drowning in nino feelings
HEY, LJ. It’s been eight months and I’m only posting here because twitter cannot handle the essay I am about to write about Japanese pop music. What’s up.
Arashi has just released their 11th album, Popcorn. I love this album. The entire Popcorn album is one giant party, with Sore ha Yappari Kimi Deshita as a massive mid-album downer. Sore ha is reportedly the continuation of Niji, which is probably my absolute favourite of Arashi’s songs, solo or otherwise. Nino has a way with storytelling and a skill for wringing emotion from things left unsaid (he also puts a lot into his vocals, and these type songs just work with his nasally warble). He lifts entire lines from Niji and transplants them into Sore ha, to dramatically different effect.
Musically, Niji is more basic and sounds younger- as one would expect, you certainly hope a songwriter evolves over the years. I get a weird feeling of disconnect from Sore ha, though, as Nino enunciates so clearly. Given how he slurs his way through other songs, dropping syllables to a point where I hear entirely different words, it really threw me off balance.
Niji as a stand-alone was sweet love song until Nino wrote Sore ha. Now, listening to Niji is like reading the marauders' parts of Harry Potter: bittersweet, because you love them, but you know how sadly it's going to end. And you can't help it, you'll still go back.
I really wanted this to be coherent and more comprehensive, but if I write any more it’s going to degenerate into mindless flail. Making dinner for someone who’s never going to be around to eat it, wishing he’d said the things he held back, the direct parallels drawn between the happier past and the lonely, heartbroken present. Anyway, it should be clear I love these songs and the relationship between them more than can possibly be healthy. Here’s my clumsy attempt at translation, I’ll just be here mooning over everything about everything. Oh, leave me alone; I know how crazy this is.
虹（Rainbow）
いつもそうよ 拗ねると君は
私の大事な物を隠すでしょ
その場所は決まって同じだから
今日は先に言って待ってみるわ
季節たちが夕日を連れて来て
影が私をみつけて延びる
ビックリした顔で私をみつめては
急に口尖らせ“プイ”っと外見るの
“ごめんね”と言うと
“じゃあこっちに来てよ”と
“ねぇほら見て見て、影が重なった”
傘が打つかり真っ直ぐ歩けない
そんな私を見て笑っているの
私もやってみせてあげるの
同じ様に口を尖らす
優しく笑う君がこの時間が空間が
泣きたくなるくらい一番大事なものだよ
わざと尖らせてる
私に“ごめんね”の返事を待たずに
優しくキスしたの
これからはちょっとくらいの我が儘
言ってもいいよ でも私にだけよ
“面倒くさいから”って
素直じゃないんだから
何で言えないのかな？
“好きだよ”一言よ？
たまには聞きたいな
今日は私と君が名字を重ねた日
愛が芽吹いた日
La la la la…
虹がキレイだよ いやお前の方が
テレはじめる君に ありがとう、ありがとう As always, when sulking you
hide something important to me
Since it’s always at the same place
today I’ll try going first and waiting
The seasons bring along the evening sun
as I watch the shadows lengthen
You look at me with a surprised face
Quickly you pout and look away
When you say “sorry”
I say, “The, come over here,” and
“Hey look, look. Our shadows overlapped.”
Our umbrellas collide, I can’t walk straight
You look at that kind of me and laugh
I try to give you
that same kind of pout
The gently laughing you, in this time and space
is so precious to me, it makes me want to cry
You’re trying to make me pout on purpose
without waiting for a response to “I’m sorry,”
you kiss me gently
From now on, it’s okay to be a little selfish
But only to me
You say, “because it’s troublesome,”
You’re not being honest
I wonder why you can’t say it?
That one phrase, “I like you”?
