A Little Love Song

Sometimes, sitting in an izakaya in Japan, a song will come on, and I see several people around me silently singing along.

One of those songs everyone knows.

We talk a lot about vocab, kanji, grammar, and all of that stuff.

But there is a cultural side to language-learning, as well. One that I often feel that I'm lacking in. I'm all too familiar with the feeling of being the only person in the room that doesn't know the words to a song.

So in a somewhat lackadaisical effort to bolster my cultural knowledge of Japan, I've gotten Rei to send me occasional links to songs that everyone in Japan is likely to know.

The song I learned today:

Videos

(　↑　So-so audio quality, with very easy to read lyrics, including furigana.)

(　↑　So-so audio quality, with full Japanese lyrics.)

(　↑　Relatively good quality audio, lyrics on the screen are a bit hard to read.)

(　↑　Cover with pretty easy to read lyrics and clear pronunciation.)

(　↑　Cover with no lyrics, but very clean pronunciation.)

(　↑　Live cover with no lyrics.)

(　↑　Fun cover with thousands of people singing... but the lyrics are in Chinese!)

(　↑　Karaoke version with easy-to-read lyrics, but no vocal audio. Perfect for practicing your karaoke skills.)

Is this song good for students of Japanese?

Yes!

For a few reasons:

1) There are a ton of covers. You can find them on YouTube, and usually the lyrics are written on the screen.

2) The words are pronounced very, very clearly.

3) The song contains many high-use words. Actually, I'd say that a high-level student of Japanese should know 95% of the words in this song. Maybe you don't need to make the same maudlin sentences, but knowing the words is definitely a must.

How we'll go through the song in this lesson.

First, I'll list the lyrics in Japanese.

Then the lyrics with kana.

Then the lyrics with kana and English.

Then, I'll list key words that appear in the song.

Finally, tomorrow we can see how some of those words are used in daily life.

OK. Let's go!

Lyrics - Japanese Only

０１　広い宇宙の数ある一つ 青い地球の広い世界で

０２　小さな恋の思いは届く 小さな島のあなたのもとへ

０３　あなたと出会い 時は流れる 思いを込めた手紙もふえる

０４　いつしか二人互いに響く 時に激しく 時に切なく

０５　響くは遠く 遥か彼方へ やさしい歌は世界を変える

０６　ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの

０７　ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌

０８　ほら ほら ほら 響け恋の歌

０９　あなたは気づく 二人は歩く暗い道でも 日々照らす月

１０　握りしめた手 離すことなく 思いは強く 永遠誓う

１１　永遠の淵 きっと僕は言う 思い変わらず同じ言葉を

１２　それでも足りず 涙にかわり 喜びになり

１３　言葉にできず ただ抱きしめる ただ抱きしめる

１４　ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの

１５　ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌

１６　ほら ほら ほら 響け恋の歌

１７　夢ならば覚めないで 夢ならば覚めないで

１８　あなたと過ごした時 永遠の星となる

１９　ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの

２０　ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌

２１　ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの

２２　ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌

２３　ほら ほら ほら 響け恋の歌

Lyrics - Japanese with Kana

０１　
広い宇宙の数ある一つ
青い地球の広い世界で
ひろい　うちゅう　の　かず　ある　ひとつ　あおい　ちきゅう　の　ひろい　せかい　で

０２　
小さな恋の思いは届く
小さな島のあなたのもとへ
ちいさな　こい　の　おもい　は　とどく　ちいさな　しま　の　あなた　の　もと　へ

０３　
あなたと出会い
時は流れる
思いを込めた手紙もふえる
あなた　と　であい　とき　は　ながれる　おもい　を　こめた　てがみ　もらえる

０４　
いつしか二人互いに響く 時に激しく 時に切なく
いつしか　ふたり　たがいに　ひびく　とき　に　はげしく　とき　に　せつなく

０５　
響くは遠く 遥か彼方へ
やさしい歌は世界を変える
ひびく　は　とおく　はるか　かなた　へ　やさしい　うた　は　せかい　を　かえる

０６　
ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ほら　あなた　に　とって　だいじな　ひと　ほど　すぐ　そば　に　いる　の

