【Focus Focus】が訳してみた

Focus Focus

フォーカス　フォーカス
fookasu fookasu
Focus 　 Focus

望遠 望遠 視界を重ねて
bouen bouen shikai o kasanete
telephoto telephoto stacking the view

圧縮はトリック　世界をシフト
asshuku wa torikku sekai o shifuto
the compression is a trick 　 the world shifts

被写界深度　期待を重ねて
hishakai shindo kitai o kasanete
depth of field 　 stacking expectations

傑作にトリップ　みたいなドリフト
kessaku ni torippu mitai na dorifuto
tripping into a masterpiece 　 like drifting

光が通る　屈折のリズム
hikari ga tooru kussetsu no rizumu
light passes through 　 the rhythm of refraction

影が歌えば　時が止まるわ
kage ga utaeba toki ga tomaru wa
when the shadow sings 　 time stands still

レンズの奥に　見えるのプリズム
renzu no oku ni mieru no purizumu
behind the lens 　 a prism appears

謎のフレーム　キミキミ ドリーム
nazo no fureemu kimi kimi doriimu
in an enigmatic frame 　 you, you, dream

※

フォーカス　フォーカス　光をテイク
fookasu fookasu hikari o teiku
Focus 　 Focus 　 get a take of the light

焦点距離は？　未来をショット
shouten kyori wa? mirai o shotto
what's the focal length? 　 shoot the future

フォーカス　フォーカス　光をテイク
fookasu fookasu hikari o teiku
Focus 　 Focus 　 get a take of the light

無限の光量　時代をカット
mugen no kouryou jidai o katto
infinite light 　 cut the era

広角　広角　視界を広げて
koukaku koukaku shikai o hirogete
wide angle 　 wide angle 　 expand the field of view

パースのマジック　世界を曲げる
paasu no majikku sekai o mageru
perspective magic 　 bends the world

見えないヒント　期待を重ねて
mienai hinto kitai o kasanete
a clue unseen 　 stacking expectations

一瞬のピント　みたいなコネクト
isshun no pinto mitai na konekuto
in an instant the focus 　 is like a connection

光が通る　屈折のリズム
hikari ga tooru kussetsu no rizumu
light passes through 　 the rhythm of refraction

影が歌えば　時が止まるわ
kage ga utaeba toki ga tomaru wa
when the shadow sings 　 time stands still

レンズの奥に　見えるのプリズム
renzu no oku ni mieru no purizumu
behind the lens 　 a prism appears

謎のフレーム　キミキミ ドリーム
nazo no fureemu kimi kimi doriimu
in an enigmatic frame 　 you, you, dream

※

フォーカス　フォーカス
fookasu fookasu
Focus 　 Focus

※

フォーカス　フォーカス
fookasu fookasu
Focus 　 Focus

Notes

These lyrics seem simple but are deceptively interesting. I had a lot of fun investigating photography terminology and slang in both English and Japanese. 重ねて is "stacking" or "layering". I chose "stacking" because I thought it sounded like "stacking exposures". "get a take", "cut", "shoot"-- all of these are meant in the filmmaking sense. The specific 'focus' in the 'instant' is the literal focus of a lens. In contrast, the title/chorus "focus, focus" could be the lens focus, or maybe a request! It's up to you.

Outside of that, this is a very loose and denpa-kei feeling song, so there wasn't much I could do to add the structure English likes without making assumptions. So, it's a little awkward, but I think it's probably a fun read regardless.

I grew up listening to a lot of Perfume and have been both really happy and sad about their 'soft retirement', so I was really really stoked to hear this song from Yasutaka that feels chock-full of what I like about both his old and new songs. Also, the MV is just so so good, wow.

As always, this isn't a professional translation and probably shouldn't be reprinted as a result.