I wish I could find a performance online of this so you could hear it, but since it’s one of their newer songs nothing has been uploaded yet. At odds with the lyrics – even the title – it’s a very upbeat, bright melody. Rather tongue-in-cheek, a wry shrug of a love-song, that says, “I’m insecure and moody but we can be happy together anyways.” Which of course, means it’s exactly the sort of song I’m a sucker for and have declared my theme-song of the month.
“A low sky presses down, I'm listless. My heart
Believes in radiance, which makes it worse.
Just the unknown future, always going forward.
Something to rely on, somewhere ordinary,
You relieve my anxiety.
Today again between the melancholy sky and the rainbow,
Soaked by the pouring rain.
Even on a day like that, you are with me, smiling.
Can I love you the way I should?
I want to ask but I can't.
I gaze into the puddle of this feeling.
Raindrops splashing up. It's uncertain, the rhythm.
Waiting for the rainbow to come out, in a clear, beautiful sky.
When I'm confused, I search for a light,
Because I want to cross over it with you,
The bridge of hope beyond wishes.
Today again between the melancholy sky and the rainbow,
The pouring rain keeps falling.
On a day like this, I want to look at you forever.
Can I love you the way I should?
The rain erases my voice.
Under the umbrella your shoulder gets wet,
I draw you close to me.
Today again between the melancholy sky and the rainbow,
Soaked by the pouring rain.
Even on a day like that, you are with me, smiling.
Can I love you the way I should?
I want to ask but I can't.
I gaze into the puddle of this feeling.”
Also, I love the world “melancholy” in both English and Japanese. From the ancient Greek melancholia meaning one has too much black bile in one’s system, it feels a little self-indulgent and dramatic, like an angsty monologue full of woe-is-me. Just expressing the trouble in that tone lifts your spirits a little, because you know how silly you’re being. I would never say I’m depressed, but I don’t mind saying I’m melancholy at certain times.
In Japanese, it’s 憂鬱 which I don’t even want to try writing (44 strokes!?) but I like the way it looks. I like writing it out in both romaji – yuuutsu – because that’s a lot of ‘u’s - and hiragana – ゆううつ – because that’s a lot of satisfying clockwise half-circles. They look like several mouths about to each a fish and each other.
If you’ve been into Japanese anime at all lately, you’ll probably have heard of the popular and very funny series “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” or Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱. Her name is interesting, as the first kanji comes from “suzushii” which means cool or refreshing. The second means palace, but put together they don’t seem to be an actual name in Japan. When a name has “suzu” in it, it’s usually spelt with the kanji for bell 鈴. The second most common name in Japan is, of course, Suzuki, or bell + tree. I’ve been researching bell-names for something I’m writing, so I was interested to find another homophonic connection.
And that has been your language geek moment of the day.
憂鬱と虹 kinki kids 歌詞 英語 翻訳
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