Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 20 · middle

Yopparatta

VOLUME I — being gloriously, world-tilting DRUNK (the night at full tilt). The idiom and the song's title hook: "Yopparatta". Its true history: Japan — from 'yopparau,' to get drunk; the standard, almost tender verb for the tipsy state. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.

Lyrics

[Intro]
Just lean on my shoulder
The sidewalk is tilting, I know

[Verse 1]
You missed the last train by a minute
And laughed at the empty rail
Your balance has nothing left in it
You're swaying like ships in a gale
But there is a word from the islands
A verb that they use in Japan
To capture this gentle surrender
Of a perfectly ruinous plan

[Chorus]
Yopparatta, yopparatta
The root is yopparau, my friend
It means you are soft in the middle
And glowing right out to the end
Yopparatta, yopparatta
There's nothing to hide or regret
The world is a wonderful puzzle
That you haven't figured out yet

[Verse 2]
Your jacket is missing a button
Your stories are circling round
You're talking to dogs on the pavement
And praising the solid ground
It isn't a crime to be heavy
It isn't a sin to be slow
I've got you, my shoulder is steady
Just let the last barricade go

[Chorus]
Yopparatta, yopparatta
The root is yopparau, my friend
It means you are soft in the middle
And glowing right out to the end
Yopparatta, yopparatta
There's nothing to hide or regret
The world is a wonderful puzzle
That you haven't figured out yet

[Bridge]
It sounds like a lullaby singing
A pat on the back in the dark
While all of the lanterns are swinging
And we're walking home through the park
It's just the old human condition
Caught in a tender refrain

[Outro]
So give me your arm, I will steer us
Away from the edge of the street
Yopparatta, you're beautifully broken
And we have a long way to walk
We're just gonna walk for a while