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So I'm trying to understand this paragraph of the 365 Nichi no Kamihikouki song text. I've tried to do my own translation as well as I can.

() = implied

時には雨も降って - At times when the rain falls (and)

涙も溢れるけど - tears overflow (as well) but (even if / when)

思い通りにならない日は - the day is not going well

明日　頑張ろう - (I'll just) do my best tomorrow (instead)

  • Why is there a も and not a が in 時には雨も降って. Is it connected to the も on next line to build a meaningful sentence. And is there some grammatical structure to the hole paragraph with けど I'm missing?

  • Again, the も on the second row is it needed because of the first row or does it just mean as well?

  • Do you agree with my translation and () implied additions for the sentence to make sense and flow better?

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  • the lyricist is making a connection between 雨 and 涙. hence the use of も: “there are times when it both rains and my tears well up too”
    – A.Ellett
    Oct 18, 2020 at 22:49
  • Thank you. I still don't quite understand how けど works here. First, it rains and one cries but then the day isn't going as planed. So tomorrow I'll strive do my best? It sounds so weird. I'd expect the けど to come after the bad day sentence? Like: 時には雨も降って、涙も溢れて、思い通りにならない日は、けど、明日　頑張ろう。Am I completely wrong here or is it just they way the try to make the lyrics fit within in the song?
    – JoelArt
    Oct 18, 2020 at 23:37
  • the bad day sentence isn’t actually a sentence. so けど can’t occur there. but i wouldn’t call it a bad day. it’s just that the day didn’t go as he thought it would. けど canbe much softer than the english “but”.
    – A.Ellett
    Oct 19, 2020 at 1:09

2 Answers 2

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I think you should parse it this way:

〔時には雨も降って涙も溢れる〕けど、〔（思い通りにならない日は）明日頑張ろう〕。

The けど continues to 明日頑張ろう "I'll do my best on the next day", not to 思い通りにならない日は "on the day when things don't go well / if things don't go well on a day".

So the lyrics literally mean:

時には雨も降って - At times, rain would fall and
涙も溢れるけど - tears would overflow, but
思い通りにならない日は - on a day when things don't go well / if things don't go well on a day,
明日頑張ろう - I'll do my best on the next day (instead).

時には means "at times" "sometimes/occasionally" "there are times (when)...". (Here it's functioning as a 副詞, not as a 接続詞.)

As for the も in 雨も降る and 涙も溢れる, I think these threads will help:

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  • So here けど caries the meaning of but and not "to provide introductory, background information (sometimes rain etc), before dealing with the main issue (bad day)" as Amirali suggested? And it instead indeed points to the 明日 頑張ろう part instead. It just sound so weird to me, normally you say, [sometimes bad] + [bad day] BUT [I'll lift my self up tomorrow and try again]. Here it's like [sometimes bad] BUT [bad day] [do my best tomorrow]. The way it's formulated, is that a natural sentence structure or does the placement of the けど make the sentence more poetic and fit it in a song text?
    – JoelArt
    Oct 19, 2020 at 21:38
  • To continue on my previous answer. It sounds like there is a hidden IF. [Bad times] BUT (IF) [bad day (as well)] THEN [I'll do my best tomorrow]?
    – JoelArt
    Oct 19, 2020 at 21:43
  • @JoelArt It means "But", not "to provide introductory, background information" which is used in conversation. The ～日は literally means "on a day when~", so [Sometimes it rains and I shed tears] BUT [(I'll think) I'll do my best on the next day, on a day when things don't go well (so it's alright)]. Note that 明日頑張ろう is the main clause, with 思い通りにならない日は modifying it. Here it's like [sometimes bad] BUT [bad day] [do my best tomorrow] <- No, it's [sometimes bad] BUT [ on a bad day, I do my best tomorrow].
    – chocolate ♦
    Oct 20, 2020 at 4:21
  • Tnx for the explanation.
    – JoelArt
    Oct 23, 2020 at 5:42
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Just about your question about けど in comments; “but” isn’t the only meaning for it; I suggest you read this https://bit.ly/2T36LD8
I’m not good at explaining but basically けど and が can also work as ways to naturally build up on the prior sentence and continue based on it. that means they can sometimes be translated as “and” or “so” in english.

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  • Tnx, I think it cleared it up a bit. Here is my new translation: "There are times when it both rains and my tears overflow, a day when nothing is going as planed, so tomorrow, I'll try my best again.". Is it a good/plausible translation?
    – JoelArt
    Oct 19, 2020 at 3:05
  • @JoelArt that sounds very good!
    – A.Ellett
    Oct 19, 2020 at 3:07
  • @JoelArt as for the も particle; This is just my personal opinion coming from having a very similar phrase to も in my native language. but it could be that も is being used here to imply one thing happening among many other things; so in english something like: “sometimes it (not only other stuff that happened, but) also rains; and also tears overflow.” or to better put it : “sometimes it even rains; and even tears overflow.”
    – Amirali
    Oct 20, 2020 at 1:01
  • Tnx for the explanation.
    – JoelArt
    Oct 23, 2020 at 5:44

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