Japanese songs

手嶌葵～さよならの夏

This is the theme song and ending song of From up on Poppy hill. The name of the song, さよならの夏・さよならのなつ means Summer of goodbye and it is sang by 手嶌葵・てしまあおい Teshima Aoi.

Appearing at the end of the film, this song conveys a touch of sadness, echoing with some aspects of the film. It also shows how well the Ghibli films depict the complexity of emotions, when happiness and sadness sometimes coexist and melancholy is often inexplicable.

It’s not only a beautiful melody with a beautiful voice, the lyrics are also very beautiful. I found this live version and found it even more touching than the original version of the film:

https://youtu.be/sWpagumKM5g

光る海に かすむ船は
さよならの汽笛 のこします
ゆるい坂を おりてゆけば
夏色の風に あえるかしら

  • かすむ・霞む to grow hazy, to be misty, to get blurry
  • 汽笛・きてき steam whistle
  • ゆるい gentle (for a curve, a slope)
  • 坂・さか slope, hill
  • おりる・おりる means to descend (a mountain), to go down. Here we have おりてゆけば which is the form: 降りていく (the grammar ～ていくgiving direction) + the ～ば grammar, meaning “if”. In songs, the pronunciation ゆく for the verb 行く is often preferred than the usual pronunciation いく.
  • あえる is the potential form of 合う・あう “be able to meet”
  • かしら means “I wonder if…” She wonders whether she will be able to meet the spring-coloured wind, or the wind of the colour of summer.

わたしの愛 それはメロディー
たかく ひくく 歌うの
わたしの愛 それはカモメ
たかく ひくく 飛ぶの
夕陽のなか 呼んでみたら
やさしいあなたに 逢えるかしら

  • たかく and ひくく are both the adverbial form of the adjectives 高い・たかい and 低い・ひくい meaning “singing high and low”
  • かもめ is a seagull
  • 夕陽・ゆうひ it can also be written 夕日. It means, “evening sun”, “setting sun”.
  • 呼んでみたら is the form ～てみる (meaning “try to do”) attached to the verb 呼ぶ・よぶ to call + the grammar ～たら meaning “if”.
  • 逢う・あう means “to meet”. It is another way of writing 合う・あう

だれかが弾く ピアノの音
海鳴りみたいに きこえます
おそい午後を 行き交うひと
夏色の夢を はこぶかしら

  • 誰か means “someone”.
  • 海鳴り・うみなり rumbling of the sea.
  • みたい is a grammar point that means “to look like”, “to be similar to”
  • 聞こえる・きこえる means “to be heard”
  • 行き交う・いきかう to come and go. Here again, she pronounces “ゆく” instead of “いく”
  • はこぶ・運ぶ to carry

わたしの愛 それはダイアリー
日々のページ つづるの
わたしの愛 それは小舟
空の海をゆくの
夕陽のなか 降り返れば
あなたはわたしを 探すかしら

  • つづる to compose, to frame, to write, to bind together (pages)
  • 小舟・こぶね small boat

散歩道に ゆれる木々は
さよならの影を おとします
古いチャペル 風見の鶏(とり)
夏色の街は みえるかしら
きのうの愛 それは涙
やがて かわき 消えるの

  • ゆれる to shake, to sway
  • おとす・落とす to drop, to lose, to let fall.
  • 風見・かざみ weather vane
  • とり is usually written 鳥 while 鶏 is usually pronounced にわとり and means “domestic chicken”. Here , it describes the shape of the weather vane.
  • やがて can have several meanings, but I guess that here it means “eventually”, “finally”, “in the end”.
  • かわく means “to get dry”. So, tears eventually get dry and disappear.

あしたの愛 それはルフラン
おわりのない言葉
夕陽のなか めぐり逢えば
あなたはわたしを 抱くかしら

  • ルフラン is “refrain”, from French.
  • 巡り合う・めぐりあう which is written: めぐり逢う means “to meet fortuitously”, “to meet by chance”
  • 抱く・だく to embrace, to hold in one’s arms.

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 to people, etc. and for a long time, I thought I was weird to learn languages just for me, just to enjoy media, culture and entertainment in a foreign language, with absolutely zero interest in communicating with natives.

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.