L's Theme B – English Lyrics

• By: Hideki Taniuchi
• Album: Death Note

Lyrics & Translation

While "L's Theme B" is an instrumental piece, learning about its structure and musical intent offers a fascinating insight into the character of L from *Death Note*. The track's unsettling yet precise piano melody mirrors the complex, analytical mind of the detective, making it a special piece for understanding the psychological tension of the series.

[English]

“The following is a non-profit, fan-based  parody. Please support the official release.”

Gosh, things sure are boring around here.

God, shit sure is boring around here.

Being a top ranked student in Japan can be really  exhausting. It sure would be neat if some life  

changing event would swoop down from the sky  and make my life a little more interesting.

I’m gonna go for a walk.

Maybe I should get a hobby…

Hmm…

Maybe cleaning up litter?

Oh, it’s a notebook!

“Death Note?” (Pronounced "Deeth")

Hm...

Must be someone’s diary. I  don’t know any "Deaths", but  

I’m sure whoever they are, they  must be sick over losing this!

Should I look inside..?

No!

That would be a breach of  privacy! And I’m better than that!  

Good job Light! You did a good thing today!

Hello, sweetie! How was school?

It was okay. I did a good thing today!

That’s so nice to hear, sweetie!  Did you write it down for me?

Yep! I wrote it on the way  here, I was so excited!

You found someone’s journal  and are going to return it?  

*And* you didn’t look inside  it? That’s amazing, honey!

This is going on the fridge right next to when  you pulled those puppies out of the burning well.

Thanks, Mom! I’m going to head upstairs  now and relax. Today was a big day for me!

You do that, Light. Oh, and  remember, no T.V. past 9!

Yep!

I hope this "Death" person is  doing okay without their journal.

*Gasp*

How will they keep track of  the days without filling it in?

Oh no…

They’re going to forget about so many days of  their life if I don’t return this to them soon!

Breaking news! A man has barricaded himself  inside of a local school with several hostages  

and is believed to have a weapon. Reports  say he is upset because he was criticized  

for not looking enough like an “Androgynous,  Anime Pretty-Boy” to be at all memorable.

(Muffled) Why won’t you notice me, Senpai???

It’s quite pathetic, honestly.

Oh my goodness, those poor people! I wish  there was something I could do to help!

Wait…

(Sinister Chuckles)

I’ll record this event in the journal,  

that way I can keep Deeth up to date on  what’s happened since they dropped it!

Now to just open up to an empty  page so I don’t accidentally snoop.

"Dear Death. Hello, I found your journal! I’m  so sorry that you dropped it, but fortunately  

I’ve been keeping it nice and safe for you.  You may be concerned that I was snooping  

through the previous pages.. But don’t worry,  I’m a good boy! And I wouldn’t do anything so

EVIL.

The day is October 3rd and  it’s a day I won’t forget,  

because today is the day *Kuro Otoharaga*  held a bunch of people hostage!

As of writing this, he still hasn’t let them go,  

but I’m sure with some kind words  everything can be settled peacefully.

(T.V.) "Well I believe he's just misunderstood..."

That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll  update you on the situation tomorrow!

Bye, bye!"

Boy I sure had a busy day. And writing  in that journal was a lot of fun!  

Hey… I know!

My new hobby should be keeping a journal!

Yeah! First thing in the morning I’m going to  go out and buy myself my very own diary and  

write about my friends and all the new people  I’m lucky enough to meet every single day!

Even more breaking news! Kuro Otoharaga has  just fallen to the floor and isn’t moving!  

It is confirmed that he is dead.

Light:

Oh no! What an unfortunate loss of life!

Good riddance.

What a tragedy. No one deserves to die  so suddenly without anyone to mourn them.  

Even the guilty ones. May you  rest in peace Mr. Otoharaga…

Hey, baby boy.

*Screams*

Christ, I scared the jacket back on you-

*Screams*

Shut up.

