Japanese song: Baibaba Bimba by Tenniscoats

Today is a cloudy day, with big grey clouds crawling over grey buildings. It looks like a perfect day to listen to Tenniscoats’ old songs and feel both melancholic and creative.

There are not much lyrics, only a few lines:

ある暖かい閃光の上
その匂い瞬くんだ
足元かける
またでかい水蒸気なんだと

I had to check three words because I didn’t know their pronunciation. 閃光・せんこう is a glint of light, 瞬く・またたく means “to wink” and 水蒸気・すいじょうき is “vapour”, “steam”. I think she sings “いい匂いして” or something like that, instead of what is written above.

When she drums on the guitar, the guitarist says something that could be マイクが入っているよ…?? I am really not sure, I should stop watching YouTube videos and do some listening exercises for the JLPT 😫! But I find this kind of calm and repetitive song perfect to listen to while studying, especially on a cloudy November day.

Anyway, I will not venture in a translation of these lines and leave you with the images or feelings it evokes to you.


I’m learning Japanese, Korean and Chinese to read detective novels in these languages. I post about my reading progress and language study here. Best way to get in touch is on Mastodon 🙂

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