Are there any clear hints to where one clause ends and another begins in song lyrics?


[Here](https://www.uta-net.com/song/267807/) is a link to the song being
discussed.

In song lyrics of both English and my native tongue Swedish, it's more often
than not somewhat obvious to the listener of a song, or rather, the reader of
song lyrics, when a clause is over. I guess there is in Japanese too, and
would like to identify why I'm having trouble parsing verses such as the one
below:

> このまま海の方まで歩こう  
>  とんでもない獣がいるかもな  
>  その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて  
>  守ってあげるから  
>  なんて言えたら  
>  もっと強くなれるかな

I think my main problem is separating between the conjunctive and the
imperative form. This is not something that I have a problem with when reading
news articles or novels, since they are always made up of clear sentences with
a beginning and an end.

Am I to understand "その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて" as:

  * その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて守ってあげる. That is, te as a connective. (Then scratch I will protect you and scratch them with my unreliable claws.

Or

  * その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて. That is, imperative form. (Then scratch them with your unreliable claws.)

My best understanding of the verse is as follows:

> "Let's continue walking like this towards the sea.  
>  There may be monstrous beasts,  
>  but if there are, I will protect you by scratching them with my unreliable
> claws."  
>  If you would say such things,  
>  perhaps I may grow stronger.




First off, parsing song lyrics is in the same vein as parsing poetry.
Sometimes there is deliberate ambiguity, and no one knows what the true
meaning is except for the writer.

I acknowledge that your question is about grammar and not necessarily meaning
but song lyrics, like poetry, play fast and loose with prescriptive grammar.

That being said, I think the key to understanding the line "その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて"
in this case is by looking at the line that comes after:

> 守ってあげるから

the use of "あげる" here suggests the direction of the action in that clause.
"あげる" always speaks to the subject doing something for someone else. So the
subject is doing the protecting, and we can assume that the subject is "私"
because otherwise, the speaker would be saying someone would be protecting
someone else. You can't use "あげる" to say that you receive something only to
say that you do something for someone or that someone else does something for
a third party.

So the subject of the first line is "We/Us" because of the verb ending in
there, and then we get to "守ってあげる" with what we have to assume is the same
speaker (there is nothing to suggest otherwise).

So while:

> その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて **くれて**
>
> その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて **ください**

are both grammatically valid segments, it would just be odd from a Japanese
sentence for the subject to shift like that without any indication.

In English, it would be fine because we would explicitly include some
indication as to who is doing the action:

> **I** would scratch it with **my** claws
>
> scratch it with **your** claws

but in Japanese, it's just not necessary; in this case, though, the fact that
it isn't there means we would have to rely on some other context for that
info, and the surrounding context suggests that the speaker is the doer of the
action and that the "て" is acting as a conjuction. So taking some creative
liberties (which I think is necessary when deciphering poetry and prose), and
focusing on localization, I would interpret the entire thing as:

> Let's keep walking toward the ocean
>
> Where we might find great beasts
>
> Then I would scratch them with my unreliable claws
>
> To protect you

I was wondering about the next two lines, and checking the original lyrics, I
see where they are separated. I think this represents a separate thought.

> なんて言えたら
>
> もっと強くなれるかな

I would interpret this part as (again, taking some creative license and
focusing on localization):

> What could I say
>
> that could make me stronger

or

> What could be said
>
> that could make us stronger

In this context, because we are dealing with song lyrics and because of the
nature of Japanese, both are valid interpretations. We could debate, but there
is no way of telling from the rest of the lyrics. The writer may not have even
had anything definite in mind because the language naturally allows for this
kind of ambiguity.

I suppose my conclusion here is that these things are usually clear from
context. Generally speaking, you can sometimes use the subject or the doer of
the action to determine between an imperative or conjunctive "て”, but the
subject isn't always necessary in Japanese. In that case, you just have to
derive from the surrounding context or accept the duplicity/ambiguity in the
interpretation because that is completely valid in Japanese.

This is a nice little article on ambiguity or
[曖昧](https://www.arabnews.jp/en/features/article_64134/) in Japanese. This
phenomenon is well researched and documented, so you'll be able to find a good
deal of information on it. I think understanding this concept is essential if
you truly want to approach native-level fluency. Japanese people often talk
about foreigners not being able to "read the air" 「空気読めない」and part of that has
to do with this concept.

