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I've seen several translations of the following song lyrics from Lady Gaga's
"Edge of Glory" online, and none of them look quite right.

```

    I'm on the edge, the edge, 
    the edge, the edge, 
    the edge, the edge, 
    the edge,
    I'm on the edge of glory, 
    and I'm hanging on a moment with you 
    I'm on the edge with you. 
    
```

Here's an example

```

    果てに私が果てに
    果てに、果てに
    果てに、果てに
    果てに
    栄光の果てに私がいるの
    あなたといる瞬間にしがみついてる
    果てにあなたと私が一緒にいるの
    
```

After thinking about it, I realized that different Japanese words for words
for "edge" have implications that don't exist in English.

I think that 果て with regards to "glory", implies that glory has already been
achieved. The above translation would be wrong then, since "edge of glory"
means the same thing as "about to achieve glory."

Are my observations correct? What is the correct Japanese word for "edge" in
this case?
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2011-07-04T23:47:59.490
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2011-07-14T18:28:49.790
2011-07-06T10:46:11.293
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question
translation song-lyrics
How to translate "edge" into Japanese
What is "the edge of glory" ?

The edge seems like a cliff since she's saying later "I'm hanging". So she's
_hanging_ between "glory" and "a person". She's keeping a theme here. Edge,
hanging, a moment, falling.

Now in a translation you need to think whether you want to keep images+meaning
or only the meaning. (for songs you should probably go for the images)

So if you'd like to make a translation as close as possible you would use:
崖っぷち(に立っている) or 端 (はし)

In the other translation that you deleted I saw: もう少しで

It looks like a good translation of the meaning. (though losing the 'hanging,
falling' kind of feeling)

The problem with "edge" is we don't know if she's going to fall **from**
'glory' (in which case 果て is good) or fall **into** 'glory'.
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2011-07-06T15:09:21.933
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2011-07-06T15:09:21.933
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answer
After investigating this, it appears that the "glory" referenced by Lady Gaga
in this song is referring to "death," and was written shortly after her
uncle's death.

Taking this information into consideration, I agree that 果て -- which seems to
have an implication of the _far_ edge, rather than the nearest -- isn't the
right word for it. In reality, a 1:1 translation (especially of poetry and
lyrics) isn't often possible, which appears to be true in this case as well.

For this reason song translations (for the purpose of being sung) often resort
to changing the meaning of the song -- or at least its form. In this case, 果て
may be acceptable; while it doesn't match the original meaning as well, it may
match the music better than alternatives.

Translations which aim to preserve the _meaning_ of the song are very rarely
"singable". In this case, a better translation would be もう少しで as suggested by
@repecmps, or simply 近い.

To summarize the answer to your questions: **yes** , your observations appear
to be correct: 果て does not match the meaning of "edge" in this case. However,
what word _does match it_ is very subjective and can vary greatly depending on
what type of translation you are performing. The closest 1:1 translations of
this "edge" are probably 詰め【づめ】 or 境【さかい】 -- but I would probably go for a
different metaphor, personally.
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2011-07-13T01:48:51.147
1891
2011-07-13T01:48:51.147
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answer
One way of translating is to employ several expressions to convey the meaning
of "edge", when you can't find a word-for-word solution. Here's my attempt at
it:

```

    もう すぐそこまできてる It's almost there,
    あと一歩、あと一歩、    only a step away,
    あと一歩、あと一歩、    a step, a step,
    あと一歩、            a step,
    もう 光輝きはじめてる   I'm already seeing the shining light
    君といる この一瞬にすがりながら I'm with you, hanging on to this moment
    君といる この境目に。  I'm with you, at the edge.
    
```

  * 一歩 (いっぽ) "a step" - sometimes used to express the smallest action or difference in state towards something, as in "step by step".
  * 境目 (さかいめ) "borderline" - can be physical or abstract, as in "国の境目が生死の境目であってはならない" (National borders shall not be the line between life and death).

(I confess I didn't even try to make it singable =)
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2011-07-14T18:28:49.790
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answer