Headphone Actor

Headphone Actor (ヘッドフォンアクター Heddofon Akutā) is the fourth song of the series.

Background

 * This song tells the story about a dream Takane Enomoto has. On an average day in summer, she finds herself extremely bored, so she turns on the radio to hear the voice of the country's president, announcing that the world is going to end today. She had a half-finished game with no save and a textbook. Scared, she put her headphones on, trying to stop her body from trembling. Listening to an unknown song, by an unknown artist, a voice from her headphones suddenly asks her if she wants to survive. She soon realizes the voice is her own. It tells her to go 20 minutes ahead and cross a hill, better or worse she would find out what it means.


 * On her way, she crosses a crowded intersection. Her voice tells her that 12 minutes are left. Takane believes if everything is going to vanish, she has no other choice but to listen to the voice from the headphones. Many minutes pass as she runs with tears in her eyes, having only one minute left. Eventually, she can no longer hear the voice because the hill that she is supposed to cross is right in front of her. When she gets to her destination, a group of scientists congratulate her. She finds out her town was an experiment that was no longer needed, so one of the scientists calmly detonates a bomb. The girl is told she was living her whole entire life in a box. As she looks at her town, all she can see is a burnt wreckage. From her headphones she hears a faint "Sorry" and the video shows an outline of Ene.

Lyrics & Translation
(Unofficial Translation)
 * -|Japanese Lyrics=
 * -|English Translation=

It was an extremely average day, Without a single obstacle in my path Until I was bored, listening to the radio, And I heard this said:

"It's very unfortunate I have to say this, But the world is going to end today" So said some country's president, In tears as he spoke.

Out the windows was a huge flock of birds, Congesting to cover up the sky Swallowing up the crescent moon, Headed some unknown direction.

I had a half-finished game with no save; A scarcely-touched textbook lay on my desk And to stop my body from trembling, I promptly put on my headphones

Just as I was listening to an obscure artist, A number they did with an unknown title, Just as it came to my ears, I heard: "You want to survive, yes?"

Waving over the wriggling world, The skyscrapers seemed to tremble This voice seemed unmistakable: It was my own, which I was tired of hearing

"If you cross that hill, then in twenty seconds, You'll know what I mean, for better or worse Don't doubt, just listen close - go twenty seconds ahead."

The intersection was crowded, of course; Man, woman, child, it didn't matter I was buried under people yelling and babies' cries.

Rioting people, a sobbing girl, A priest praying, I passed them all by One single person headed the other way, Towards what was beyond that hill.

The voice from the headphones persisted: "Twelve minutes left," it told me If everything was going to up and vanish, Then I had no other way.

The chorus of shrieks and screams Turned to tearful eyes in ten seconds I had my doubts, but no matter who did what, There was no ending humanity's song

"Run, run, there's one minute left," But I couldn't even hear it by then; The hill which I thought to cross Was right before me.

My breath faint, I finally arrived Before a wall which projected the sky. Behind it, scientists in white applauded; "Magnificent," they said - Doubt.

From there, I saw the town Was some kind of experimental facility; "No longer necessary," A scientist said, and calmly tossed a bomb

I was told I had been living My whole life in a little world in a box. So I could only stare, dumbfounded At the burnt wreckage that had been the town. And from the headphones at my ear, I heard a faint "sorry"...

Trivia

 * This is one of Ene/Takane's four character songs. The others are Jinzou Enemy, Ene no Dennou Kikou, and Yuukei Yesterday.
 * As of November 2019, Headphone Actor has reached over 3,100,000 views on Niconico and over 6,500,000 on YouTube.
 * It was voted as the #15 Kagerou Project song in the KagePro Song Popularity Ranking 2019.