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redfreesias03 · 4 years

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Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa (“The Smiling You is Like a Sun”)

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“The smiling you is like a sun, you make friends with everyone you meet. Go on living this innocently.”

OR: A reminder for everyone still growing up: no matter what growing pains you’re going through right now, you’re awesome.

kuyashisa wa wasureru mon ja nai mata chikyuu wa mawari kisetsu ga meguri kimi wa seichou suru

Frustration isn’t something you forget– The earth spins again, the seasons change And you grow up

kanashimi wa dareka no mon ja nai mata chikyuu wa mawari dareka ga umare wakare no hi ga kuru

Sadness isn’t something that belongs to anyone– The earth goes on spinning again, when someone is born A day for goodbyes also approaches

mata aishi aisare dareka ga umare shiawase wo shiru

Loving and being loved again, someone is born And knows happiness

ikite koso

It’s called living

ha wo kuishibaru shikanai soshite hito wo urayamun ja nai kimi ni shika dekinai sore ga aru darou sore wa totemo idai nanda

There’s no choice but to grit your teeth and bear it And so don’t envy others There must be something Only you can do, A very great something

otona ni natte kara mo mada benkyou wa tsudzuku ima shika dekinai kimi ga shitai koto wo shina yo

You’ll still go on learning Even after you’re an adult¹: Do the things you want to, that you can only do right now

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa deau hito minna wo egao ni suru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa seiseidoudou to shiterya ii

The smiling you is like a sun You make everyone you meet smile The smiling you is like a sun Keep on doing things fair and square²

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa yo no naka no dare mo ga motometeru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa uso ga tsukenai toko ga ii

The smiling you is like a sun The whole world wants you The smiling you is like a sun You can’t bring yourself to lie, and that’s what’s great about you

shinsetsu wa sunao ni ukerya ii mata kondo wa kimi ga chigau dareka ni shinsetsu dekirya ii

Humbly accept kindness when it’s given And next time when you can, Be kind to someone else

uragiri wa hikizuranai ga ii mata kondo wa kimi ga chigau dareka wo shinjite yareba ii

Don’t hold on to the time someone betrayed you And next time Trust again in someone else

mata ai ga hirogari chigau dareka mo shiawase ni naru

When you spread the love again, it makes even other People happy

ikite koso

It’s called living

otona wa ZURUi to ka sou kanjiteru darou otona wa kimi ni modoritai to omotteru yo

That’s right, you might feel Like “adults are crooked” Adults wish they could go back in time to when they were you

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa deau hito minna to tomodachin naru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa tenshinranman de ikirya ii

The smiling you is like a sun You make friends with everyone you meet The smiling you is like a sun Go on living this innocently

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa yo no naka no subete wo aishiteru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa dare no mane demo nai no ga ii

The smiling you is like a sun You love everything in the world The smiling you is like a sun You don’t imitate anyone else, and that’s great

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa deau hito minna wo egao ni suru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa seiseidoudou to shiterya ii

The smiling you is like a sun You make everyone you meet smile The smiling you is like a sun Keep on doing things fair and square

egao no kimi wa taiyou sa yo no naka no dare mo ga motometeru egao no kimi wa taiyou sa uso ga tsukenai toko ga ii

The smiling you is like a sun The whole world wants you The smiling you is like a sun You can’t bring yourself to lie, and that’s what’s great about you

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¹ The UFP subs say “learning” so I kept it as such, but 勉強 is almost singlehandedly used as ‘studying’. A common criticism of Japan’s academically-rigorous educational system is that children are encouraged to study at the expense of everything else (including hobbies, hanging out with their friends, etc.) The lyrics point out that people still have to study (and learn) their whole lives through, but that the kid/teenager only has their childhood to do childhood things.

² “正々堂々” can be “proud and confident” in the pomp-and-circumstance sense of the term, but it’s most often used for doing things “fairly”, the right way. So you’d use the term for a clean fight, or good sportsmanship, someone who plays fair and square.

Also, strictly speaking the title is a metaphor, not a simile, but I took the liberty of adding the “like a” in there anyway.

Confession time: I love these lyrics to pieces, like. I think these are some of the best lyrics Tsunku’s ever written, I love the words as much (possibly more???) than even greats like I WISH and Souda! We’re ALIVE and yet this is possibly the least musical melody Tsunku’s ever written. It’s like it’s purposefully not singable. There’s no real hooks (I like the ‘ikite koso’ so much but I’m pretty sure that’s mostly through sheer force of will), the “egao egao egao egao egao” parts are grating when you try listening to it nonstop, and the rhythm is choppy to the point of sounding disjointed half the time. I still love it anyway (I’ve actually reached the point where I love it just this way, but objectively I realize most people don’t experience Stockholm syndrome for mediocre songs when the group has hundreds more songs that actually try to be catchy.)

Anyway, it’s a huge tragedy to me that Tsunku set these words to this music because fans forget about it and it’s such a great song.

If you read through my rant and somehow disagree, I submit as proof Tsunku’s liner notes on the subject:

“This song is a message for the current members of Morning Musume. However, it's also a message on my part to the "youth" who are living in a new era and who must survive. At the same time, I wrote it as a pep talk for my own self. At the age of 45, I'm still lacking, still incomplete. I still have to grit my teeth, bear it, and just survive. And so, I wrote this song with the feeling of "you must treasure your 'smile'."

For non-Tsunku fans, at the time he was writing this, he was already struggling with losing his voice–a little less than a month later, he was officially diagnosed with larygneal cancer, which he went on to beat only after removing his vocal cords and losing his beloved voice, after which he taught himself esophageal speech to be able to speak again. Bear it and survive indeed.

(On a lighter note, he also mentions in the liner notes that he also made the members re-read the lyrics countless times before shooting the music video and asked them to try to convey the “ultimate smile” each time they got to the chorus. Please appreciate their efforts.)

At any rate, Tsunku telling Colorful Momusu “there must be something only you can do–a very great something” is touching, but Tsunku telling himself that kind of makes me want to cry–as an older fan, I’ve always thought of this as a “parent” type song, knowing that it’s a self-love song as well is just really great in a way I can’t articulate.

#Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa #Egao no Kimi wa Taiyousa #Morning Musume #Morning Musume '14 #single: Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa / Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai / What is LOVE?#lyrics #translation #Lyricist: Tsunku #Composer: Tsunku #Arrangement: Ookubo Kaoru #10s aidoru #aidoru songs about growing up #comforting aidoru songs #aidoru songs referencing the sun #release date: 01/29/2014 #my love for this song knows no bounds #it's also one of those iconic RIHO songs for me #like Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi and Bukiyou Paradise #because she was THE hitoribocchi idol but her smile was just so ridiculously soothing #'You might feel like adults are crooked but adults wish they could go back to when they were you' is an amazing line #I hate that its nuance gets lost when people translate it as 'adults wish they could go back to being your age'

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