Serruria no oka (Serruria Hill)

  • Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
  • Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey

Original Lyrics

セルリアの丘に 何かを求めて
静かな海の見える丘はただ黙って
地面を休めた

柔らかな風には 何もかもバレている
キレイな深呼吸の夜欲しさに
祈るのも見ていた

可愛い君の影を引きずり
冷たい海に溺れそうな夜は
色とりどりの罪で着かざり
月に君の夢を見る

悲しい瞳と 激しい痛みが
はがせないこの胸に魔法の矢が刺さって
涙が流れても
月は笑わない

おびえた空が雲を切り裂き
赤い夕日は海に流れた
それを見た僕はただ手を合わせ

可愛い君の影を引きずり
冷たい海に溺れそうな夜は
色とりどりの罪で着かざり
月に君の夢を見る

WHY?WHY?WHY?


Romanized Lyrics

serruria no oka ni nanika wo motomete
shizuka na umi no mieru oka wa tada damatte
jimen wo yasumeta

yawaraka na kaze ni wa nanimo kamo bareteiru
kirei na shinkokyuu no yoru hoshi sa ni
inoru no mo mite ita

kawaii kimi no kage wo hikizuri
tsumetai umi ni oboresou na yoru wa
irotoridori no tsumi de ikazari
tsuki ni kimi no yume wo miru

kanashii hitomi to hageshii itami ga
hagasenai kono mune ni mahou no ya ga sasatte
namida ga nagarete mo
tsuki wa warawanai

obieta sora ga kumo wo kirisaki
akai yuuhi wa umi ni nagareta
sore wo mita boku wa tada te wo awase

kawaii kimi no kage wo hikizuri
tsumetai umi ni oboresou na yoru wa
irotoridori no tsumi de ikazari
tsuki ni kimi no yume wo miru

WHY? WHY? WHY?
WHY? WHY? WHY?


Translated Lyrics

I was seeking something on Serruria Hill
This hill, on which the silent ocean can be seen from, just stayed quiet
And gave the ground a rest

Everything is laid bare in the gentle wind
And I saw praying to a desire for night
From a beautiful deep breath

Dragging along your lovely shadow
On nights when it feels like I’m drowning in the cold sea
I adorn myself in multicolored sins
And dream about you in the moonlight

I can’t remove those sad eyes and intense pain
From my chest, which is pierced by a magic arrow
No matter how many tears are shed
The moon won’t smile

The frightened sky tore through the clouds
And the red setting sun flowed into the sea
Seeing all of this, I just joined my hands together

Dragging along your lovely shadow
On nights when it feels like I’m drowning in the cold sea
I adorn myself in multicolored sins
And dream about you in the moonlight

Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why?


Notes

Serruria no oka - Emma Intro (Jaguar Hard Pain Tour, 1994)
Emma playing the intro (Jaguar Hard Pain Tour, 1994)

This is probably the most straightforward song on the album in terms of its meaning, but is a welcome ballad on an album that so far has been very light on them. It’s a perfectly nice song that swells appropriately at the chorus, but to me it’s by far the weakest song on the album. That said, being the weakest song on an album full of incredibly strong songs doesn’t make it a bad song!

Serruria no oka - Yoshii Intro (Mekara Uroko 7, 1996)
Yoshii staggering forward on stage during the intro, after Red Light (Mekara Uroko 7, 1996)

It’s just that there’s not much to say here. Both in lyrical tone and in the way it’s presented live, it reads like Jaguar waking up from the nightmare that was Red Light. He completely lost his hold on himself there, and he’s drifted back to reality while realizing that he just missed Mary who is so far away from him. It serves as a companion piece to Red Light very well, but outside of that there just isn’t a whole lot going on.

Serruria no oka - Yoshii and Annie (Mekara Uroko 9, 1998)
Mekara Uroko 9, 1998

I was a little undecided on how to translate the name of the song. It very easy could be “Cerulia”, but “Serruria” in katakana refers to “Serruria florida”: A species of flowering plant endemic to South Africa. I’m not sure if this has a particular meaning in the scope of the song though.

Mekara Uroko 27, 2016

Serruria no oka is also notable because the piano part in this song was played by a huge influence of the band’s: Morgan Fisher, an English keyboardist and composer, formerly of glam rock band Mott The Hoople. His work doesn’t really come in until after the first chorus, and at first it didn’t really stick out to me. But by the time the last chorus hits, more interesting things are happening with the piano part and it’s essentially carrying the song along toward the end. At that point you get about a full minute of the guitar and piano parts doing their own things as the song fades out.

This song was played in exactly the same concerts as Red Light (the previous track on the album) was, because it always followed Red Light in every single set: Jaguar Hard Pain tour (1994) and Mekara Uroko 7 (1996), 9 (1998), and 27 (2016).