Team A - "Bird"

Despite having two popular girls in the unit alongside Takamina (Oshima Mai, now graduated, and Mariko), and although Takahashi now has a solo song (which I'll translate too, since I feel it's the follow-up to this song), Bird is Takamina's signature song even now. It's also one of AKB's best songs and performances.
(As a Sae-oshi, I feel compelled to inform you that whenever this song is performed in a non-shuffle occasion, Ms.Miyazawa is the substitute for Maimai. 8D)

"Bird"
(from Team A 3rd stage "Dareka no tame ni")
Takahashi Minami, Oshima Mai, Shinoda Mariko

words: Akimoto Yasushi
music: Morikawa Naoki
point of view: female
theme: love song
original lyrics


listen to Bird on youtube

Chased and surpassed by the dawn
Just when you turned off your car's headlights
The Aqua Line¹ that takes us back to our town
Is too long for us to talk
There's nothing to do but run

Love is a bird who's lost its wings and can't fly
I feel the wind from the passenger's seat's window
Love is a bird who's lost its wings and can't fly
Trapped inside the cage of my heart
Ah, the day when that sky is no longer mine has come

There aren't other cars either
So my loneliness just goes on and on
When we surpassed Umihotaru²
That profile of yours I used to remember
Got blurred by my tears

I am a sad bird who's forgotten how to fly
I just squat down in the place I am in now
I am a sad bird who has forgotten how to fly
I cannot make my way to your heart
Ah, on this ground,
Deprived of my freedom, farewell

Love is a bird who's lost its wings and can't fly
I feel the wind from the passenger's seat's window
Love is a bird who's lost its wings and can't fly
Trapped inside the cage of my heart
Ah, the day when that sky is no longer mine has come

Notes
¹ The Aqua Line is a freeway running from Tokyo to Kisarazu, a city in Chiba prefecture. Most of it consists of a tunnel + bridge combination crossing Tokyo Bay.
² Umihotaru (literally meaning "sea firefly" is an artificial island that lies in the middle of Tokyo Bay, at the crossover point between the tunnel and the bridge. It also has amusement and dining facilities.
If you want to know more about the Aqua Line and Umihotaru, you can check its English-language wikipedia page or just look at it on Google maps.

Comment
"Bird" tells us about a couple who's going back to their hometown in Chiba (after presumably a night out in Tokyo) at daybreak. The girl feels like she loves him much more than he loves her, therefore she feels like a wingless bird who has lost its freedom and can't fly anymore. The imagery perfectly conveys the sadness, and the words used are particularly suggestive - with most verbs and nouns chosen to represent certain feelings. I can only hope I have written a translation good enough for you to feel those feelings evoked by the original lyrics.