Japanese songs

坂本九～上を向いて歩こう～Sukiyaki

I have decided to also work on songs. I usually listen to instrumental music and I am not familiar with J-pop or contemporary Japanese music but it’s never too late to start!

The very first song of this blog is 上を向いて歩こう・うえをむいてあるこう　from Sakamoto Kyu. It is a song from the early 60’s which had made its way to the USA under the title Sukiyaki. I like this song very much, and the lyrics are easy to understand, too!

上を向いて歩こう・うえをむいてあるこう

  • 向く・むく　means “to face”, “to turn toward”.
  • 歩こう・あるこう　uses the grammar “let’s”

涙がこぼれないように・なみだがこぼれないように

  • 涙・なみだ　tears
  • こぼれる　to overflow
  • こぼれないように　uses the grammar ように meaning “in order to”, “so that”

思い出す 春の日・おもいだすはるのひ

  • 思い出す・おもいだす　To recall, to remember

一人ぽっちの夜

  • 一人ぽっち・ひとりぽっち loneliness, solitude

上を向いて歩こう・うえをむいてあるこう
にじんだ星をかぞえて・にじんだほしをかぞえて

  • にじんだ　comes from the verb 滲む・にじむ　to run (for colors), to blur. It certainly describes the stars being blurred because seen through eyes full of tears.
  • かぞえる・数える to count

思い出す 夏の日・おもいだすなつのひ
一人ぽっちの夜・ひとりぽっちのよる
幸せは 雲の上に・しあわせはくものうえ

  • 幸せ・しあわせ　happiness

幸せは 空の上に・しあわせはそらのうえに

上を向いて歩こう・うえをむいてあるこう
涙がこぼれないように・なみだがこぼれないように
泣きながら 歩く・なきながらあるく

  • 泣く・なく to cry
  • 泣きながら・なきながら　uses the grammar ながら which means “while”

一人ぽっちの夜・ひとりぽっち
(口笛・くちぶえ　whistle)
思い出す 秋の日・おもいだすあきのひ
一人ぽっちの夜・ひとりぽっちのよる
悲しみは星のかげに・かなしみはほしのかげに

  • 悲しみ・かなしみ　sadness, sorrow
  • かげ・影　means “light” like in “moonlight” or “starlight”

悲しみは月のかげに・かなしみはつきのかげに
上を向いて歩こう・うえをむいてあるこう
涙がこぼれないように・なみだがこぼれないように
泣きながら 歩く・なきながらあるく
一人ぽっちの夜・ひとりぽっちのよる

About

I’m learning Japanese, Korean and Chinese to read mystery novels and play video games in these languages.

Learning languages has always been one of my favourite hobbies, but I’m not a social person, I don’t like to meet new people and make friends, this is just not me. I keep hearing that languages are meant for communication, that we have to actively use them, talk with natives, etc. and for a long time, I thought it was weird to learn languages just to read books, with zero interest in communication.

Now I don’t really care what people think, and this blog helped me a lot to stop doubting myself and just do what I enjoy doing.