Ken kama suno lili la

August 23, 2025

This is a quick cover of はるまきごはん’s 彗星になれたなら, which is my first toki pona cover featuring my vocals. I did not have the luxury to put in a ton of effort on the music and graphics, but I think the homebrew feeling is somewhat charming in retrospect.

The music featured a guitar with a pretty aggressive distortion, which hides the sloppy execution and makes the mix more solid when there is no drum or bass. In some places, the vocal is just out of tune enough to make me uncomfortable; I tried to add a bit of pitch correction, but I thought the robotic snapping sounds worse. It is indeed very time-consuming to post-process vocals that are not great by themselves. When the tone wobbles a lot, the pitch correction needs to be adjusted dynamically to reduce the “snapping” sound. At some point, it would be more efficient to just record a few more takes.

However, I am fairly satisfied with the translation. It seems to be more in line with the toki pona philosophy than previous translations. I also did not have to make too many weird grammatical decisions, but it still generally rhymes. Since this video does not include them, I include the comments on the translation with this blog post:

laso sewi pi suno pini li kule pona pi nanpa wan tawa mi
The blue-green of the end of the sun is the best color, in my opinion
tenpo ni la, linja lawa jelo sina li suno pi utala ala tawa lukin mi
At this time, your yellow hair is a peaceful light to my eyes
suno tawa lili pi tenpo ni li
The small moving star of now
sona ala e toki pi jan tu ni
Does not know about the conversations between these two people

The song has come out for quite a long time, but frankly I find the original lyrics here a bit weird. It reads like lore for lore’s sake in the Harumakigohan universe. “suno tawa lili” might be a bit unclear, especially when the entire translation uses the word “suno” frequently, which also appears as a verb. I am not sure if “star” or “comet” will occur to the reader at first. The word order at the end was changed, but the implied third person is preserved.

mi wile kama suno ni
I want to become this star
mi wile tawa laso sewi pini
I want to go to the ending blue-green up above
sina kama weka tawa mi li tan ala tan ni
Is it because of this that you are becoming distant to me:
jume suli li lon insa lawa mi
There are big dreams inside my head?

“laso sewi pini” is somewhat forced by the i-rhyme. “tan ala tan” is ungrammatical, but occurred to me very naturally with the X ala X construction. This might also be the only place where this construction would make sense.

tenpo seme la mi kama sona ala e sitelen sina
When will I become ignorant of your writing?
mi li kama jan moli ala taso la
When I become a person who merely does not die
ken la pilin ike suli mi li kama ala
Perhaps big bad feelings of mine will not come

“sitelen” is interesting in the way that it can be interpreted as writing or signs in the figurative sense. “taso” used in this way is a bit roundabout, but interpreted as “someone who merely lives” here is a surprising efficient way to express this idea.

tenpo kama la, ijo ni li lon la
In the future, when this becomes the case
o weka e ni, suno lili o
Destroy it all, little star

“weka” is kind of a callback to “o weka”. I did not like the original lyrics of this very much, either; I did not think it made too much sense. Translated into toki pona, however, everything has the potential to make every sense and no sense at the same time, so this is not a concern at all.

ken la, pali mi li pini
Perhaps my deeds are done
ken la, ni li ike tawa jan suli
Perhaps this is bad for the big men
mi sona pona e pilin pona lon uta sina
I know well the pleasant feelings on your mouth
mi sona pona ala e ni: mi lon
I do not know well of this: I exist

Harumakigohan does cartesian philosophy. “jan suli” is convenient because it can mean “grown-ups” and the idea of “authorities”, which is fitting for a different interpretation. I quite like the contrasting structures here, which is a very toki pona way to make comparisons. The simple ideas somehow sound poetic in toki pona. Another interesting thing of note is how “pilin pona lon uta sina” can also be interpreted as the pleasant feelings of kissing, but I doubt that Lili and Nana canonically kissed.

sama jume la olin o
As one dreams, please love
sama olin la pali e jume o
As one loves, please make dreams
jume li suli taso pilin li suli suli la
Although dreams are big, feelings are bigger
tenpo kama la wile ale li lon
In the future, all wishes will come true
sijelo mi li ken kama suno ni ala taso
Although my body cannot become this star
o pilin o olin, jan lili o
Please feel and please love, little person

These first two lines were how this translation started. You might notice that I skipped a verse, mostly because I did not want to put in too much effort. The use of “suli suli” is probably another very toki pona one, which also just sounds good when sung aloud. “jan lili” is a stretch but contrasts with the previous “jan suli”.

Overall speaking, this is another lighthearted cover without much effort. I do think that I am getting better at translation and poetic language in toki pona, so I am looking forward to what might be to come when I get inspired next time, when I will hopefully put more effort in the music.

mi tawa a!