I dont care if i dont know what this song means, it is the best on citrus, hands down.

My translation/interpretation using my three years of Japanese education and a Japanese-English dictionary: [someone please correct the mistakes!]

When you feel small,
Remember and look
Softly open those eyes
Nostalgic, the two of us could be seen

"Candy says"

Without forgetting that small memory, I came
And from the depths of my heart
Created yesterday's memories

"Candy says"

[don't really know how to translate this line]
You keep disappearing
But how long I keep running
After the memories

My translation/interpretation using my three years of Japanese education and a Japanese-English dictionary: [someone please correct the mistakes!]

When you feel small,
Remember and look
Softly open those eyes
Nostalgic, the two of us could be seen

"Candy says"

Without forgetting that small memory, I came
And from the depths of my heart
Created yesterday's memories

"Candy says"

[don't really know how to translate this line]
You keep disappearing
But how long I keep running
After the memories

"Candy Says" = probably an allusion to the 1968 Velvet Underground song of the same name.

"Candy Says" = probably an allusion to the 1968 Velvet Underground song of the same name.

Good job hunterjw. I think the lines "chiisai omoi demo/wasurenai de itte kureta" should mean along the lines of "in spite of the small memory, you come to me without forgetting" - sorry if the translation is a little rough. Looking at the words itte and kureta, it seems the other person is going to the speaker instead of her going to him.

also to me the line "sakende temo" sounds more like "sakenda demo", which makes a bit more sense. so it would mean "I cry about the pain, but (you keep disappearing)".

Don't shoot me if I'm wrong though - like you I'm only a student, only I've studied Japanese a year longer than you have :P

number1alien, did you manage to get the lyrics for this and strawberries just by listening to the song? If so you deserve a serious pat on the back.

Fooby: heavens, no! I'm not that talented! I bought the album, and just got that from the liner notes.

My own translation-- though I've only been studying for a couple of years and it's really, really hard without accompanying kanji; it's a little loose, so there's notes:

chisai toki no koto (1)
omoi dashite goran (2)
sono me o sotto ake (3)
natsukashii futari ga mieteta (4)

something from when I was small
I'm remembering; a look
those eyes softly opening
they could see us, nostalgic

candy says

chisai omoide mo
wasurenai de ite kureta

you didn't forget (5)
even the little memories

kokoro no oku kara
tsukuri dashita kino no memory

from the bottom of my heart (6)
I created it, yesterday's memory

setsunai to sakende temo
anata wa kiete iku

though I cried out "It hurts!" (7)
you still disappeared

dakedo, kakete iku (8)
itsumade mo
omoide no ato o

even so, I'm (running? racing? soaring?)
forever and ever
after memories


1) literally, "things of a small time," but it's analogous to "when I was little"
2) "omoidashite" is a continuative, connective, OR imperative "remember," but the imperative sense doesn't work here; "goran" is looking, but it's honorific, which means it refers to someone besides the speaker, to/about whom the speaker must be very polite
3) "ake" isn't imperative, it's a sort of literary continuative/connective form
4) the "they" in my translation doesn't have an actual antecedent; it's literally "the nostalgic two of us were visible," but that's awkward in English and it isn't so in Japanese
5) "wasurenaide ite kureta" is one of two things: "wasurenaide, ite'kureta" or "wasurenaide'ite'kureta." The first is "you didn't forget/without forgetting, you were" and the second is "you didn't forget"; the "-kureta" means it was done as a kindness to the speaker
6) literally, "from the middle/inside of my heart," but "bottom" is a valid English idiom
7) "setsunai" is painful, oppressive, or trying, according to my dictionary; but it's definitely not the "OUCH" hurt, either physically or emotionally (that's a different word)
8) I can't actually figure this out without kanji, I don't have a strong enough sense for the language, but "running" makes the most sense for the song, I think

:>
etsuko

note: in "strawberry fields," Yuki uses "shout" for "sakebu"; above I used "cry out."

:>
etsuko

I am not good at English, and want to borrow the translation of everybody and to translate.
.
the time we were little
Please remember　it
Softly open those eyes
Nostalgic, the two of us could be seen

candy says

you didn't forget
even the little memories
from the depths of our hearts
created yesterday's memory

though I cried out "my heart aching!"
You keep disappearing
even so, i'm running
forever and ever
after memories

Mr. Japanese,

You're English is great. I'm bilingual--your translation is the best here. I might suggest a few alterations, though readers should understand translating requires interpreting the lyrics to some degree, and there will always be subtle differences in interpretation of abstract imagery lyrics.

I get this:

when we were little
recall
gently open those eyes
nostalgic, you can see the two of us

candy says

you didn't forget
even the little memories
from the depths of our hearts
created yesterday's memory

I cried out in empty loneliness
But you disappear all the same
Even so I chase after you,
on and on,
after the memories,
after the memories.