Scarlet Pendulum

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Lyrics

At midnight the red arc wakes above the square
(真夜中　緋色の弧が広場の上で目を覚ます)
It cuts one road from every road we might have taken
(選びえた無数の道からただ一つの道を切り分ける)
Faces turn whenever its shadow crosses stone
(その影が石畳を横切るたび人々の顔が振り向く)
I hear tomorrow ticking backward through my bones
(骨の奥で明日が逆向きに時を刻む音を聞く)

One swing erases
(一振りがすべてを消し去り)
One swing restores
(一振りがすべてを蘇らせる)
I mark the place where neither side can own me
(どちらの側にも私を縛れぬ場所へ印を刻む)

Scarlet Pendulum, pass over me
(緋色の振り子よ　私を越えてゆけ)
You can divide the hour but not the will beneath
(時を切り裂けても　その奥に宿る意志までは断てない)
Scarlet Pendulum, return and find
(緋色の振り子よ　戻って確かめるがいい)
The mark you left has moved beyond your line
(残された刻印はすでにその軌道を越えている)

Back through the red
(再び緋色をくぐり)
Back through the frame
(再び定めの枠を越え)
You return to the mark
(あの刻印へと帰り)
I return as someone changed
(私は別の何者かとなって戻る)

They built their laws along the measure of your fall
(彼らは振り下りるその律に沿って掟を築いた)
Every promise timed to land before your shadow
(あらゆる誓いはその影が落ちる前に果たされるよう定められた)
I learned to breathe between the edges of the swing
(私は振り子が描く両端の狭間で息をする術を覚えた)
And hide one uncounted heartbeat from the clock
(そして時計に数えられぬ一つの鼓動を密かに隠した)

One swing divides us
(一振りが私たちを引き裂き)
One swing makes us whole
(一振りが再び一つにする)
I keep the hidden beat you never learned to hold
(その手には決して捉えられぬ秘めた鼓動を私は守り続ける)

Scarlet Pendulum, pass over me
(緋色の振り子よ　私を越えてゆけ)
You can divide the hour but not the will beneath
(時を切り裂けても　その奥に宿る意志までは断てない)
Scarlet Pendulum, return and find
(緋色の振り子よ　戻って確かめるがいい)
The mark you left is farther from your line
(残された刻印はさらにその軌道から遠ざかっている)

Back through the red
(再び緋色をくぐり)
Back through the frame
(再び定めの枠を越え)
You return to the mark
(あの刻印へと帰り)
I return as someone changed
(私は別の何者かとなって戻る)

振り子が止まる一瞬だけ
(Only for the instant when the pendulum stands still)
私の時間が私に戻る
(My time returns to me)
赤い軌道の外へ
(Beyond the red arc)
まだ名前のない一歩を置く
(I set down a step that still has no name)

I step when the measure fails
(律が破綻する瞬間に私は踏み出す)
I run when the silence opens
(静寂が道を開く瞬間に私は駆ける)
The arc comes down behind me
(あの弧が私の背後へ落ちてくる)
For the first time it misses
(そして初めて私を捉え損ねる)

No law can count the distance now
(もはやいかなる掟にもこの距離は測れない)
No hand can pull the vanished weight
(消え去った重りを引き戻せる手はない)
The square behind me changes shape
(背後の広場はその姿を変えてゆく)
The future stops arriving late
(未来はもう遅れては来ない)

Scarlet Pendulum, pass over me
(緋色の振り子よ　私を越えてゆけ)
The line you drew no longer closes over me
(描かれた軌道はもう私を囲い込めない)
Scarlet Pendulum, swing one final time
(緋色の振り子よ　これが最後の一振りだ)
私はもうその軌道にいない
(I am no longer within that arc)
Your crimson measure ends behind my stride
(その深紅の律は私の歩みの背後で終わる)

No second swing
(二度目の振りはない)
No borrowed hour
(借りものの時はもうない)
The scarlet arc hangs motionless
(緋色の弧は微動だにせず宙に留まる)
I walk where neither side has been
(私はどちらの側もまだ踏み入れたことのない場所を歩いてゆく)

Prompt

Fast, melodic metal with a double-time pulse and forward motion, driven by articulate double bass, tight palm-muted riffs, sharp accents, and phrases that push across bar lines. Open with the Scarlet Pendulum motif, a two-note minor-sixth oscillation traded between low cello strikes and clipped guitar harmonics. Keep the first 30 seconds identifiable without revealing every layer. Verses use clipped rests, then the chorus opens wider around a memorable vocal hook while the pendulum motif remains underneath. Mid-song, drop into a sparse suspended section where the pulse nearly vanishes and Japanese lines become the memory point. Rebuild by fragmenting the motif, then snap back into double-time motion with stronger counterlines and renewed attack. Preserve clear articulation at speed. Let recurrent sections return recognizably with changed voicing or rhythm. The final payoff must break the cycle, expanding the last chorus and resolving the motif in one direction instead of swinging back.