Momus - Some Mistranslations lyrics

The funny mistranslations the funny Japanese
Use to fill cd brochures appeal in the west
To the music lover's sense of the surreal

For example: "You trade our
Fear for euphoria"
From my song 'King Solomon's Song and Mine'
In Japan emerged a much more sinister line:
"You trade our veal for your foamy eye"

Huh huh, that kills me
But some mistranslations are not so funny

When the US ultimatum came at the
End of World War I I
The Japanese said: "We need some more
Time to consider what to do" but Truman
Who already knew what weapon
He planned to use
Got the message, loud and clear
As: "We refuse!"

My friend Fumiko's mother was at school
She'd had the luck to break some rule
And got punished, banished to the cellar
She emerged to find her hometown, Hiroshima
Vanished