I’d like to hear it once in a while
Today is the day you and I join our family names
The day our love blossomed
La la la la…
The rainbow is beautiful, no, you’re more so
To you who’s becoming shy, thank you, thank you
それはやっぱ君でした（As Expected, It Was You）
分かりやすくそう簡単に。
君も僕も分かるぐらい簡単に。
伝えてみよう。 「好きなんだよ。」
影を重ねたあの場所のことや。
同じ時を歩きつないできたことや。
そんな時を全部変えて…。
歌える様に、届く様に
君に迎えに行けたらな～
僕には分かるんだ君のいる場所が
まるで見えてるかのように隣にいるように
だから辛いんだ分かっているから、
どうしても行けないんだ
「まだまだ頑張れ」ッてそこから君は笑うから…。
君にご飯を作って、
君に好きなものを出して。
でも減らない…それにも慣れたよ。
今度上手く、作ったら…
そんな訳ないのに頑張ってみる
君には見えて、僕には見えない
酔っぱらった勢いで「ずるい」と呟く
どうかな、僕はちょっと変わったのかな？
「だらしなくなってきた？」
窓風に乗って聞こえた。
相変わらずだな～
優しく笑う君があの時間が空間が
泣きたくなるくらい一番大事なものだよ
何て言ってた頃は言えなかった
どうして言えなかった？
見上げた先のものより 君は、君は~
今なら言える
虹より君はキレイだ～ I’ll make it easy to understand
Simple for both you and me
Try saying it, “I like you”
Our shadows overlapping at that place
Or walking through those same times
That time, everything changed…
So that I can sing it out, so that it will reach you
If I could go to meet you
I know it, the place where you are
As if I can see it, as if you’re right next to me
But it’s hard because although I know,
no matter what I can’t go
You smile from there, “Keep trying”
I make meals for you
I set out your favourite things
But you don’t eat them… I’m used to that, now
Next time, if I make it better…
Though there’s no point, I want to try
Something you can see, which I can’t
when drunk, I’m brave enough to murmur “You’re not fair”
I wonder if that’s so? Maybe I’ve changed a little?
“Maybe you’ve become careless?”
I can hear it riding on the wind by the window,
You never change do you
Those times and spaces where you laughed gently
are so precious to me, I want to cry
What I said that time, I couldn’t say to you
I wonder why I couldn’t say it?
More than that thing I look up at over there, you are… you are…
If it was now, I could say it
You’re more beautiful than the rainbow
Arashi has just released their 11th album, Popcorn. I love this album. The entire Popcorn album is one giant party, with Sore ha Yappari Kimi Deshita as a massive mid-album downer. Sore ha is reportedly the continuation of Niji, which is probably my absolute favourite of Arashi’s songs, solo or otherwise. Nino has a way with storytelling and a skill for wringing emotion from things left unsaid (he also puts a lot into his vocals, and these type songs just work with his nasally warble). He lifts entire lines from Niji and transplants them into Sore ha, to dramatically different effect.
Musically, Niji is more basic and sounds younger- as one would expect, you certainly hope a songwriter evolves over the years. I get a weird feeling of disconnect from Sore ha, though, as Nino enunciates so clearly. Given how he slurs his way through other songs, dropping syllables to a point where I hear entirely different words, it really threw me off balance.
Niji as a stand-alone was sweet love song until Nino wrote Sore ha. Now, listening to Niji is like reading the marauders' parts of Harry Potter: bittersweet, because you love them, but you know how sadly it's going to end. And you can't help it, you'll still go back.
I really wanted this to be coherent and more comprehensive, but if I write any more it’s going to degenerate into mindless flail. Making dinner for someone who’s never going to be around to eat it, wishing he’d said the things he held back, the direct parallels drawn between the happier past and the lonely, heartbroken present. Anyway, it should be clear I love these songs and the relationship between them more than can possibly be healthy. Here’s my clumsy attempt at translation, I’ll just be here mooning over everything about everything. Oh, leave me alone; I know how crazy this is.
