這首歌收錄於黑暗堡壘(Fort Minor)於2005年的專輯《火線同盟》(The Rising Tied)當中。
My father came from Japan in 1905
我爸是在1905年從日本過來的
He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan
他從日本移民過來時才15歲
He worked until he was able to buy respect and build a store
他工作勤奮到受人尊敬並創立自己的商店
Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream,
讓我用夢境來向你說段故事
I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means,
我不知道我幹嘛說,但我懂故事的意義
Close your eyes, just picture the scene,
As I paint it for you, it was World War II,
閉上眼,想像著我告訴你的場面,時間設在二次大戰
When this man named Kenji woke up,
有個名為Kenji的男子醒來
Ken was not a soldier,
他不是軍人
He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA,
他只是個在洛杉磯開一間店,有家室的普通人
That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did,
那天,他如往常爬下床
Bacon and eggs with wife and kids,
和妻小享用培根煎蛋
He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran,
他住在他的店面的樓上
He moved to LA from Japan,
他從日本移民洛杉磯
They called him 'Immigrant,'
周遭的人都叫他移民
In Japanese, he'd say he was called "Issei,"
但用日文來說,他傾向大家稱呼他為Issei
That meant 'First Generation In The United States,'
是「移民美國的第一代」的意思
When everybody was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs,
當時大眾怕德軍怕日軍
But most of all afraid of a homeland attack,
但最怕的就是本土遭到攻擊
And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat,
那天早上當Kenji走出門時
His world went black 'cause,
他的世界塌陷成一片黯黑
Right there; front page news,
在報紙上的頭條新聞
Three weeks before 1942,
離1942年只剩三個禮拜
"Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The Japs Are Comin',"
「珍珠港被轟炸,日軍來襲」
Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin',
照片上的官兵非死即逃
Ken knew what it would lead to,
Kenji猜得到未來大概會發生的事
Just like he guessed, the President said,
也正如他所猜,總統下令:
"The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away,"
「藏匿在本土上的邪惡日本人會被關押住」
They gave Ken, a couple of days,
政府給Kenji短短幾天
To get his whole life packed in two bags,
把他的行囊打包進兩個袋子中
Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes,
兩個袋子連他的衣服都裝不下
Some folks didn't even have a suitcase, to pack anything in,
有些人連打包的行李箱都沒有
So two trash bags is all they gave them,
所以他們就只有政府給的兩個垃圾袋
When the kids asked mom "Where are we goin'?"
當孩童問他們的媽:「我們要去哪裡?」
Nobody even knew what to say to them,
沒有人知道該怎麼向他們解釋
Ken didn't wanna lie, he said "The US is lookin' for spies,
Kenji不想說謊,他說:「美國政府在抓間諜
So we have to live in a place called Manzanar,
所以我們得移居到一個叫曼贊納的地方
Where a lot of Japanese people are,"
那裡會住著很多日本來的人」
Stop it don't look at the gunmen,
眼神別亂飄,別盯著持槍守衛看
You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin',
你不會想要守衛懷疑你的
If you gonna run or not,
如果你打算逃出去
'Cause if you run then you might get shot,
最好有被射殺的準備
Other than that try not to think about it,
除此之外的都不要多想
Try not to worry 'bout it; bein' so crowded,
別為人擠人的現狀操心
Someday we'll get out, someday, someday.
總有出去這營區的一天,總有一天…
As soon as war broke out
戰爭爆發後不久
The F.B.I. came and they just come to the house and
FBI的人就來門前說
"You have to come"
「你必須跟我們走
"All the Japanese have to go"
所有的日裔人都得走」
They took Mr. Ni
他們把Ni先生帶走了
People didn't understand
左鄰右舍都搞不懂
Why did they have to take him?
為什麼政府要帶走他
Because he's an innocent laborer
他不過就是個無辜的勞工而已
So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them,
現在他們被集中在一座被軍方包圍的小鎮上
Every day, every night look down at them,
日日夜夜被監視著
From watch towers up on the wall,
站在牆上哨戒塔上的衛兵們
Ken couldn't really hate them at all;
Kenji也恨不了他們
They were just doin' their job and,
他們只是奉命來這而已
He wasn't gonna make any problems,
他也不想當個眼中釘
He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that,
他開闢一座種蔬菜水果的小花園
He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made,
用他太太做的籃子裝著蔬果送給衛兵
But in the back of his mind, he wanted his families life saved,
但此舉只是想要保住全家人的命
Prisoners of war in their own damn country,
自己人卻被當戰俘關押
What for?
這意義何在?
Time passed in the prison town,
在這戰俘鎮上過了一天又一天
He wondered if they would live it down, if and when they were free,
他不禁想著會不會永遠住在這,會不會被釋放,會的話是何時?
The only way out was joinin' the army,
但現在出去的唯一方法就是從軍
And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on,
不出意外的,有些人就這樣簽下去了
And ended up flyin' to Japan with a bomb,
而戰爭以美軍在日本投炸彈作結
That 15 kilotonne blast, put an end to the war pretty fast,
1.5萬噸當量的原子彈炸下去,迅速終結戰爭
Two cities were blown to bits; the end of the war came quick,
兩座城市被炸成渣,戰爭終局來的飛快
Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life, with his kids and his wife,
Kenji和妻小被釋放,滿心期待回歸過往生活
But, when they got back to their home,
但當他們回家時
What they saw made them feel so alone,
所見所聞在在傷透他們的心
These people had trashed every room,
每間房間都被人堆滿垃圾
Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors,
每扇窗和門都被破壞殆盡
Written on the walls and the floor,
漆在牆上的大字寫著
"Japs not welcome anymore."
「日本鬼子滾出去」
And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside,
Kenji落下兩個袋子,呆站在家門外
He, looked at his wife without words to say,
看著妻子,半晌吐不出半字
She looked back at him wiping tears away,
她擦乾苦淚,回望著Kenji
And, said "Someday we'll be OK, someday,"
說:「總有一天會好轉的,總會有一天…」
Now the names have been changed, but the story's true,
這故事裡的人名有換過,但情節是真的
My family was locked up back in '42,
我的家庭在1942年被關過
My family was there it was dark and damp,
曾待在那陰暗潮濕的營區過
And they called it an internment camp
他們稱那座營區為「拘留營」
When we first got back from camp... uh
當我們剛出拘留營時…嗯
It was... pretty... pretty bad
真的…真的非常…悽慘
I, I remember my husband said
我,我還記得我老公說過
"Are we gonna stay 'til last?"
「我們會不會一輩子住在這了?」
Then my husband died before they close the camp.
之後我老公就在營區關閉前去世了
一般大眾對於二戰同盟國的印象大概就是所謂正義的一方,然後努力打敗了邪惡的軸心國這樣。但現今我學到的一件事就是,所謂的善惡真的只存在於童話裡。電玩之夜的Matt針對拘留營裡的人要參軍時必須回答「是否放棄支持日本天皇,永久支持美利堅合眾國」這類問題有提過一個很好笑但很貼切的說法:
「…我已經過著如獄卒的生活還要被問這種
『假如一個美國人和一個日本人掉到水裡你會先救誰?』
的身分認同問題真的光用想的就很靠北了…」
Mike Shinoda會想唱出這段歷史,大概和做為一個日裔美國人後代的身分有關吧?(藍色窗簾警告)
雖然通篇沒有過於艱澀的字詞,但是翻完的感想就是很沉重。
歌詞來源:
以上翻譯僅供參考,還請各位先進不吝賜教