仕方 (Shikata)

Today’s entry for NaCreSoMo is a recording of me playing a song called “Shikata” on guitar; what’s special about this song is that I wrote it in high school and have never actually sung it for anyone.

If you’re on a slow internet connection, you might want to download the audio instead.

This song is from a time when we all thought Linkin Park was cool…or I still did, anyway. “Shikata” is my attempt to write a Linkin-Park-style emo/metal/rock/whatever song, along with the conceit of throwing in Japanese lyrics. Even at the time, I was aware of the, well, less-than-eloquent quality of the lyrics, but it felt kind of par for the course in that genre.

The phrase “shikata ga nai” is usually translated as “it can’t be helped”, but that doesn’t really capture the spirit behind it. (The equivalent Chinese phrase is 沒辦法・没办法.) Still, it’s not as if this song is a particularly appropriate incarnation of “shikata ga nai”.1

I’m no Chester Bennington or Brad Delson, but in deciding what to Create today I was surprised and pleased to find that my meager skills at acoustic guitar could actually hold up the necessary chords to sing through this old piece. You’ll just have to imagine the amp, the bass and drums, and the raw vocals an octave higher than what I’m singing.

(I haven’t changed the English lyrics at all from what I wrote in high school. The Japanese was atrocious, though, so I tidied that up some.)

Speeding down this empty road
I watch the world outside
Alone and far from my abode
I might as well have died

Far from the life that I once knew
The sickness that afflicted you
For once I didn’t know what to do.

(Chorus)
I can’t go back
I can’t go on
Until this pain
I feel is gone
I want to scream
But I just cry
And all I can think is
Shikata ga nai

Where’s the justice in my life
It’s nowhere to be found
Memories cutting like a knife
Until I hit the ground

Where are the ones I once did love?
What happened to the gods above?
Happy feelings vanished like a dove.

(Chorus)

どこへ行っているかな？2
なにもなくなってきた。3
だれに愛してるかな？4
ぜんぜん分からないのだ。5

I can’t go back (行くこと)
I can’t go on (できない6)
Until this pain (だれも)
I feel is gone (いない7)
I want to scream (どうして)
But I just cry (死にたい8)
And all I can think is (私はしまった9)
Shikata ga nai (しかたがない10)

Shikata ga nai (しかたがない)
Shikata ga
Nai

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  1. For me, a much better use of “shikata ga nai” in a song comes from the off-Broadway musical Making Tracks. I was lucky enough to see this show as a young teenager back during its run in San Jose, and today’s post has prompted me to order a used copy of the cast recording CD. I would love to see this show come back some day. ↩︎

  2. Where am I going? ↩︎

  3. I’ve lost everything. ↩︎

  4. Who do I love? ↩︎

  5. I’ll never understand. ↩︎

  6. I can’t go ↩︎

  7. No one is here ↩︎

  8. Why do I want to die ↩︎

  9. I am finished ↩︎

  10. shikata ga nai ↩︎

This entry was posted on March 02, 2013 and is filed under Creativity. Tags: Song, Guitar, CHS, Japanese, NaCreSoMo 2013