#empty prayer

"and what's wrong"

"I swallow down the anguish I wanted to pile up and dry things"

自分が　季節が　誰もが勘違いをしている 稚拙が　俯瞰が　違った形を装い出す Myself-- 　 the seasons-- 　 everyone’s got the wrong idea. Childishness-- 　looking down from on high-- 　 dressing them all in different shapes. 不埒な言葉が　喉から引きずり出されている 何処から来たのか　歩いて歩いて歩いている Insolent words are dragged from my throat. Where did I come from? I walk and walk and walk. 行き場を作れないままで　僕は君だ　君は僕だ 霞ん だ 透明な影の指先が蕩けて揺らいで交わる Unable to conjure a destination, I am you. You are me. The fingertips of a blurred clear shadow melt, waver, and join together. 何も聞きたくなくなっている頭の中は 正しいか間違っているか比べられなくなる 指折り数えている祈りは空っぽになった きっと　きっともう　頼れないな I’ve stopped wanting to hear the thoughts in my head. I’m no longer able to tell what’s right and what’s wrong. The prayers I count on my fingers have become empty.¹ I know, I know I can’t rely on them anymore. 誓いや怒りが優しく頭痛を解いていく 誰かの風が僕らを追い越すばかりだった The vows and the anger gently relieve my headache. The draft kicked up by someone simply passed us by. ひとつひとつ違っていき僕になった　君になった 安全さを切り売りして痩せていく心や頭や言葉を Piece by piece, I became a different me. I became you. Selling safety in parts, my thinning heart and head and words-- 止めて stop them. 重ねたくなった憂いや乾き達を 飲み込んで動かないように震えを噛み殺している 身体は檻になって中身はもう溢れないし もっと揺らして I swallow down the anguish I wanted to pile up and the dry things so that unmoving, I stifle my trembling. My body has become a cage. My insides are no longer brimming over. Shake it harder. 灯りみたいな 名前みたいな 赤茶けた心根は捨ててかなきゃ 古い夏や明日の夜にも もう　もう　いないの Like the light, like my name, I’ve got to throw away the blackening² depths of my heart. Those old summers, and even tomorrow night, they’re all gone now. 聞きたくなくなっていた頭の中は 指折り数えている祈りは空っぽになった I’ve stopped wanting to hear the thoughts in my head. The prayers I count on my fingers have become empty. ずっと　ずっと　ずっと　ずっと Forever　forever　forever　forever 全て繋ぎ合っておんなじになった 生活も歌も関係も品性も生い立ちも 君が嫌なこと全部殴りたいんだけれど だって だって　なんでもう　動けないんだ Everything has tied together and become one. Daily life and songs and relationships and moral character and upbringing; I want to beat up everything you hate, but but, I can’t seem to move anymore. 簡単な夢を見ないで Don’t dream of such simple things. * Though a more literal translation of the title is “Prayers Are Empty” the producer has provided the official English title “Empty Prayer” ¹ I originally translated 祈りは空っぽになった as "my prayers have become hollow" where it appears in the song, but then I noticed that at 3:04 in the PV the heart monitor reads "HEALTH: empty," and I changed "hollow" to "empty" to better preserve the reference.

Video: Joe Traxler – Empty Prayer

Hailing from Vienna, Austria, Joe Traxler is an indie pop artist who dives deep into his psyche in new track Empty Prayer. (more…)

Empty Prayers

San Jose Church, Corregidor Island (2015)