Oh!pEnions: The songs I am listening to. Right now.

The songs I am listening to. Right now.

I am listening to two songs over and over again, with different singers. When I like a particular song, I will listen to it repeatedly until I get bored. Ha ha ha! What a way to spoil a song. OK, here's a bit of how it came to be. While I was at my customer's place, they were playing a very nice jazzy kind of music. After getting it from them, the singer was Yao Si Ting, singing Scarborough Fair. So, I searched for more information on the Internet and came up with a collection of her MP3s (heh) and then, from the same website (you go find your own, OK?), it was featuring the 12 Band Girls. After getting their Christmas and "The Best of" albums, I was hooked into two Japanese songs:

Koibito Ga Santa Claus (
Yumi Matsutoya (aka Yumi Arai) wrote this song for the tenth album Surf and Snow (1980), which did not sell well until the very song was featured as the theme song of the hit movie Watashi o Ski ni Tsuretette. My Imagination came from after listning to this song:

The whole place is devastated, as if bombs dropped everywhere.Our sero was seen llying on the ground, dazed,trying to pull himself up but seemed to be out of strength. Meanwhile, the time bomb is still ticking. He collapses, giving in to Fate that perhaps, today, is the one day that he cannot save everyone anymore, and its time to die. As he stares into the Sun, suddenly a figure blocks his view. And exhausted as he is, he tries to focus onto that figure which in now kneeling besides him. It is the traitor!

Traitor: Well, well. Our Hero is lying there all by hiself!
Hero: Go on. Do what you want; Kill me.
Traitor: No. Thanks to you I have seen the truth. Truce.
Hero: We're going to die anyway.
Traitor: No we're not. I'm going to defuse the bomb
Hero: You can't do it. The traps are in place.
Traitor: Well, if I die, then you have one less to worry about.
Hero: .....
Traitor: Promise me one thing. Look after my Mother well until she goes.
Hero: OK
Traitor: Promise me! We've had our differences but you owe me this
Hero: Alright I promise. To stop the bomb, you have to set of the traps. It would...
Traitor: ...mean suicide. Yes. What better revenge for everyone to think they will owe me one forever.Ha ha ha!

The slight drizzle becomes heavier. About 1minute 10 seconds into the song...
Traitor: See you on the other side. And thanks for the chance to redeem myself, I am at peace now.

The Traitor rises and walks calmly to the building where the bomb is, his silhoutte fading into the rain and his whistling fades, drowned by the sound of the rain. Seconds later, the traps imploded with a muffle boom and a bright white flash, destroying both the bomb and the traitor. The Hero can only stare at the scene for so long before collapsing.

12 Girls Band

Live by Ichii Sayaka and Nakazawa Yuko (I like the audience shouting in the background)

Seiko Marsuda (My favourite singer at that time)
http://baharana.imeem.com/music/aK1dOeGp/seiko_matsuda_koibito_ga_santa_claus/

Kawa No Nagare No Youni (As the river flows)
This was the song composed by Akira Mitake, with lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto made immortal by a very famous Japanese enka singer, Hibari Misora who passed away shortly in 1989 after its release. Many artistes sang this song when performing live tribute to her. For me, the whole song was a bit sad and yet, inspiritional (OK, so I don't know the lyrics when I first listened to it).

Below are the lyrics which I took from the Net.

Shirazu shirazu aruite kita
Hosoku nagai kono michi
Furi kaereba haruka to'oku
Furusato ga mieru
Dekoboko michi ya magariku netta michi
Chizu saenai sore mo mata jinsei
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, yuruyaka ni
Ikutsu mo jidai wa sugite
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, tomedonaku
Sora ga tasogare ni somaru dake
Ikiru koto wa tabi suru koto
Owari no nai kono michi
Ai suru hito soba ni tsurete
Yume sagashi nagara
Ame ni furarete nukurunda michi de mo
Itsu ka wa, mata, hareru hi ga kuru kara
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, odayaka ni
Kono mi o makasete itai
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, utsuri yuku
Kisetsu yukidoke o machi nagara
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, odayaka ni
Kono mi o makasete itai
A-a, kawa no nagare no yô ni, itsu made mo
Aoi seseragi o kiki nagara

Unauthorized English translation by sekicho:
(There are no personal pronouns in the song, so I've interpreted it as meaning "we." It could just as easily be referring to the singer or the listener.)

As the river flows

This road is narrow and long
We've walked it unconsciously
If we turn our heads, far in the distance
We can see our hometown
Bumpy roads and winding roads
And uncharted roads, c'est la vie
Ah, like the flow of the river, laid back
So many years pass by
Ah, like the flow of the river, endlessly
The sky is dyed with twilight
Living is travelling
On this road without an end
People we love come near us
As we search for our dreams
Even on roads muddied by rain
Someday, again, another clear day will come
Ah, like the flow of the river, calmly
We want to lose ourselves
Ah, like the flow of the river
As we wait for the thaws of the coming seasons
Ah, like the flow of the river, calmly
We want to lose ourselves
Ah, like the flow of the river, forever
As we listen to the stream of blue

The version by the 12 Girls Band was quite nice and for some reason, it was quite soothing. Further YouTube searches got me these gems:

Misora Hibari