Nanakorobi Yaoki (If At First You Don't Succeed...)

Woah, wo wo wo wooooaaahhh got tripped up, went down in a mad dash
skinned myself but I got 2000 yen out of it, sitting right in front of me

Ordered an extra large but a regular came instead,
there was no mistaking it, it looked like a regular
I summon my courage and ask, turns out it was extra large

sadness, bounce up and down
like a rubber ball, like a ball
it’s simple, if you don’t bounce it, it won’t bounce back.
happiness, you bounce too up and down
with my push, fly up over it
even just a little

I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, swish swish gurgle
the foam was thicker than usual, turns out it was Clearasil Face Wash

I fell in love big time, for the first time in a long time, my heart racing
I summon up the courage to tell her, turns out it’s my niece.

that person standing there, thought it was Haru Ichiban,
was convinced it was him,
I was a fan so I went to speak to him,
turns out it was Antonio Inoki. *1

build up sadness one after another
like those blocks, like those bricks
sandwiched with joy
build up happiness too one after another
sometimes you have to rely on someone else,
but not too much.

Translated By: Brian Stewart & Takako Sakuma

Translator’s Notes: The title of this song as I looked it up is a term used to talk about the drastic up’s and down’s one goes through in one’s life and not letting them defeat you. In English we have a similar expression, “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”.