I’ve always been a big Spitz fan since I first started listening to them when chilling at my host family’s house in Gifu in the summer of 1998.
Recently, I bought a DVD that had a compilation of their greatest hits (ソラトビデオCOMPLETE 1991‐2011). But, I had only ever listened to the RECYCLE Greatest Hits of Spitz CD throughout the years, so I was introduced to a whole new slew of delightfully melodious tracks to sing along to while cruising in the car.
Two of my favourite tracks out of this two-disc DVD set are the upbeat「 裸のままで」(Still naked) and the melancholy「シロクマ」(Polar bear). So much so that I decided to try my hand at translating the latter’s lyrics in my spare time.
Music lyrics are notoriously difficult to translate as their poetic phrases can often be interpreted in multiple ways - the vagueness of the Japanese language doesn’t help either!
Anyways, I gave it a crack and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out - when singing it with the English lyrics it isn’t too clunky either. Would you have interpreted any sections differently?
You can check out Spitz’s Polar Bear music video here: https://youtu.be/UiYl1r5m5a0
