The Original HSJS2

[maya]

Oh Yes, you are right, Martin D.
"Blank pages before me …...." was also added by Hayley. She sure does a good job.

2 years and 8 months ago, I was very curious to know how HWI members who were mostly Western people listened to HSJS1. I wondered, “Would this be accepted by non-Japanese people?”

I wasn't a member of HWI then although I sometimes have visited here as a guest and I was reading the posts consulting my dictionary. I have never thought of to be a member but since you guys liked the CD so much that I couldn't help writing a message using my limited English. Your reviews and comments forced me to write with no fear.

Thank you members for listening to Japanese songs and liked most of them. We are still keeping our old traditions and the old culture which organize different life style here in Japan. Most of Japanese songs are just popular within Japan. But now I begin to understand that those will be accepted more than we consider. As Japanese animations are widely accepted, there would be a big possibility that Japanese songs are accepted by the world more. Our exports will not be only electronics equipments and automobiles. Hayley is proving that, I can say.

Best wishes.
Maya

[martindn]

Hi Maya,

I have always been interested in music from different cultures, an interest I clearly share with Hayley who has performed music from many different parts of the world. I think she is interested in the oorigins of music in general; she seems to enjoy telling her audiences a little about the songs she performs, and I for one am interested to hear that.

When the result is as good as these Japanese Songs albums from Hayley though, I think they would be liked by most people in the West. Just as the Beatles and others popularised Indian music all those years ago, and the likes of Anuna and Celtic Woman have popularised Irish music, I believe Hayley could do the same for Japanese music here (and perhaps her Chinese and Taiwanese music too). I have heard that Scottish music is well liked in Japan.

I think the HSJS albums could be succesful here, although I don't know which media outlet would play them. Perhaps that is the problem, most radio stations these days seem to prefer to play safe and stck to the same old stuff, which means there is not much chance that people wiill get to hear anything new and different. This in turn results in lack of innovation from composers and musicians.

I remember telling Hayley that I thought her record company should release HSJS1 in the UK shortly after it came out. She said that such things were outside her control, and then told me that she was recording a second album (HSJS2). But that I would still need to buy it in Japan.

Martin D

[comet]

At the risk of repeating myself to often

If you can source a few copies of the HSJS albums

try placing them in your local Japanese Restaurants or sushi bars.

(Maybe Bandana or Earthquake could help us with this ? )

This would apply to any Hayley albums or promos and to any restaurant or coffee shop or other retail outlet you may frequent that plays music.

The interesting thing is you have no idea of how many thousands of people may hear the placed cd. It depends on staff putting it on.

A copy of Treasure I placed in a restaurant at the time of it's release is still being played there occasionally, and that's good enough for me.

[martindn]

OK, here is another one. Mama E - or To Mother.

It was a bit of a struggle finding this one too, most of what you find with search engines is about Hayley's version. Several of Googles references seem to point to thngs that look awfully familiar until I relaise they are reviews that I wrote. That isn't bvery helpful.

Anyway, another machine translation that seems to bear some relation to Hayley's lyric.

Who brought 20 years of my life
A single person who supported
And this is tough, a crybaby, and this
It looks like a mom is all I

I'm lonely and I fear while holding
I kept my day

Daily Sun also cried laughing fits
Also been scolded for a fight
Mom I'm not wasting our time
Lots of love is a painful day
I had to hold tight
Mom, can you hear? Thank you, ...

Murmured my time stuck
[If you want to quit, what should they stop]
Many times that I was in one word
Walked pushed back

Too weak to annoy me collide
Wrapped in me a deep love always

Barriers as well now
I'm sure I'll lose
Please don't cry Mama just you laugh
A small mom around my dreams
I'll grant
Mom, our dream just you look at the future

Repeat meeting and parting,
Grow up prepared for anything
You're not alone, not scared
What gave me strength waver

A day in the passing
You'll find important things
Mommy, Please don't cry I'll be the
Now even tears are both
It is an irreplaceable treasure
Mom, can you hear? Thank you, ...

Thank you ...


Martin D

[martindn]

OK, Next one, Cosmos.

I found this one on the net - so no need to resort to translation sites.
The ideas and sentiments are quite close to Hayley's version.

But I still love the way Hayley uses words.

The pink cosmoses sway
In a sunny spot on an autumn day.
My mother has been crying lately.
She coughs at the end of the garden.
　
When we open the photo album on the porch
She tells the same stories of my childhood
Over and over again
In a small voice, as if she's talking to herself.
　
On a mild autumn day like this,
Your tenderness touches me.
Even if things are tough when you leave to become a bride tomorrow
Time will turn it all into something to laugh about.

Don't worry, she laughs.
When we look back on our memories
There was never a day when I was alone.
I'm still just a self-centred girl.

She bites her lip.
She helps me pack.
We have fun for a while
Then my mother bursts into tears
And wishes me well again and again

I'll think about the meaning of gratitude
and live my life as well as I can.
On this mild autumn day,
Please let me be your child
For just a little longer.

Martin D

[martindn]

OK, this one was easy - I gound an English traslation of Warabi-Gami with Google.

A blessing from heaven
Into this world
You are born, my baby,
I will take care of you
Irayo hei, irayo hoi, irayo
My dearest child
Don’t you cry, heiyo heiyo,
May the sun shine on you
Be a good boy, heiyo heiyo
Please grow up
In miraculous health

When summer comes,
I will send you a cool breeze
When winter comes,
I will hold you to my bosom
Irayo hei, irayo hoi, irayo
My dearest child
Don’t you cry, heiyo heiyo,
May the moon shine on you
Be a good girl, heiyo heiyo,
Please grow up
To adulthood

Though stormy winds may blow
As you go through this world
I will shelter you from the storm,
so you may bloom like a flower
Irayo hei, irayo hoi, irayo,
My dearest child,
Don’t you cry, heiyo heiyo,
May the heavens shine on you
Be a good human beings(1),
heiyo, heiyo,
To lead a worthy life

(1) This line can possibly be changed to: ‘Be good human beings’ or ‘Be a good human being.’ -Richie

Background:
Most may have first heard a version of this song from popular J/O-pop artist Rimi Natsukawa who sings it in Japanese. This, the original, was written and performed by Misako Koja (from the first generation Nenes) who penned it before the birth of her first grandchild in February of 1997.

Martin D

[mihizawi]

Hi,

Not the original, but I found this (the song starts at 5:28) rendition of Itsumo nando demo at least as good as the original (of course, not as good as Hayley's version). And I found as interesting as funny the cultural mix there: an Ukranian singer living in Japan singing a Japanese song in Japanese, accompanying herself with an Ukranian Bandura, and wearing a traditional slavian-style blouse and what seems to be a Japanese-style skirt. I find her singing very sweet.

Michal

[martindn]

That's a nice version Michal, thank you. Perhps I like it a bit better than the original. Of course nobody performs these songs like Hayley, but it is interesting to hear other versions.

Martin D