The Slow Melody of Time

Here I am with the first part of this month’s themed week in “Lyrical Love”! Today’s subject is a song by the Japanese singer Kiyoharu, named Slow and released on his fourth album Vinnybeach -Kakuu no kaigan- (Vinnybeach -Fictional coast-), released on 12th July 2006 and afterwards released as main track in his tenth single. Famous for being the theme of the anime The Wallflower, this song is a speedy rock ballad, where the heartbeating sound fits very well with the main subject, which is sad but anyway meaningful.

THE MUSIC

The song starts up with an incredibly piercing guitar, accompained by the powerful vocals by Kiyoharu; then the sound becomes strong, transmitting unique emotions, thanks to the wonderful rhythm, engaging at a maximum level. Kiyoharu’s interpretation is vibrant and suggestive, fitting very well into a melody, which expresses melancholy, mixed with some nostalgia, for surely one of the best tunes by this singer.

Lyrics (Romaji)

Ah kimi wo omou yoru wa, amaku kaoru kaze no naka ni
Nagusameru you na yasashisa ga boku wo toorisugiru yo.

Kimi ga iru to kikoeteta
Uta ni natta waraikoe
Kazaru kotoba nande nanimo nai
Jikan wa tomatte surou de nagareteru.

Ima no boku wa kodoku to iu jiyuu sakara hagurete shimatta ato.

Itai hodo shitteru yo
Kaiwa ga togirete shimattara, kanashii tte.

Ima no bokura wa, kuukyo to iu jinsei kara degakete shimatta ato.

Ah kimi wo omou yoru wa, amaku kaoru kaze no naka ni
Fureatta koro no omokage ga boku wo sukou you ni
Ah kimi ga utau no nara haruka todoke kaze wo matotte
Nagusameru you na yasashisa ga boku wo toorisugiru yo.

Hanareta tte heiki da ne?

Omoide wa iroasenai.

Ah, kimi wo omou yoru wa, amaku kaoru kaze no naka de
Kieru riyuu mo nai omokage ga boku wo sukou you ni
Ah ashita ki ga tsuitara, imi wo ushinau kotoba wa atta?
Tsuketashita you na ayamachi ga boku ni katarikakeru yo
Ah ano hi onaji yume ga ima wa tooi kaze no naka ni
Dakedo kimi no mirai, shiawase ga zutto tsuzuku you ni
Ah kimi yo utaeru nara, wazuka todoite kage wo nutte
Nagusameru you na yasashisa ga kokoro, toorisugiru yo.

Itoshisa wo boku ni kizamitsukeru yo.

Lyrics (Translation)

Ah, in the nights when I think of you, in a breeze which smells sweetly
A comforting kindness will pass through me. (I)

I could hear when you were there
A laughter which became a song
There were not elaborate words
Time stops and flows slowly. (II)

Now I have opposed and gone far from the freedom
called loneliness. (III)

I know how much it can be painful
If a conversation is interrupted, it is sad…

Now we have gone far from the life called emptiness. (IV)

Ah, in the nights when I think of you, in a breeze which smells sweetly
Traces of you, which we have touched from the time, save me
Ah, if you sing, it will be brought to me, wrapped in the distant wind
A comforting kindness will pass through me. (V)

When we were far, it was good, isn’t it?
Our feelings won’t disappear. (VI)

Ah, in the nights when I think of you, in a breeze which smells sweetly
There is not a disappearing reason, traces of you save me.

Ah, if I come to myself tomorrow, will the words have lost their meaning?
If the errors which have been added had talked with me

Ah, our shared dreams from those days, are now in the distant wind
But your future and your happiness will go on forever
Ah, if you could sing to me, I will go towards your image, which has been reached me from a little
A comforting kindness will go through my heart. (VII)

THE WORDS

Written by Kiyoharu himself, the song focuses on a particular state of conceiving the time: the slowness. It can be noticed in the time, which passes by, the sensations who are felt by each one, the pain which can be carried by someone, the pace of a melody. It emphasizes every little aspect of human life, making it more vivid and closer to who perceives it. In particular the song is about an ended love, whose signs are underlined by the slow flowing of time and feelings, lived totally by the protagonist. And now… let’s analyze the song!

I) The text begins with a key image, which will recur throughout the song, in a pretty schematic way; in the nights when the protagonist thinks about the loved one, accompained by a breeze which smells of sweetness (amaku kaoru kaze, an union between two differents senses, for expressing better the atmosphere shown in this sequence), a comforting kindness (Nagusameru you na yasashisa) passes through himself, synonym of a sweet and kind memory of the loved person, still strong and present.

II) In the following sequence the protagonist reminds that he could hear when the loved one was there, her laughter, which becomes the object of his song (Uta ni natta waraikoe), a song where there are not any elaborate word (Kazaru kotoba, a probable metatextual reference, seen the simplicity of the words used in this text). But there is something which moves everything: the time which stops and flows slowly (Jikan wa tomatte surou de nagareteru), second per second, where each instant becomes eternal, a positive and negative thing at the same time.

III) In this sequence the protagonist makes an act of awareness for himself; in fact he has been able to oppose himself and to deviate from the freedom called loneliness (kodoku to iu jiyuu, two opposite images, since that loneliness is usually a state which doesn’t leave spare space, but it could also indicate a sense of independence which the protagonist had before falling in love).

IV) And he knows the pain which can be felt, in being alone, in things left incomplete, in things not said (here the example of the interrupted conversation); but he and his loved one know that they went far from the life called emptiness (kuukyo to iu jinsei, a direct connection to the images of freedom and loneliness told above), for going into a more felt life.

V) After opening with the nights of the first sequence, this one proceeds with the protagonist, who is thinking about the loved one, seeing her traces, taken from the past time, who save him and are therefore his only hope for surviving; then if the loved one will sing, the song will reach him, through the distant wind (haruka todoke kaze), an image which emphasizes the sense of distance between the two lovers.

VI) The protagonist asks to his loved one if when they were distant, the things could have been better (Hanareta tte heiki da ne?), but he knows that even if the distance is so evident, their feelings won’t disappear in any way (Omoide wa iroasenai).

VII) In the final sequence, after the image of nights, the protagonist claims that there is not a disappearing reason for the fact that her traces still save him and are still present in his life. He, if the next day would come to himself, wonders if the simple words which are written in the song would lose their own meaning (loss of every possible sense in life); and believing that the adding errors are talking to him, he is aware that the dreams shared with the loved one, taken from those past days are brought by the distant wind. And here we arrive to the epilogue; her future and her happiness will go on forever, while he struggles with his feelings and thinking that if she sings that song, he would go towards her image, present with him. And the comforting kindness which ended the first sequence, ends the song, going into his heart and creating definitively the departure between the lovers.

Two lovers, one who went straight forward, while the other suffers and struggles with the past. This ballad, provided by the passional depth and the simplicity of Kiyoharu, carries on a departure, where the protagonist lives his time slowly, reminding the good things but at the same time suffering for a lost and far love, belonging to the past.

That’s all folks! See you tomorrow, for a double post in “Let’s Listen to”, while the themed week will reprise on 30th March!

Thanks for reading!

*Sorry for the delay*