**EDIT** I didn't mention the [trailing
"て”](https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2020/02/24/japanese-grammar-pattern-the-
trailing-te-form/) here, which I think is an integral part of my
interpretation.

**Also** see @bulgar69's interpretation. It kinda throws ambiguity back into
the mix for me where "ひっかいて” is concerned. But his interpretation (which uses
the imperative) makes more sense poetically to me! So I'd vote up his answer
over mine if he posts one.




First off, parsing song lyrics is in the same vein as parsing poetry.
Sometimes there is deliberate ambiguity, and no one knows what the true
meaning is except for the writer.

I acknowledge that your question is about grammar and not necessarily meaning
but song lyrics, like poetry, play fast and loose with prescriptive grammar.

That being said, I think the key to understanding the line "その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて"
in this case is by looking at the line that comes after:

> 守ってあげるから

the use of "あげる" here suggests the direction of the action in that clause.
"あげる" always speaks to the subject doing something for someone else. So the
subject is doing the protecting, and we can assume that the subject is "私"
because otherwise, the speaker would be saying someone would be protecting
someone else. You can't use "あげる" to say that you receive something only to
say that you do something for someone or that someone else does something for
a third party.

So the subject of the first line is "We/Us" because of the verb ending in
there, and then we get to "守ってあげる" with what we have to assume is the same
speaker (there is nothing to suggest otherwise).

So while:

> その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて **くれて**
>
> その時は頼りない爪でひっかいて **ください**

are both grammatically valid segments, it would just be odd from a Japanese
sentence for the subject to shift like that without any indication.

In English, it would be fine because we would explicitly include some
indication as to who is doing the action:

> **I** would scratch it with **my** claws
>
> scratch it with **your** claws

but in Japanese, it's just not necessary; in this case, though, the fact that
it isn't there means we would have to rely on some other context for that
info, and the surrounding context suggests that the speaker is the doer of the
action and that the "て" is acting as a conjuction. So taking some creative
liberties (which I think is necessary when deciphering poetry and prose), and
focusing on localization, I would interpret the entire thing as:

> Let's keep walking toward the ocean
>
> Where we might find great beasts
>
> Then I would scratch them with my unreliable claws
>
> To protect you

I was wondering about the next two lines, and checking the original lyrics, I
see where they are separated. I think this represents a separate thought.

> なんて言えたら
>
> もっと強くなれるかな

I would interpret this part as (again, taking some creative license and
focusing on localization):

> What could I say
>
> that could make me stronger

or

> What could be said
>
> that could make us stronger

In this context, because we are dealing with song lyrics and because of the
nature of Japanese, both are valid interpretations. We could debate, but there
is no way of telling from the rest of the lyrics. The writer may not have even
had anything definite in mind because the language naturally allows for this
kind of ambiguity.

I suppose my conclusion here is that these things are usually clear from
context. Generally speaking, you can sometimes use the subject or the doer of
the action to determine between an imperative or conjunctive "て”, but the
subject isn't always necessary in Japanese. In that case, you just have to
derive from the surrounding context or accept the duplicity/ambiguity in the
interpretation because that is completely valid in Japanese.

This is a nice little article on ambiguity or
[曖昧](https://www.arabnews.jp/en/features/article_64134/) in Japanese. This
phenomenon is well researched and documented, so you'll be able to find a good
deal of information on it. I think understanding this concept is essential if
you truly want to approach native-level fluency. Japanese people often talk
about foreigners not being able to "read the air" 「空気読めない」and part of that has
to do with this concept.

**EDIT** I didn't mention the [trailing
"て”](https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2020/02/24/japanese-grammar-pattern-the-
trailing-te-form/) here, which I think is an integral part of my
interpretation.

**Also** see @bulgar69's interpretation. It kinda throws ambiguity back into
the mix for me where "ひっかいて” is concerned. But his interpretation (which uses
the imperative) makes more sense poetically to me! So I'd vote up his answer
over mine if he posts one.

