“Kaze to Machi” and “Ubugoe”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have rarely gone to karaoke, but I recently went for the first time in a while.
And it was solo karaoke—singing by myself.
I have become fond of Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Kaze to Machi,” which is also the theme song for a TV drama series, and I sang it over and over to practice.
My son, Yuya, is a fan of Mr. Children, and because he plays their music loudly in the restaurant during breaks and so on, the fifth-generation owner gradually began listening to them often as well. Recently, I have been particularly into a song called “Ubugoe.”
I sang “Ubugoe” at karaoke too, and I realized that these two songs have a great deal in common in the content of their lyrics.
The more closely I listen, the more I feel that both sets of lyrics ultimately arrive at the idea of reincarnation.
The Mrs. song begins, “Someday, as this familiar scenery changes, as though reminiscing about the fragrance you left behind…”
In other words, it begins with the protagonist, having reached the later stages of life, looking back on that life, and unfolds as a story that is almost a record of personal growth.
The promotional video for “Ubugoe,” on the other hand, also starts with a scene in which someone’s life comes to an end.
From there, time moves backward to childhood, then follows the person through boyhood, youth, and middle age, in a story of growing older while passing the baton on to the next generation.
What they share, perhaps, is that in both songs life is passed on to the next generation, and that this is repeated.
Both songs have a protagonist—oneself, or perhaps someone else—but I understand that protagonist to represent humanity itself.
Listening to these two songs, I could not help applying them to myself and becoming sentimental.
As the lyrics of the Mrs. song say, in life, “We do not know where we are headed, (but) the road continues.”
We cannot see what lies ahead, but I hope to live each day without regrets.
And I hope it will be a life that, in some way, can benefit the world.
Writing this makes me think that the next time I sing at karaoke, I may sing these songs differently.
My interpretation of these songs is only that of the fifth-generation owner, and the creators’ intentions may lie elsewhere, but thank you for bringing us such wonderful songs.
