With a matchlock in hand, I shout the commands to form ranks;
I show off before Honnoji. Mori Ranmaru, don’t you run!
I’ve spent my life fighting, dancing on the edge of a blade; I’ve seen Mitsuhide bend down low;
I’ll follow whoever has rice. I jump back and forth between Akechi and Toyotomi.
Ah~ the Yamazaki battlefield, the paulownia crest of the Five-Seven swaying;
Ah~ the brief reign of three days, what a headache;
Ah~ the Kiyosu Conference, such a racket;
Ah~ ah~
A son who shot his father with a matchlock, the most filial of all; the Demon King came early to smash incense;
Who knows Hideyoshi insulted his mother? Chasing tigers in Kai was no good;
The gourmands at Sekigahara were well fed; Kagekatsu and Kagetaka are hard to tell apart;
Ten years of laughter shook the world; the Warring States are dangerous, run for your life!
I hold the notice to join the campaign, answering the Taiko’s call;
The ban on private fortifications and alliances brings no worries; free markets and guilds make merchants thrive;
I grow cotton to pay for my hunting sword, while the Southern barbarians’ missionaries chatter on;
Who knew Nene would raise an adopted son? The civil officials bring governance, the warriors bring glory.
Ah~ invading Korea, what a terrible plan;
Ah~ Yi Yeon saw me and ran for his life;
Ah~ even the stand-in soldiers weren’t hurt at all;
Ah~ ah~
The Korea Strait roils with waves; whoever retreats is a coward;
At the Battle of Tangeumdae, I swing my sword; the Eastern and Western factions are done for;
Chungmugong’s turtle ships circle the sea; Kuki Yoshitaka is in a right state;
The divided court flees to the border, and the lord of Pyongyang takes my money!
The Yalu River rushes in torrents, while Kato Kiyomasa laughs;
Konishi prays beneath the cross, and Kuroda Kanbei is baffled too;
Filial sons and wicked sons are written about in books; all eight provinces are up for grabs;
The Ming princess is gorgeous; Hu Li sees her and swoons!
Swords flash beneath Byeokjegwan; the peerless warrior of the western provinces charges ahead;
Then I run into General Li of Liaodong and get beaten, running for my life;
The Qi Jiajun’s tactics are excellent; who grieves, who dies, and who laughs?
The Ming army advances in formation; even being a farmer would be pretty good!
Hey, little kid, going home to be a farmer wouldn’t be so bad...
