Breaking down songs – Amefurashi no Uta

Breaking down songs was supposed to be a series of articles,  but we have only had 1 so far. We only had 光るなら, and at the time my knowledge was limited, so it didn’t turn out to be a good article. Recently our friend Luiz Rafael has been writing articles about learning nihongo with music, which reminded and motivated me to continue the series of articles. So now that I have more knowledge let’s break down songs.

I chose a song that is already present on our Facebook page Amefurashi no Uta アメフラシの歌 or Beautiful Rain, a song from the anime soredemo sekai wa utsukushi それでも世界は美し. It is not a successful anime, and the song may not be your style, but I chose it because it is a bit slower, and the video quality is better than the one I intended to break down.

Below we have the video with the song and its lyrics in Hiragana and Kanji, watch the video as many times as you want, then we will break it down. Don’t forget to turn up the volume.

Breaking down the lyrics

To facilitate the understanding of the kanji below, we recommend the Insert Furigana plugin (it exists for other browsers, just search). We will not put the lyrics in hiragana, since there is the video above. We will break down the lyrics with kanji, so we recommend using the plugin.

Some phrases are difficult to translate with any meaning, so in some phrases, we will leave only the meaning of the words, try to understand on your own the message that the phrase wants to convey.

今日生まれた 悲しみが 空へ舞い上がる

Today sadness was born and rose towards the sky

• 空 = Sky
• 今日 = Today
• 生まれた = Born, come to exist
• 悲しみ = sadness

空は目覚め  風を呼び この胸は震える

The awakening of the sky and the call of the wind shakes my chest.

• 目覚め = Awakening
• 風 = Wind
• 呼び = Call
• この胸 = Can be understood as my chest
• 震える = Tremble shake

あなたを守りたい 運命に触りたい 

I want to protect you, I want to touch destiny

• 守る = Protect
• たい = Tai form, want, desire
• 運命 = Destiny
• 触り = Touch

Touching destiny can be understood as changing or controlling.

こぼれた涙　胸のくぼみを  喜びで満たしたいの

Spilled tears, the hollow in my chest I want to fill with joy.

A better translation would be: I want to fill the void in your chest and stop your tears by filling you with happiness.

• こぼれた + 涙 = Spill + tears
• くぼみを  = Recess, depression, void
• 喜び = Joy + the particle で makes it something like “with joy”
• 満 = Fill, satisfy, enough

It's a tender rain あなたのもとへ この歌が 届きますように

With this tender rain. May this song reach you

• 歌 = Song
• 届き = Reach, arrive

どんなに遠くに　離れていても 信じてる　伝わること

• どんなに = However, even if
• 遠くに = Far
• 離れていても = Separated
• 信じてる = Believe
• 伝わる = travel

Singing in the rain 雨のしずくが 美しく 輝いてゆく

Singing in the rain, the raindrops are beautiful and shining

• 雨 = Rain
• しずくが = Drops
• 美しく = Beautifully
• 輝 = Shine, light, spark

悲しみ全部が　 消えるそのとき 世界は動き出すの Please come the tender rain

The moment when all sadness disappeared into the air. This world will start to spin

• 悲しみ = Sadness
• 全部 = Whole, all
• 消える = Disappear, erase, extinguish
• 世界 = World
• 動き = Movement  出 = Out

この景色が　 いつの日か　 枯れてしまっても

Even if one day this scenery withers

• この景色が = This scenery
• いつの日か = One day
• 枯れて = Dry, Wither

その瞳に　あふれる想い 注ぎ続ける

I will continue to fill those eyes with these overflowing feelings

• 瞳 = Eyes, pupils (in a poetic way)
• あふれる = Overflow
• 想い = Feelings
• 注ぎ = Fill
• 続ける = Continue

心をつなげたい　 痛みに触れていたい 

I want to connect to your heart, I want to touch your pain

• 心 = Heart
• つなげ = Connected
• 痛み = Pain
• 触れて = Touch, feel

目覚めた朝の 濡れた大地に 蕾はきっと… 咲いてる

When you wake up in the morning, flower buds on this wet ground will surely bloom.

• 目覚 = Awakening
• 朝の = Morning
• 濡れた = Wet
• 大地 = Earth, ground, soil
• 蕾 = Bud
• きっと = Surely
• 咲いてる = Bloom

It's a tender rain 耳を澄まして　 柔らかな　 空気に溶けて

Listen carefully to the tender rain dissolving in the air

• 耳を澄まして = Listen carefully
• 柔らかな = soft, softness
• 空気 = Air
• 溶けて = Melt, dissolve

静かに静かに　 舞い降りてゆく  いつだって　 そばにいるよ

Silently, silently floating down always by your side

• 静かに = silently
• 舞い降りて = Floating down
• いつだって = Always
• そばにいるよ = By your side

Singing in the rain 私は歌う　 雨音に　 想いを乗せて

I will sing and send the sound of the rain with my feelings

• 歌う = Sing
• 雨音 = Sound of the rain
• 想い = Feelings, thoughts
• 乗せて = Put together, place, all strength

何処までも続く 時の彼方に 眩しい愛があるの Here come the tender rain

To continue anywhere beyond time a dazzling love. Here come the tender rain

• 何処まで = Where to
• 続く = Follow
• 時 = Time
• 彼方に = Beyond
• 眩しい = Intense shine, dazzling
• 愛 = Love + がある = There is love, there is love

どんな運命も　 結び合う心は 奪えない 　

No matter what our destiny, our united hearts cannot be stolen (or taken)

• どんな運命も = Any destiny
• 奪えない = Cannot steal, cannot take

どんな悲しみも 微笑んで　 空へと還る

No matter how sad we are, we will return the sky smiling.

• どんな悲しみも = Any sadness
• 微笑 = Smile
• 還る = Return, go back, restore

From there the choruses repeat and the song ends.

I hope you enjoy this song and others to increase your vocabulary. You can try to break down your songs yourself, or send suggestions, it took me more than 3 hours to do this, it really is not an easy job, but it helps a lot in studying.