Sakura Kyouko (Nonaka Ai) and Miki Sayaka (Kitamura Eri)’s character song, accompanying Vol. 5 of the Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica boxset, called 「and I’m home」.
[EDIT: Updated with the karaoke subs]
It’s a beautiful, beautiful duet… something you should listen to even if you haven’t watched or even (le gasp!) don’t like Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. Is it a spoiler if I tell you this song and the lyrics aren’t too much of a spoiler? At least it’s unspoilerly enough that I don’t mind talking about.
(I’m going to leave this post unprotected, so if you feel like commenting, please make sure it’s spoiler-free. You know how strongly I feel about giving away spoilers for Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica.)
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The lyrics transliterated, translated, and colour–coded by yours truly. And I must admit it was fun exercising my seiyuu fangirl skills to see who was singing what.
I’m thinking of karaoke subbing this song, but… we’ll see. And am I the only one squeeing at the official art by Ume-sensei?! I love her art style. :<
And I can’t stop listening to this song. x_x I’ve been playing it non-stop since I first heard it. @_@
錆び付いた心、
sabitsuita kokoro
What does a heart encrusted with rust see
音もない世界、何を見てるの?
oto mo nai sekai, nani wo miteru no?
in a still and soundless world?
またねを言える顔を探すよ
mata ne wo ieru kao wo sagasu yo
Looking for someone who looks like they can say, “I’ll see you again”,
それを繰り返すだけ
sore wo kurikaesu dake
I only end up repeating this over and over again.
気付けばそこには
ki tsukeba soko ni wa
Once you take notice, there’s
ひとりきりで泣く後ろ姿
hitorikiri de naku ushiro sugata
the silhouette of someone’s back, crying all alone
辛いような、
tsurai youna
In a heartrending,
寂しいような、場所。
sabishii youna basho
lonesome place.
手を繋いでいたいんだ
te wo tsunaideitainda
I want to remain with my hand entwined in yours
何度目の気持ちだろう
nando me no kimochi darou
How many times have I felt
ここにある温もりは
koko ni aru nukumori wa
the warmth here in this very place?
間違いでも構わない、傍にいること
machigai demo kamawanai, soba ni iru koto
Even if I’ve only mistaken being by your side, I don’t mind
涙の音、ため息の色
namida no oto, tameiki no iro
The sound of our tears and the colour of our sighs
今、確かめる現在地
ima, tashikameru genzaichi
Now ascertain where we are now
冗談みたいな毎日
joudan mitai na mainichi
The distraction of an everyday routine
見たい、見たい、未来
mitai, mitai, mirai
is something that I want, I want to see, even in the future
強がりの声も掠れたな、と
tsuyogari no koe mo kasureta na to
When I think how my voice, full of false bravado, has cracked
夢に落ちるの
yume ni ochiru no
I find myself surrendering to the dream world
抱えた膝、
kakaeta hiza
When I hold my knees close and
目を落とすと
me wo otosu to
cast my gaze downward
すぐに崩れてしまいそうで
sugu ni kuzureteshimaisou de
Suddenly I feel like I’m going to crumble
このまま、このまま
kono mama, kono mama
At this rate, at this rate,
ふたりきり駆け込む遠い出口、
futarikiri kakekomu tooi deguchi
The distant exit we dash toward together
まだ、期待しているの。さあ
mada kitaishiteiruno. saa
is still within reach. Now, let us
笑って見つめ合うんだ。
waratte mitsumeaunda
smile and gaze into each other
単純で無邪気な顔、
tanjun de mujaki na kao
Your guileless, innocent face
くしゃくしゃの思い抱いて
kushakusha no omoi daite
bears a jumble and medley of feelings
迷い込んだ場所さえ優しすぎて
mayoi konda basho sae yasashisugite
Even when you’ve lost your own way, you remain too kind
何度でも名前を呼ぶよ
nando demo namae wo yobu yo
I call out your name again and again
不確かな未来でも
futashika na mirai demo
Even if the future is uncertain
離せないもの、思うだけ心が痛いよ
hanasenai mono, omou dake kokoro ga itai yo
It pains me just to think of what I can’t let go
ここにいるよ
koko ni iru yo
I’m right here
ここにいるよ
koko ni iru yo
I’m right here
帰る場所はここだよ?
kaeru basho wa koko da yo?
You know there is always a place for you to return to, here
いつだって変わらない
itsu datte kawaranai
And that’ll never change
思いを残すの。
omoi wo nokosu no
With these feelings that remain
Arwyn's Yuri Blog 
;_____________;
Same here. I’ve been listening to it nonstop. It’s a VERY beautiful duet and their voices just blend together so well. Especially Ai Nonaka. I remember listening to her singing Konoka Konoe’s (of Negima) character songs and for that character, her voice was pretty high up there – just barely pushing the boundary where it went from high-pitched to ‘omg-tone-it-down.’ I was surprised when she used somewhat of the same voice for Kyouko, just slightly gruffer (before she was properly introduced I assumed Kyouko would have a husky, deep voice), but I found I quite liked her voice. (Actually I’m pretty much in love with it. As I am with all the girls. Even QB’s. D:)
I’ve read a translation of the duet on the puella magi wiki site, but your translation sounds more personal, more solid. DX I can’t really explain it, bah. I can’t wait for the series to be released in the US. Though the chances of the soundtrack/character songs being released as well are super non-existent, I’m keeping my hopes up! :D
NOTE: I gush about seiyuu in this reply. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with them or not, but talking about Nonaka Ai makes me feel like you might be. If you’re not, feel free to ignore the incomprehensible parts.
INORITE. D:
I’ve listened to it more times than I can count. I listened to it a bunch on YouTube, a bunch on my iTunes player (playcount: 129), and even more while karaoke subbing it (karaoke subbing = a lot harder than it seems, for the uninitiated @_@).
And particularly beautiful is how the lyrics refer to the events in the anime subtlely; I particularly like the penultimate stanza for that reason.
I liked Nonaka’s performance with Kyouko in this song so much that I went on YouTube to look her up, to see how she sings with other songs. And was all @_@ at precisely that “just barely pushing the boundary where it went from high-pitched to ‘omg-tone-it-down'” voice.
Then I felt suitably impressed with her ability to sing consistently in a deeper, Kyouko-y voice for this character song. Though I have a sneaking suspicion she’s pulling a ‘Noto Mamiko’ (who pretends to have a Yamato Nadeshiko voice as her normal voice) and is pretending to have a squeaky, helium, high-pitched ‘cute’ voice as her normal voice when she actually has a relatively lower voice. The only person I really 100% believe has a helium voice for reals is Kaneda Tomoko (of Chiyo from Azumanga Daioh fame). =P
(Actually I’m pretty much in love with it. As I am with all the girls. Even QB’s. D:)
Squee. YES. I love all their voices.
I was going to gush a lot about each of the characters and seiyuu, but this isn’t a protected post. x_x I shall restrain myself.
And actually, I think I saw the same translation as you did when someone else pointed me toward “and I’m home” here. It is a password protected post, but here’s the hint for the password:
It was after seeing that translation and falling in love with the song, that I felt it deserved a less awkward translation. Japanese lyrics are super confusing at times, what with their lack of pronouns and all. I translated based on a) anime events and b) who was singing what and c) verified the division of the stanzas from the official source to get it as close as possible to the original meaning, because it’s impossible to translate accurately if you do it line by line. =\
And if you’d like, we can take the conversation on Madoka over to the protected post, where it’s possible to talk about the series without censure.
someone decided to do an english fan dub version.
this song is awesome!