"Fate of a Cherry Petal" • my silly English adaptation of a theme song for a Touhou fan series

published February 21, 2025

Has it really been over a week since I released the blog? Feels like it's been a month. I'm super dead-tired, but I also really wanted to post something, so here ya go.

As the title says, I made a third writing-exercise just-for-fun English singable-lyrics adaptation of a song.

The original song, "Iro Wa Nioedo Chirinuro O", is a theme song to a Touhou fan animé called "Memories of Phantasm", and it's kind of like one of Touhou's anthems, alongside other famous tracks like "Bad Apple" and "Necromantic". When I started working on this English adaptation all the way back in December...I probably don't have the clearest memory since it was so long ago, but I must've thought "if there was a definitive English dub, what would the theme song sound like?" And that's how I started, wanting to create singable lyrics that match the vibes and meaning of the original Japanese as closely as I can figure out. That's pretty much the intention behind the previous fan-made singable lyrics, too. I'd like to call it a "writing/creative exercise".

Work on these lyrics was spread out over 2 months, because these lyrics have some ASTOUNDINGLY-complex meaning to them that's compressed into rather few syllables. Benefits of the original language and cultural context, probably. I actually didn't fully understand a lot of the lines, even after looking at 5 separate translations ("I couldn't allow myself to wander" WANDER WHERE, AND WHO'S WANDERING, WTF 😭), so I got stumped on what to write for several lines. Long story short, I managed to finish the lyrics after sporadic work, even though I thought I'd forget about them. I guess I forgot about them after I finished, though, because it's been so long and I haven't shared these. Maybe it's lingering uncertainty about whether they're ready, or it's just that I forgot about them because my focuses changed and I moved onto other things. Even now, I feel a bit uncertain about posting this thing, but I figure I should anyways, just so that it's out there.

Do read the doc and let me know how the lyrics are. Or make something with them 👀 It's why I made these and put them out there—I want to know what other people think. The lyrics feel cool when I try singing them to myself, and I did my best and did what I felt like, but would other people think they're cool? What might they find that's inaccurate or that sounds cringe? Am I even allowed to make something like this, am I breaking copyright or smthn, or am I not qualified since I'm only pretending to be a lyricist, or what?? It always feels like a risk sharing these silly little lyrics, and it always stays a risk because nothing ever happens, nobody ever says anything about them in the places I've shared them before. As vain or problematic as this all might sound, I'd hate to have made something with the intention of having it seen, only for it to have never even been touched. I'm pretty bad at getting my stuff out there, and I don't know what to make of tumbleweeds and crickets.

Maybe social media broke my brain or something, I hate how vain and self-absorbed this sounds. I've said too much, but I just can't figure out how to say less. I need to sleep....

The Lyrics:

(Copy-pasted here for searchability.)

Every cherry petal’s fate is to fall, scattering away
A fading scent all that remains, never had a chance †to† roam

Once, the glorious blooms had taught me their way
Just existing in itself cannot forgive the debt of sin you pay
I simply want you too much, I can’t bring myself to let †you† go
Holding these feelings so tight, sends my heart whirling a sick dance of ecstasy (ecstasy)

Every cherry petal’s fate is to fall, scattering away
There is no time to hesitate, yet I fall back on my old ways
So insecure that I must hold on, yet so frail that I can’t help but let go
Nightmares take hold and grip me light, a pawn in their malicious game

You, the one who has learned what true weakness means
Have forgiven all the ones who chase your doomed path seeking just the same
Then did a blossom unfold, there’s no sight more valiant to †be†hold
Too soon its life fades away, for it’s too late and this dark world will never know

Every cherry petal’s fate is to fall, scattering away
All that is mine I give to you, for I’m a fool who thinks you can’t leave
Always more kind than you could deserve, yet so cruel that I’ll never let you go
This selfish love that won’t be weighed, it defies and chooses both

Every petal meets an end where it dies, scattered to the wind
But this big heart can’t be held in by these too-short memories
O fleeting life, wilting away, in your flight, stay strong for me as well
Bend to the will, the tender flow, and relentless course of time