０７　
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい
響け恋の歌
ただ　あなた　に　だけ　とどいて　ほしい　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

０８　
ほら ほら ほら 響け恋の歌
ほら　ほた　ほら　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

０９　
あなたは気づく
二人は歩く暗い道でも
日々照らす月
あなた　は　きづく　ふたり　は　あるく　くらい　みち　でも　ひび　てらす　つき

１０　
握りしめた手 離すことなく
思いは強く
永遠誓う
にぎりしめた　て　はなす　こと　なく　おもい　は　つよく　えいえん　ちかう

１１　
永遠の淵
きっと僕は言う
思い変わらず同じ言葉を
えいえん　の　ふち　きっと　ぼく　は　いう　おもい　かわらず　おなじ　ことば　を

１２　
それでも足りず
涙にかわり
喜びになり
それでも　たりず　なみだ　に　かわり　よろこび　に　なり

１３
言葉にできず
ただ抱きしめる
ただ抱きしめる
ことば　に　できず　ただ　だきしめる　ただ　だきしめる

１４　
ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ほら　あなた　に　とって　だいじな　ひと　ほど　すぐ　そば　に　いる　の

１５
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい
響け恋の歌
ただ　あなた　に　だけ　とどいて　ほしい　ひびけ　の　うた

１６
ほら ほら ほら
響け恋の歌
ほら　ほら　ほら　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

１７
夢ならば覚めないで
夢ならば覚めないで
ゆめ　ならば　さめないで　ゆめ　ならば　さめないで

１８
あなたと過ごした時
永遠の星となる
あなた　と　すごした　とき　えいえん　の　ほし　と　なる

１９
ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ほら　あなた　に　とって　だいじ　な　ひと　ほど　すぐ　そば　に　いる　の

２０
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい
響け恋の歌
ただ　あなた　に　だけ　とどいて　ほしい　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

２１
ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ほら　あなた　に　とって　だいじ　な　ひと　ほど　すぐ　そば　に　いる　の

２２
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい
響け恋の歌
ただ　あなた　に　だけ　とどいて　ほしい　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

２３
ほら ほら ほら
響け恋の歌
ほら　ほら　ほら　ひびけ　こい　の　うた

Lyrics - Japanese with Kana & English

(Translation Note: I saw some English translations online, but they hardly matched up with the song at all. I think it's a case of people wanting to be poets more than wanting to be translators. I've tried to stick pretty close to the Japanese in these translations. Sorry if the "poetic quality" somewhat suffers as a result.)

Vocab Overview

Like I said before, I tried to keep a somewhat literal translation of the lyrics, without the English sounding totally crazy.

That said, some of the meanings are changing (like when ほら gets translated to "Listen").

Hopefully the following vocab list will help...

Super Useful Words
These are words that appeared which I hear and use myself often.

あなた
you

もらえる
to (be able to) receive

やさしい
nice; kind; gentle; soft; easy; simple; tender
Note: I wasn't actually too sure of which translation to use for the song.

ほら
Look! // I told you so! // See?!

～にとって
to (someone)
Note: This is a grammar function used for talking about a person's thoughts or point of view.

ほど
degree; extent
Note: I'm not sure the purpose of this word in the song.

すぐ
immediately; at once; directly; nearby; right (near)
Note: The use in the song is "right (near)."

そば
beside; near; close

～にいる
(a living creature) is inside (a place)

ただ
only; just

だけ
only

～て欲しい
～てほしい
to want (VERB) to happen or be done

きっと
surely; undoubtedly; most likely

それでも
but (still); even so; nevertheless

Fairly Useful Words
These are words I hear often but don't use much.

もと
origin; source; base; (someone's) location

Words I knew, but rarely hear
These are words I knew but rarely hear or use.

～となる
to become
Note: This is a bit stiffer version of ～になる.

Words I learned
These are words I learned from the song.

いつしか
before one knows; unnoticed

Oops

This lesson ended up being way longer than I intended.

Sorry.

Just study bits and pieces if it's overwhelming, maybe?

Bonus Phrases