*Stops screaming*

Be not afraid, little man.

That book there. You treating it well?

Wait, are you "Death"?

What?

Well, Mr. "Death-" Oh I’m  sorry, do you go by he/him?

I go by "Ryuk".

Neo-pronouns, you love to  see it! Well Ryuk "Death" I-

Okay I’m putting a stop to this right now before  it gets out of hand, kid. My name is Ryuk. That’s  

what you call me. For whatever pronouns are… I  don’t know, just go with what you said. Alright?

Now let’s take it from the top.

*clears throat* Hey, baby boy-

*Screams*

*Stops Screaming*

Jesus, humans are fucking dumb. I don’t  know why I was ever interested in them.  

Hand over the book, I’m taking it back.

No way! This journal belongs to a person  named "Death" and it’s my responsibility  

to make sure it gets back into  the hands of its rightful owner!

It does not belong to some fake  person named “Deeth” it belongs to me.  

“Deeth” is pronounced “Death” you clod.

Oh…

Yeah...

I take it you must not have  understood the rules either  

if 5 letters were giving you that much trouble.

Rules? I’m sorry Mister, but I would  never read someone else’s diary.

You didn’t read the rules..?

The only rule I live by is The Golden Rule,  and that’s to treat others the way you want  

to be treated! If it were me who lost my diary,  I wouldn’t want some stranger looking through it!

"Hmm… This might be interesting."

Did you write anything yet?

Well… I did just write about Mr. Otoharaga…  

But only so the owner wouldn’t miss out on  the journaling they couldn’t do without it!  

I figured I’d do good and fill it in  for them. Which is you, I suppose…

Yeah, you did good alright. Looks like you  cleaned the streets of another criminal.

Wha- Do you mean Mr. Otoharaga? He died  of natural causes as far as we’re aware!

Oh no, boyo.

I’m afraid that was all your handy work.

For the number one student in  Japan, you sure are dumb for not  

looking into the implications of  a mysterious, black, death book.

*Chuckles*  

Oh, I get it!

You’re testing me!

What..?

Yeah, you can’t fool me! You act all scary with  

your weird proportions and  your “be not afraid” talk-

Weird proportions?

-but you’re actually testing me  to see if I will give into evil  

by convincing me I’m a murderer!  Well it won’t work on me, buster!

No, kid-

I’ve got you all figured out, pal.

You’re no evil spirit,

you’re my Guardian Angel!

Light, honey! You’re making an  awful lot of noise in there...

Have you been watching the naughty channel again?

Hi, mom. I was actually just talking to my  guardian angel, and he’s being a real jerk!

Oh you finally met your angel!  

I remember when I first met mine. They  gave me a journal to write in every day!

So did mine!

Well you two have fun, sweetie, and make sure  you write everything down in that journal!

I will, mom! Love you, bye!

That was my mommy.

I can’t believe I’ve been demoted  from god-to-angel by these monkeys.

That’s not even just a demotion,  I’ve changed teams entirely.

Oh don’t be so pessimistic. You and I’ll  have a ton of fun fighting crime together!  

Like Batman and Robin!

Or Batman and Robin!

Or Batman and his 3rd Robin!

Or Batman and-

That’s enough of that.

Batgirl…

We won’t be fighting any crime. In fact,  as of today, you’re already a villain.

That notebook there is a dangerous  weapon that can kill thousands in a day,  

just by writing a single name.

What, this thing?

Pshaw!

It’s just a pile of paper,  there’s nothing special about it.

You saw for yourself already. 40 seconds  after you wrote that man’s name down,  

he died painfully of a heart attack.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay then, just to show you how silly you’re  being I’ll write my own name in the notebook.

Wait no, that’s a bad idea-

Light~

There!

Done.

*Heart Monitor Beeps*

*Heart Monitor Flatlines*

See? I’m still here. Nothing to worry about!

Huh. That’s weird, it should have worked…  I’ll have to set that straight at some point.

