L'arc-en-Ciel - "Ready Steady Go" (Fullmetal Alchemist opening #1)

I'm not sure, but I think Fullmetal Alchemist was the first anime series I ever watched regularly, beginning with the first episode when it was first aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Later on I caught up with some of the other series' they were already showing. Anyway, when I first heard this music, I thought it sounded very inspiring even though I couldn't understand the lyrics, and it was so well-synced to the action in the opening that it really caught my imagination. So here's the original opening. I found one other version that had better resolution, but it was reversed and I couldn't stand seeing them run from left to right.



Fullmetal Alchemist is another of those anime series of which there are two completely different series with very similar titles. The first consisted of 51 episodes. The theme above was used for episodes 1-25 of the original series. Later a new series was created, which is still ongoing (to my knowledge), and is titled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The difference is that the first series was pretty much a different story line from the original manga, whereas Brotherhood more closely follows the manga.
L'arc-en-Ciel (French for "The Rainbow") is a Japanese rock band that is extremely popular and enormously influential in Japan and pretty much unknown in the U.S. As far as I can tell, they are a basic four-member band with vocals, bass, guitar and drums. I did find a subtitled video for the full song, but the English wording was awkward so I chose a different one below. This one isn't subtitled, but a more "smoothed out" version of the lyrics was included at the video link, originally taken from animelyrics.com, and I'll include them below. Note: The original lyrics are part English, part Japanese, which is not unusual for Japanese bands. Lyrics in all caps below are English in the original.




READY STEADY CAN'T HOLD ME BACKREADY STEADY GIVE ME GOOD LUCK
READY STEADY NEVER LOOK BACK
LET'S GET STARTED READY STEADY GO

Sceneries being blown away seem to whirl in front of me
Even if I get desperate, I won't overlook my target anymore
An unreliable map should be burnt
I'll grasp onto the buried truth with my hands

I came running frantically -hastily-
The throb of my heartbeats feels deafening enough to burst
Your voice is echoing -shouting-
There's no time to be like standing still here
READY STEADY GO

Even if my countless wounds get hugged
For a moment and gently, I won't let my soul get taken
On the other side of that hill, if I met you
I'd only think about what to start talking from

I came running frantically -hastily-
The throb of my heartbeats feels deafening enough to burst
Your voice is echoing -shouting-
There's no time to be like standing still here
READY STEADY GO

READY STEADY CAN'T HOLD ME BACK
READY STEADY GIVE ME GOOD LUCK
READY STEADY NEVER LOOK BACK
LET'S GET STARTED READY STEADY GO

My heart -runs- underneath that sky
I can't stop my idle feelings from crying out
Surely I'll -reach- you in a little while
The sunlight shines hotly across this path
READY STEADY GO
PLEASE. TRUST ME.