Help Translating "Sukiyaki" Song

[DewarHolmes]

Hi,

I'm trying to learn the song 'Ue o Muite Arukou' (AKA:'Sukiyaki') by Kyu Sakamoto, and I thought I'd use it as a sort of grammar lesson/vocab enhancer.
Below is a link to a site displaying the original Japanese (Romaji) characters and the English translation, but I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with a literal translation (with the original syntax/words intact).
I have been able to piece some of it together by searching the internet but I can't find the translation of some of the words.
I appreciate any help. Thanks much.

Nihongo o Narau - Songs: Ue o Muite Arukou

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by DewarHolmes

Hi,

I'm trying to learn the song 'Ue o Muite Arukou' (AKA:'Sukiyaki') by Kyu Sakamoto, and I thought I'd use it as a sort of grammar lesson/vocab enhancer.
Below is a link to a site displaying the original Japanese (Romaji) characters and the English translation, but I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with a literal translation (with the original syntax/words intact).
I have been able to piece some of it together by searching the internet but I can't find the translation of some of the words.
I appreciate any help. Thanks much.

Nihongo o Narau - Songs: Ue o Muite Arukou

1. the original Japanese is not romaji, but you probably already knew that

2. The translation is pretty word-for-word precise. But you asked for literal, so boy howdy am I ever going to give you literal
ACC = accusative
GER = gerund
VOL = volitional]
SUBJ = subject
NEG = negative
LOC = locative
GEN = genitive (I tend to call all usage of の "genitive" even if technically it's not, just for simplicity's sake)

上を向いて歩こう up-ACC face-GER walk-VOL
涙がこぼれないように tear-SUBJ fall-NEG so that
思い出す春の日 I-remember spring-GEN day
ひとりぼっちの夜 alone-GEN night

上を向いて歩こう up-ACC face-GER walk-VOL
にじんだ星を数えて well-up-PAST star-ACC count-GER
思い出す夏の日 I-remember summer-GEN day
ひとりぼっちの夜 alone-GEN night

幸せは雲の上に happiness-TOPIC cloud-GEN up-LOC
幸せは空の上に happiness-TOPIC sky-GEN up-LOC

上を向いて歩こう up-ACC face-GER walk-VOL
涙がこぼれないように tear-SUBJ fall-NEG so that
泣きながら歩く while crying I walk
ひとりぼっちの夜 alone-GEN night

思い出す秋の日 I-remember autumn-GEN day
ひとりぼっちの夜 alone-GEN night

悲しみは星の影に sadness-TOPIC star-GEN shadow-LOC
悲しみは月の影に sadness-TOPIC moon-GEN shadow-LOC

上を向いて歩こう up-ACC face-GER walk-VOL
涙がこぼれないように tear-SUBJ fall-NEG so that
泣きながら歩く while crying I walk
ひとりぼっちのよる alone-GEN night

[DewarHolmes]

Boy howdy, indeed! I had hoped for-but hadn't expected-such an excellent answer! Thanks much.
(Yeah, thanks. I meant the "Ue o Muiet..." was Romaji.)

Say-you seem to be quite knowledgeable on grammar + such. Do you have any recommendations (i.e. textbooks/other books) for an autodidact wishing to educate himself more thoroughly on grammar?

Thanks again for the reply.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by DewarHolmes

Boy howdy, indeed! I had hoped for-but hadn't expected-such an excellent answer! Thanks much.
(Yeah, thanks. I meant the "Ue o Muiet..." was Romaji.)

Say-you seem to be quite knowledgeable on grammar + such. Do you have any recommendations (i.e. textbooks/other books) for an autodidact wishing to educate himself more thoroughly on grammar?

Thanks again for the reply.

Where is your Japanese at right now? That's a biiiig factor in recommending.

[DewarHolmes]

Hmm...not so good. I know Hiragana, Katakana, a little bit of Kanji, and a handful of phrases. I recently purchased the book "Minna No Nihongo" (unfortunately, I bought the Romaji version instead of the Hiragana) and I started to study the grammar, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get become acquainted with English grammar before I move ahead. (I was having difficulty even with the simple rules about Japanese particles.)
Do you have any recommendations for English grammar books? (Any advice that would save me searching at the 20,000 + books out there would be good. Haha.)

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by DewarHolmes

Hmm...not so good. I know Hiragana, Katakana, a little bit of Kanji, and a handful of phrases. I recently purchased the book "Minna No Nihongo" (unfortunately, I bought the Romaji version instead of the Hiragana) and I started to study the grammar, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get become acquainted with English grammar before I move ahead. (I was having difficulty even with the simple rules about Japanese particles.)
Do you have any recommendations for English grammar books? (Any advice that would save me searching at the 20,000 + books out there would be good. Haha.)

Nothing about English grammar will help you with Japanese particles. The biggest issue, は vs. が, has absolutely no English equivalent, really. There are hacky ways to understand it, but it has nothing to do with English grammar.

Wikipedia is a good enough for English grammar reference while learning Japanese. If you see a term (like "passive") in your Japanese textbook, just read up on "passive" on Wikipedia's entry.

However, in my opinion, it's a colossally stupid idea to try and equate Japanese and English grammar when you're learning Japanese. You're best to just take what it tells you at face value and not try and find equivalents in Japanese. There are tons of things that just don't exist in English (and vice versa). The most obvious example to me is causative-passive form. And the other way around, there is no concept of "future" or "present" in Japanese like there is in English. There is just "non-past."

Obviously these are simplifications, but just an example of why you should not fret about English grammar right now.

Also, there's this interesting new invention called Google. Look how much information there is on は vs. が, for example! は vs. が - Google Search

[DewarHolmes]

Grand. That's the approach I've been taking with the Kanji as well. 'They' teach you in terms of strokes + whatnot, but I've been trying to think of them as 'creatures' in themselves-as wholes-individual words with individual meanings. I guess I'll start from scratch with the grammar.
I'll look into this...'gooble' or whatever you called it. Thanks much.