So Mr. Ryuk, what should I do now  that you’re here? After all you’re  

my guardian angel so you must be here  to guide me on my journey through life!

Something like that… Uhh, how about  you just keep that notebook and start  

journaling like you were talking about.  I feel that may cause the most problems.

What was that?

Nothing.

Oh boy, I can’t believe my wish came  true! This is going to be the best, ever!

This is the worst, ever!

People keep dying for no reason  and protests are popping up all  

over the world ‘cause the police are too  inept to actually investigate anything.  

We need to find some way to get everyone  off our backs without actually helping!

Let’s blame it on a virus!

Genius! That should keep people from forming  

public gatherings and buy  us at least two more years.

Johnson! Fetch a random vial from  the Emergency Contaminate Chamber,  

we have an apocalypse to start!

No.

I believe I can help with this.

Hey Mr. Yagami, who is that?

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
death /deθ/ B1	noun - the end of life
journal /ˈdʒɜːrnəl/ B1	noun - a daily record of events and feelings
notebook /ˈnoʊtbʊk/ A2	noun - a small book for writing notes
remember /rɪˈmembər/ A2	verb - to bring back to mind
return /rɪˈtɜːrn/ A2	verb - to go back
write /raɪt/ A1	verb - to form letters or words on a surface
good /ɡʊd/ A1	adjective - of high quality
interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/ B1	adjective - arousing curiosity or interest
believe /bɪˈliːv/ A2	verb - to accept as true
update /ʌpˈdeɪt/ B1	verb - to bring up to date
die /daɪ/ A2	verb - to stop living
crime /kraɪm/ B1	noun - an act committed in violation of the law
police /pəˈliːs/ A2	noun - a government agency responsible for maintaining order
investigate /ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/ B2	verb - to examine systematically
rules /ruːlz/ A2	noun - a set of guidelines
understand /ˌʌndərˈstænd/ B1	verb - to perceive the intended meaning of
implications /ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃənz/ C1	noun - the consequences or possibilities of something

Key Grammar Structures

• Being a top ranked student in Japan can be really exhausting.

  ➔ Present continuous used for general truths or states

  ➔ Here, "Being" (the gerund form of "be") + "exhausting" expresses a general state or trait, even though the verb "can be" uses modal for possibility.

• It sure would be neat if some life changing event would swoop down from the sky and make my life a little more interesting.

  ➔ Second conditional for hypothetical situations

  ➔ The structure "if" + past simple ( "would swoop") and "would" + infinitive ( "be neat") presents a hypothetical or unreal present/future scenario.

• Should I look inside..?

  ➔ Modal verb 'should' for suggestions or decisions

  ➔ "Should" expresses advice or self-questioning about an action, implying obligation or recommendation in a polite way.

• I’m better than that!

  ➔ Comparative adjective 'better'

  ➔ "Better" is the comparative form of "good," used to compare superiority in moral, ethical, or general terms here ( "better than that" means superior to the implied alternative).

• You found someone’s journal and are going to return it?

  ➔ Perfect infinitive after conjunction

  ➔ "And" connects two clauses, with "found" as past and "are going to return" (future intention), but "return" functions as perfect infinitive in sequence.

• I wish there was something I could do to help!

  ➔ Wish + past subjunctive for unreal wishes

  ➔ "Wish" + past form "was" (instead of "were" for subjunctive mood) expresses regret or unreal present desire, here for an inability to act.

• I’ll record this event in the journal,

  ➔ Future with 'will' for spontaneous decisions

  ➔ "Will" indicates immediate future action or promise, here expressing a sudden intent to write ( "record") as it happens.

• For the number one student in Japan, you sure are dumb for not looking into the implications of a mysterious, black, death book.

  ➔ Concession with 'for' + noun

  ➔ "For" + noun phrase ( "the number one student") contrasts expectation with reality, conceding status while contradicting that status.