へ corresponds to "over" or "across". (「川へ橋を架ける」≂「川に橋を架ける」)

And the 「願いの橋をかける」 here also has an implied, double meaning 願いをかける "make a wish".
(cf: 「光の川へかけた願いが、ほら、奇跡を起こすよ」) It could be Orihime and Hikoboshi's wish, but it could also be 僕たち's wish; it's about Tanabata Festival where you make a wish on stars, write it on paper strips and hang them on bamboo leaves (cf: 「その胸に仕舞い込んだ望みを、さあ書き留めて」「僕らは願う...今、奇跡は起こるよ」).

And are the 奇跡 crossing the bridge?

Yes, I think so. I think it's metaphorically saying 奇跡 is making the lovers' wish come true on this day, by crossing the river that lies between them.

光の川へ願いの橋を掛け奇跡は渡るよ
Does it mean:
"Build a bridge of wishes over the river of light and miracles will cross."

I would probably translate it the way you do, too.

I think the line has double meanings:
「天の川に橋を架けて、奇跡が渡る」
"We build a bridge over the Milky Way, and miracles will cross the bridge / the Milky Way."
and
「星に願いをかけて、奇跡が起こる/願いが叶う」
"We make a wish on the stars, and miracles will happen / our wish will come true".

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  • I see, thanks for explaining it in detail again and putting it in the context of the song. I thought it was about orihime and hikoboshi because of the "たとえ明日にはもう逢えないとして" in the lyrics of the songs. Thanks again! Feb 22, 2018 at 16:27
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It is important to understand that song lyrics do not follow the same grammatical construction of regular sentences and are often nonsensical. The 'sentence' in your example is actually composed of three separate fragments (the last of which could be considered a complete sentence).

光の川へ / 願いの橋を掛け / 奇跡は渡るよ

To the shining river / build a bridge of wishes / miracles will cross (happen).

Can be rephrased into a normal sentence. Example: 光の川へ行って、願いの橋を掛けると奇跡は渡るよ。

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  • Once again thank you so much . I will keep that in mind next time! Feb 18, 2018 at 21:19
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    I don't think it's fair to say that song lyrics and are often nonsensical What's fair to say is that native speakers get something out of the meaning of a lot of song lyrics even if that's just a series of fragmentary meanings vs, a coherent essay.
    – virmaior
    Feb 18, 2018 at 22:51
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    You can straightforwardly interpret that 光の川へ is just modifying 橋を掛け.
    – user4092
    Feb 19, 2018 at 5:31
  • Hehe, so song lyrics are in fact sometimes a nonsensical string of concept elements that don't mean anything at all except to be strung together to make a nice sound. Lyrics in music and poetry for that matter is sometimes just a muscial instrument and not meant to convey meaningful words, but rather just beautiful sound or sometimes just a beautiful flow of imagery.
    – Escoce
    Feb 20, 2018 at 15:51

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