Come Away with Me

Sukiyaki (上を向いて歩こう)

SUKIYAKI

It’s all because of you,
I’m feeling sad and blue
You went away,
Now my life is just a rainy day and I love you so,
How much you’ll never know
You’ve gone away and left me lonely.

Untouchable memories
Seem to keep haunting me
Another love so true
That once turned all my gray skies blue
But you disappeared,
Now my eyes are filled with tears
And I’m wishing you were here with me

Soaked with love all my thoughts of you
Now that you’re gone I just don’t know what to do
If only you were here,
You’d wash away my tears
The sun would shine,
Once again you’ll be mine oh mine
But in reality, you and I will never be cos
You took your love away from me.

Girl, I don’t know what I do to make you leave me
But what I do know is
That since you’ve been gone there’s such an emptiness inside,
I’m wishing you to come back to me.

If only you were here
You’d wash away my tears
The sun would shine,
Once again you’ll be mine oh mine
But in reality, you and I will never be cos
You took your love away from me.
Oh—Baby you took your love away from me.

This morning's class with the first graders at Narao JHS, we spent the first half of the lesson practicing listening skills. After discussing with Takase sensei(the new English teacher who came to replace Kawasaki sensei after she went on maternity leave) we decided to pick the song 'Sukiyaki' for the students to listen and fill in some missing words in the lyrics.

Many of you would have already know that Sukiyaki is originally a Japanese popular song sung by Sakamoto Kyu, more affectionately known as 'Kyu-chan' by the Japanese. He was an internationally acclaimed singer whose most famous song, Ue o Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk; 'Sukiyaki'in the West) became an instant hit when it was released in the U.S in 1963. Despite the incomprehensible lyrics to the foreign listeners, it captured the heart of many with it's earnest and simple melody. Till this day, 'Sukiyaki' remains the biggest international hit and most recognizable Japanese tune by a Japanese popular singer.

I've always been perplexed about the origin of the title of this song so a quick search threw up many explanations of which i find the one from Wikipedia to be most succint and rather amusing. "The term sukiyaki (which is a Japanese steamboat dish) had absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics or the meaning of the song; the word served the purpose only because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to most English speakers (very few of whom could understand the Japanese lyrics anyway). A Newsweek columnist noted that the re-titling was like issuing "Moon River" in Japan under the title "Beef Stew."

The students were as expected highly amused too by the song title. In fact, some of them were probably wondering what is the relation between their last night's dinner (it's a popular winter one-pot dish in many households) and an English song they were about to hear.

As I looked at the many heads bent over the worksheets while straining their ears, I was transported back in time when I was singing along to the original version in one of my lectures in NUS by my ever favorite lecturer, Guo sensei. The song was chosen because Guo sensei wanted to introduce a new grammar point (the volitional verbs such as 歩こう、食べよう、帰ろう etc) and also because it's one of his personal favourite. I remember really enjoying the particular lecture and even many years later, the lyrics remain fresh in my head. It is a nice thought too that someday these students could recall some foreigner who once introduced them an English song made famous by a Japanese singer.


上を向いて　歩こう

上を向いて　歩こう
涙が　こぼれないように
思い出す　春の日
　一人ぽっちの夜

上を向いて歩こう
にじんだ　星をかぞえて
思い出す　夏の日
　一人ぽっちの夜

幸せは　雲の上に
幸せは　空の上に

上を向いて　歩こう
涙が　こぼれないように
泣きながら　歩く
一人ぽっちの夜

思い出す秋の日　
一人ぽっちの夜

悲しみは　星のかげに
悲しみは　月のかげに

上を向いて　歩こう
涙が　こぼれないように
泣きながら歩く
一人ぽっちの夜

一人ぽっちの夜

posted by テレサ @ 8:51 AM