It's a bit late... but 12th Aug was the anniversary of the crash of JAL123 in Nagano. There were only 4 survivors of more than 500 passengers, making it one of the worst in aviation history. If I remember rightly, I was on school holidays and with my family in Queensland at the time. I remember it being a bad year for aeroplane crashes. It was the same year as the Air India flight that was bombed off Ireland that killed family of a very good friend here.
The most high profile casualty of JAL123 was Kyu Sakamoto, a Japanese singer. This is his signature song - which for some reason took on the name "the sukiyaki song" in English. It's a beautiful song - stoically melancholy. The words & translation are below.
Ue o Muite Arukou
Ue o muite arukou
Namida ga kobore nai you ni
Omoidasu haru no hi
Hitoribotchi no yoru
Ue o muite arukou
Nijinda hoshi o kazoete
Omoidasu natsu no hi
Hitoribotchi no yoru
Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni
Ue o muite arukou
Namida ga kobore nai you ni
Nakinagara aruku
Hitoribotchi no yoru
(whistling)
Omoidasu aki no hi
Hitoribotchi no yoru
Kanashimi wa hoshi no kage ni
Kanashimi wa tsuki no kage ni
Ue o muite arukou
Namida ga kobore nai you ni
Nakinagara aruku
Hitoribotchi no yoru
(whistling)
I look up as I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Remembering those those spring days
But I am all alone tonight
I look up as I walk
Counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those summer days
But I am all alone tonight
Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies up above the sky
I look up as I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I'm all alone tonight
(whistling)
Remembering those autumn days
But I am all alone tonight
Sadness lies in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon
I look up as I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I'm all alone
(whistling)
http://www.learn-japanese.info/ueomuite.html
4 comments:
One of the top songs of the twentieth century. Happiness lies beyond the clouds, up above the sky, reminds me of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow": where the cloud are far behind me, that's where I'll be.
I forgot to say that I, unlike some people, don't mind that the song was called the Sukiyaki Song abroad. Newsweek magazine said it was like Moon River being released in Japan as the Beef Stew song. Sukiyaki is delicious. Beef Stew is delicious. Somewhere Over the Rainbow should be called the Chicken Pot Pie song. What about that 1958 song Tequila -- the only lyrics are Tequila. Today I was shopping and heard Bali Hai from South Pacific playing. I love that song, and it should be known as ... what?
I was thinking about the name Sukiyaki song and wondering how it would apply to other hit songs.
The chow mein song, or the bibimbap song, or the Laska song....
Sukiyaki doesn't strike me as a hitori bochi meal..... perhaps gyudon, or tanuki soba or even tonkatsu.... but there's not a whole lot of stoicism in them all of them are more like the melancholy that comes with losing pachinko. Maybe an eki ben...
One of my favorite songs of all time. Love listening to it in the summer!
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