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“Rasetsukoku“, “Land of Rakshasa“. I was about to sub the mode of Macabre performance when I stumbled across this absolute gem and just had to pick it. It's from the Arche「A Knot」Limited Extra live at Liquidroom. This song contains a lot of buddhist terms and I could've replaced them with some adjectives they stand for, but I think taking a moment to look at what they mean adds so much to the song, and ultimately these are the words Kyo is singing, so I ended up keeping them. Translation by me. Annotations and explanations: “The clairvoyant can't see [the demon]“ - As in “can't predict“. “In a double ring pattern [the nightly procession of demons occurs]“ - This double ring pattern is like a bull's eye, usually it's found on parasols. If you google 蛇の目 images will pop up. “Nature“ - Referring to biological sex. “Filthy and wickedly they laugh“ - This line has kanji that are only used for their sound. Basically it says “They laugh keserakerakera“. Imagine their laughter sounding like that. I did derive the adjectives I picked from the kanji, but I still think they are actually only there for the sound. “Without breaking down the pre-established harmony“ - Might refer to Gottfried Leibniz's theory of pre-established harmony. “They treat my life as repulsive“ - This is a translation in context. The lyrics only say “My life - repulsively“. “The world of the living is the land of Asura“ - This could also simply be “this world“. I believe the world of the living is meant here because there's actually something often said about Asura: The modern world is that of Asura because humans are always in a haste, chasing after material things that they end up being unable to reach. But let's finally get to what the buddhist terms used in this song actually are: Asura: Ashura/Shura in Japanese. Kyo uses “Shura“ in this song. The buddhist demigod (sometimes anti-god) of war. Also used to refer to people that fight an endless war against something in their lives. The world of Asura is governed by anger and pain. The state of being an Asura (e.g. being reborn as one) stands for the mental state of being obsessed with ego and violence. Rakshasa: Rasetsu in Japanese. Buddhist demons that made humanity their enemy. Sometimes Asura and Rakshasa are used interchangeably. Rakshasas are also called “maneaters“. In many depictions they eat humans or drink their blood. Thank you for watching and also for reading! --------------- I do not own Dir En Grey or any of their music or performances. I translate for fun and wanted to share this translation.
