Lyrics

Lyrics are through 2012--need to add Arui Wa Anarchy, No. 0, The Mortal, Schaft second album

Transcription notes:
{words in braces} are what is being sung in the song but is not in the album's lyric booklet; these lyrics may come from other sources and will be noted. If the source is not noted then it's simply how I hear it and may be subject to inaccuracies. If I'm not sure what is being said, then I will put a ? mark.

(words in parenthesis) are backing vocals, notes, or samples.

In Japanese: [words in brackets] is the way the lyricist wants you to read the kanji and is not the traditional way nor is it usually even an acceptable way.

In English: [words in brackets] are the traditional way of reading the kanji or the original English of a word written in katakana in Japanese.

Translations: (if I bother to do it--I'm lazy and I think translations are dangerous) My goal is to be accurate but also to do so in a way that you can sing along. Not saying I get it right but I try to balance the following: 1. nit-picky via back translations (if I can translate it back into Japanese and it doesn't match the author's original words, then I will try to do a better translation in English) 2. syllabic matching (if the original line in Japanese was 10 syllables then I will try to translate it into 10 English syllables so you can sing along) and keep the English word in the same part of the sentence for sing-along purposes 3. not assume the author's intentions and make huge leaps in translations (the reader should be allowed to come to conclusions on their own) 4. keep the same tone: if the original lyrics were casual, dirty, slang, masculine, etc then I'll seek English words with a similar tone (here is where huge leaps may be made because the translator may color the translation with how they speak rather than how the author may speak if they learned English)

*Please note that males in Japanese often use a word for "I" which is masculine only and is often used in the lyrics presented here. This gendered nuance is not translatable in English.

Tabú

Lyrics by
From: Uncategorized, originally released on January 1st, 1935

Buck-Tick have a song entitled “Taboo” but it is not a straight cover of the song by Margarita Lecuona. There is a musical credit to Margarita as Buck-Tick use the main riff (credited as “interlude melody”) and you will notice some lyrical inspiration with the use of the title.

Composer: Margarita Lecuona

Alma del Africa lejana
llena mi pecho de candelas

Y el pobre congo hijo de esclavo
añora siempre las palmeras
las foscas selvas primitivas
de dioses misteriosos y de fieras

Ochún, Ifá, Obatalá, Changó y Yemayá
Ochún, Ifá, Obatalá, Changó y Yemayá

Tierra del Africa añorada
el río caudaloso y el cielo azul
siempre domina el alma blanca

Tabú…tabú…tabú

Ifá, Changó, Obatalá, Ochún y Yemayá
Ifá, Changó, Obatalá, Ochún y Yemayá

Tabú…tabú…tabú

English lyrics by Sidney Keith “Bob” Russell

Soul of distant Africa
Fills my chest with fire

And the poor child of the slave
Always longs for the palm trees
Of the primitive jungle
Of gods of mystery and war

Ifa, Ochun, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya
Ifa, Ochun, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya

Land of the longed for Africa
The deep rivers and blue sky
There, if a black man looks at a white woman

Taboo…taboo…taboo

Ifa, Ochun, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya
Ifa, Ochun, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya

Taboo…taboo…taboo