Favorite Tracks

[Jenny A]

..... it's tough to pick a favorite song...

I'd have to say Tsubasa wo Kudasai (track 8) is my favorite and Yuki no hana (track 3) is my second favorite.
the piano part on I Believe is pretty also.
track 9 is a bit..... different. I think it might grow on my though.

<3 Jenny

[Joe]

Hi all,

Hmmm...a tough decision to select my favorite...

I went with Yuki No Hana (track 3).

Hanami Zuki (track 2), and Tsubasa wo Kudasai (track 8), both a close second and third!


Joe

[pjrcorreia]

Hello to all!

I finally decided to vote for tracks 6(my favorite), 10 and 11, and already I am sorry because they are all excellent.


Paulo Correia

[Nordly]

My favourite is either Tsubasa Wo Kudasai or Nada Sousou! I voted for those and Hanamizuki. Sadly I don't have the album, so there are multiple tracks I haven't heard yet in their entirety, but from what I've heard, these are my favourites!

~NL

[jordi]

I voted for:
Yuki No Hana
I Am A Thousand Winds
Hanamizuki

However, the more and more we listen to the CD, the more and more we like all songs.
Lyrics are stunning, and Hayley sings at her best, in a style we like very much, more than the strictly classical songs.

[dutchjoyce]

Hi,
I voted for tracks, 2, 4 and 11,
but to be honest.......this is my favourite Hayley album, and i play it more than once a day!!!
When i'm at work, it is in te cd player, so everyone in the flowershop can hear Hayley sing!!!
Greetz JOYCE.

[martindn]

Well, tings change. I originally voted for 11,8,4 but if I were voting again now, I think I'd go 3,6,7 or 3,6,10!

Martin

[Caitlin]

Hi everyone!

I had to take my time about voting because I just wasn't sure which ones really stood out as favorites for me. I ended up voting for Hanamizuki, Tsubasa Wo Kudasai, and Sotsugyou Shasin.

<3 Caitlin

[Cherany]

Have finally listened to the CD enough to pick favorites!

Time Goes Around
Tsubasa Wo Kudasai
I Believe
Hanamizuki
I Am a Thousand Winds

I am especially crazy about Time Goes Around, particularly the Japanese verse. I wish there was an all-Japanese version of it on the CD, in addition to the mostly-English track.

[martindn]

Hi Cherany,

I have to rate "Time" because if you regard HSJS as a concept album, Time is the punchline track, the one that explains the point of the whole album, and as in most such albums, is the penultimate track.

Martin

[maya]

I am enjoying reading posts here. As a Japanese, everyone's comment is very interesting to read to me. I also feel happy that those Japanese songs are widely accepted by English speaking people like you guys living out side of Japan. Music unites people I understand too.

I already knew all of the songs and they were not new to me, but as listened to Hayley's version, I almost felt they were quite new. I understand English some but still it is my second or third language and I still have difficulties. So the language handy cap makes me feel new. In addition to that, Hayley's matured voice makes me fell them new to me. I have all her CDs released here in Japan, but the most of the recording were done when she was aged 19 or earlier. HSJS is the latest recording and her almost matured voice makes me feel the songs new indeed.

Anyway, my favorite tracks are
I Am A Thousand Winds ( track No.5 )
Nada Sousou ( track No.7 )

I lost my father 2 years ago and still sometimes he appears in my dream. The other day, I heard "I Am A Thousand Winds" in my dream and my father was smiling there. Then there came winds bringing Hayley's voice singing the song.

maya

[martindn]

Hi Maya,

Sad to hear of your loss. I lost my father 16 years ago, so I know how it feels.
. "I am a Thousand Winds" is a song that will mean a lot to anyone who has been bereaved. In fact this whole album about gaining and losing loved ones is very special to me too. I'm sure you will have "Listen to the Wind" also, another beautiful song with a similar subject. I think I have personally experienced every one of the many thoughts and emotions that Hayley sings about. This is why this album is so special to me, And Hayley, who I am sure has not lived long enough to have experienced half of it, especially the healing effect of time, seems to sing those words with so much conviction and understanding. It feels almost as if Hayley has been inside my mind for all of my 63 years, and has read my thoughts at various points and set them to music. Yet a lot of that happened before Hayley was born. Absolutely uncanny! But then, perhaps a lot of other people could say exactly the same. We have all gained and lost love. That is the genius of this album, and one reason why I rate it one of the best ever made by anyone.

Martin

[maya]

Hi Martin.

Thank you for the words. What you have mentioned was exactly what I have been feeling. I am one of the people whom you have mentioned. “Well said, Martin.” I must write.
I managed to explain technical affairs in English and it is not easy to write about one's feelings or heart related affairs. Reading your post, I thought you were reading my mind or you were inside my mind.

Now let me change the topic.
As I see the result of the votes today, “#8. Tsubasa Wo Kudasai or Give me wings to fly” is ranked highest. Originally, this song was sung by a singing group called “Akai Tori or Red Birds” in 70s. When the singing group was organized, they sang this song as the first release and both the song and the group was widely known in Japan.

Later the song was accepted by the middle schools and primary schools to teach, and many pupils sang the song at school. So I would say, almost everybody knows the song here in Japan. If you have any chance to meet any young Japanese or old Japanese, let him or her to listen to Tsubasa Wo Kudasai, then, they can sing along in Japanese, I am sure.

maya

[I-H-F]

1. Amazing Grace
2. Hanamizuki
3. Shiroi Iro Ha Koibito No Iro

Phew! That was tough!

[stephen]

Hi all,
Track four is a clear winner for me.No wonder it is repeated as the bonus track.I thought originally that Do not stand at my grave and weep came from Wilfred Owen but I checked on the net and see it was written by Mary Elizabeth Frye.

Stephen.