Sure you know the feeling, you’ve just completed a massive “best~of” list and then immediately without fail you begin questioning yourself.. did I leave a song out? Should this one or that one be higher? Lower? Or these ten I adore all the same so how can I possibly truly rank them?
And so with this new series here’s my quick criteria:
- Songs will be presented in no particular order.
- I must own the actual single or album, not an issue as I always support the artist(s).
- No Family48 songs will be included, as this series is meant to hopefully turn you onto beloved songs which aren’t of our currently collective awareness. I mean, I need not tell you how awesome this or that AKB48 song is as you already know.
- The “360 or so” is a very loose number =).
~DEEN “Hitomi sorasanaide”~
Yup! once upon a time you could walk into one of our local Japanese video/book stores and simply rent the latest releases right there off of their shelves =). And today’s select song happens to be, as you can see to the left… one of those very rental CDs as the store’s barcode is still stuck on there. And after a release had been out for awhile, the store’s would then sell them for a very fan friendly~price for usually just a few dollars. Today’s single is also in Japan’s most cool (and personally missed =(…) 3” CD format, now a nostalgic gem reflecting the time. So today’s song is DEEN’s “Hitomi sorasanaide” and if you just happened to have clicked~* play above before reaching this part of my write-up, hmm…. you may have noticed that it sounds most familiar?? Well that is if you’re a ZARD fan, you’re most likely readily recognizing that oh so familiar sweet melody here! ZARD’s Sakai Izumi had written quite a few songs which she lent to other artists/groups back then and this song in particular being my most favorite of those “lent” songs!! And while ZARD’s version is a lovely bossa nova ballad which appears as the final track on her “Forever You” album (released March 10th, 1995), Sakai Izumi gifted this song to DEEN about eight months earlier as DEEN released “Hitomi sorasanaide” as a single on June 22nd, 1994. Now DEEN’s version is most notably a 100% sweet rock~n~roll production which has a very very bright and euphoric tone about it which is in deep contrast to ZARD’s presentation, and so for comparison’s sake I’ve included both versions here ^^.
“Hitomi sorasanaide”
(note: DEEN’s final chorus differs from the translated ZARD version below)
Itsumo kono jikan wa uchi ni ita no ni…
(Although you were always home at this time…)
saikin kimi wa rusu gachi da ne
(Recently you tend to be away from home)
yatto deta denwa no koe mo
(Even the voice of the phone call that got through at last)
imamade to chigau kanji ga kawatta yo
(Differs thus far, the feeling is different)
mada kimi no naka ni boku ga dorekurai iru no ka
(Still in you how much of me is there)
tashikamete mitainda look in your eyes
(I want to ascertain and see the look in your eyes)
Hitomi sorasanaide aoi natsu no tokimeki no naka de
(Don’t avert your eyes in the palpitation of the blue summer)
summer breeze kokoro kusuguru yo
(Summer breeze my heart tickles)
hitorijime shitakute dakiyoseta atsui gogo
(Wanting to monopolize you I embraced the hot afternoon)
Ima no mamade wa shiya ga semaku narushi…
nanika ga owatte shimai sou to kanojo ga itta
(She said “As it is now my outlook becomes narrow, and it’s as if something is going to end”)
sono hou ga kimi ni totte yume ga aru no nara
(If there is a dream for you that way)
boku wa sou shiyou
(I will do that)
yakusoku dakara umi ni kitatte kanji ga
(I came to the beach because it’s a promised feeling)
isshoni iru noni samishii yo
(Even if we’re together it’s lonely)
Mou ichido…
(Once more…)
Hanashi sorasanaide aoi natsu no tokimeki no naka de
(Don’t avert from the conversation in the palpitation of the blue summer)
Summer days omoide ni shinaide
(Summer days don’t make it into memories)
ano koro no kimi ga ima mo mune no naka de waratteru
(You at that time is still smiling in my heart now)
Ano koro no kimi ga ima mo mune no naka de waratteru
(You at that time is still smiling in my heart now)
~ZARD “Hitomi sorasanaide”~
Super!
Re: “walk into one of our local Japanese video/book stores”
All of my local Japanese video stores only have songs and books in Spanish.
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Ehh? Just Spanish? Our Japanese video stores and Book-Off locations are still here, however many of the older locations have closed. Still if one wants to rent the latest shows, happily it’s still possible =).
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Ha Ha. Just kidding.
I have been in some international/ Asian stores in the 1990s, but I did not know what to look for.
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Ahhhh okay=)!
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(Denny raises hand) Professor Berryz, — sorry if this is a stupid question …
Ms. Sachiko Kamachi went by the stage name Izumi Sakai, but why? I understand why John Melloncamp changed his name to Johnny Cougar, but why the name change here?
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It’s thought that she went with a stage name as a means to make her music career distinctly apart from her earlier days of modeling where she once posed nude for a now most rare shashinshuu. I have it scanned however I never felt comfortable putting them up on the blog. It’s an irony of sorts as Sakai Izumi was well known for her shyness and private ways. Still this is just a one belief.
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Thank you.
Post the photos as “Yoko Sinnoh” maybe? Just an inside joke for your inner circle readers?
(sorry for crakin’ jokes in class)
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LOL! Coincidentally I was listening to my ipod’s Beatles compilation a couple of days ago ^^.
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The DEEN bossa nova style is great. Better not get me drunk if you cannot take my karaoke cover.I want to dedicate a building to the Izumi version though.
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Un you mean Deen’s rock version =)…. it’s a very lively version and yet lyrically ZARD’s bossa nova style really matches much better. Still I soooo love the Deen version as it’s so bright with like an optimistic tone and feeling. And speaking of rock-and-roll, if you’re in the mood do check out volume 3 of this series as I think it’s a pretty amazing song with lyrics of poetry =).
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Yes, you are right. I must have had the idea he had one of those fruity drinks nearby.
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Ehh?
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RE: The “360 or so” is a very loose number
Speaking for the Baby-Boom generation — I hope that by eating right and taking my medicine, I will make it to #360! Grandchildren are not even a concept yet, so good that I have something to keep me going!
: )
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I’ll try posting these up as much as my bloggy time allows… had I infinite~free time, these volumes would go waaaay beyond that number =).
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