275

try to guess what is going on in this photo

another rare self-portrait. me and my Casio shadow （かげ）

Warabigami by Natsukawa Rimi and Koja Misako.

there is just something about an Okinawan song . . . it touches my heart deeply. i cannot listen to an Okinawan song without a tear in my eye. the first version i heard this afternoon i came across by accident as i was looking up another wonderful song. the first version i heard (today) of Warabigami is by Minami Kizuki who is a young singer from Amami Island near Kagoshima. here is her version.

normally i would put this video and description on my music blog (which i have not updated in quite awhile) but since this song has taken up quite a bit of my time this afternoon/evening, i decided to add it here. after the gym this morning, i went swimming (pool not ocean) for the 5th day in a row. i think the sun and swimming has helped my shoulder. and so has the H-wave device which i will be hooking up while watching some tv tonite. after swimming and while laying by the pool in the glorious tida (sun) i was listening to a recording of FM802 from March 18 (Kuruda-san's birthday) i heard a song called Kazamuki. after the pool (i only stayed about an hour in the hot afternoon sun as i have been out there 5 days in a row) i did some research on the internet and found out that Kazamuki is by a young group called S.R.S. originally from my second hometown (Osaka). from there i saw the Minami Kizuki version of Warabigami. and that's how i ended up learning about this song and that is was originally a children's nursery song. and was written by the second singer in this video playing the sanshin (i know, i know when will i start practicing my sanshin again). i learned she wrote it for the birth of her first grandchild. i first heard this song by Natsukawa Rimi a few more than a few years ago, and probably have it on one of her cds. it is wonderful to hear their two voices together (and the sanshin, koto and keyboards). here is an English translation that i found. also, i read somewhere that "Warabigami" translates to something like "all children come from God".

Warabigami

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 being
heiyo, heiyo,
To lead a worthy life