虹（Rainbow）
いつもそうよ 拗ねると君は
私の大事な物を隠すでしょ
その場所は決まって同じだから
今日は先に言って待ってみるわ
季節たちが夕日を連れて来て
影が私をみつけて延びる
ビックリした顔で私をみつめては
急に口尖らせ“プイ”っと外見るの
“ごめんね”と言うと
“じゃあこっちに来てよ”と
“ねぇほら見て見て、影が重なった”
傘が打つかり真っ直ぐ歩けない
そんな私を見て笑っているの
私もやってみせてあげるの
同じ様に口を尖らす
優しく笑う君がこの時間が空間が
泣きたくなるくらい一番大事なものだよ
わざと尖らせてる
私に“ごめんね”の返事を待たずに
優しくキスしたの
これからはちょっとくらいの我が儘
言ってもいいよ でも私にだけよ
“面倒くさいから”って
素直じゃないんだから
何で言えないのかな？
“好きだよ”一言よ？
たまには聞きたいな
今日は私と君が名字を重ねた日
愛が芽吹いた日
La la la la…
虹がキレイだよ いやお前の方が
テレはじめる君に ありがとう、ありがとう As always, when sulking you
hide something important to me
Since it’s always at the same place
today I’ll try going first and waiting
The seasons bring along the evening sun
as I watch the shadows lengthen
You look at me with a surprised face
Quickly you pout and look away
When you say “sorry”
I say, “The, come over here,” and
“Hey look, look. Our shadows overlapped.”
Our umbrellas collide, I can’t walk straight
You look at that kind of me and laugh
I try to give you
that same kind of pout
The gently laughing you, in this time and space
is so precious to me, it makes me want to cry
You’re trying to make me pout on purpose
without waiting for a response to “I’m sorry,”
you kiss me gently
From now on, it’s okay to be a little selfish
But only to me
You say, “because it’s troublesome,”
You’re not being honest
I wonder why you can’t say it?
That one phrase, “I like you”?
I’d like to hear it once in a while
Today is the day you and I join our family names
The day our love blossomed
La la la la…
The rainbow is beautiful, no, you’re more so
To you who’s becoming shy, thank you, thank you
それはやっぱ君でした（As Expected, It Was You）
分かりやすくそう簡単に。
君も僕も分かるぐらい簡単に。
伝えてみよう。 「好きなんだよ。」
影を重ねたあの場所のことや。
同じ時を歩きつないできたことや。
そんな時を全部変えて…。
歌える様に、届く様に
君に迎えに行けたらな～
僕には分かるんだ君のいる場所が
まるで見えてるかのように隣にいるように
だから辛いんだ分かっているから、
どうしても行けないんだ
「まだまだ頑張れ」ッてそこから君は笑うから…。
君にご飯を作って、
君に好きなものを出して。
でも減らない…それにも慣れたよ。
今度上手く、作ったら…
そんな訳ないのに頑張ってみる
君には見えて、僕には見えない
酔っぱらった勢いで「ずるい」と呟く
どうかな、僕はちょっと変わったのかな？
「だらしなくなってきた？」
窓風に乗って聞こえた。
相変わらずだな～
優しく笑う君があの時間が空間が
泣きたくなるくらい一番大事なものだよ
何て言ってた頃は言えなかった
どうして言えなかった？
見上げた先のものより 君は、君は~
今なら言える
虹より君はキレイだ～ I’ll make it easy to understand
Simple for both you and me
Try saying it, “I like you”
Our shadows overlapping at that place
Or walking through those same times
That time, everything changed…
So that I can sing it out, so that it will reach you
If I could go to meet you
I know it, the place where you are
As if I can see it, as if you’re right next to me
But it’s hard because although I know,
no matter what I can’t go
You smile from there, “Keep trying”
I make meals for you
I set out your favourite things
But you don’t eat them… I’m used to that, now
Next time, if I make it better…
Though there’s no point, I want to try
Something you can see, which I can’t
when drunk, I’m brave enough to murmur “You’re not fair”
I wonder if that’s so? Maybe I’ve changed a little?
“Maybe you’ve become careless?”
I can hear it riding on the wind by the window,
You never change do you
Those times and spaces where you laughed gently
are so precious to me, I want to cry
What I said that time, I couldn’t say to you
I wonder why I couldn’t say it?
More than that thing I look up at over there, you are… you are…
If it was now, I could say it
You’re more beautiful than the rainbow