Komuro’s Vietnamese Gospel

I came across Kazutoki Umezu’s Vietnamese Gospel about five or six years ago and have loved it since then. The album cover and music are very much what I can imagine about southeast Asia, where post-war wounds blend with warm evening breezes.

Vietnamese Gospel – Kazutoki Umezu

And then recently a friend of mine accidentally found an alternative version with lyrics by Komuro and his band. It was a night in Provincetown. Early summer, light rain at times, and we just watched Clouds of Sils Maria.

I hated the song the first time I heard it because the lyrics sounded like all the Japanese songs you’d hear. But then I started to find the vocals so good, like Maki’s style, tributes to life. And I had a feeling that the song was sung for memorizing some kind of war and people’s hope of meeting their descendants (like I still think Mizutani’s Distant Memories is about political rebellion and revolution).

I tried to look up the lyrics or any interpretations but couldn’t find anything, so I transcribed them. I found lyrics quite hard to translate, especially for a language like Japanese where every word can be a euphemism, so I’ll not ruin it. Probably just put them in a translator to get a sense of what they are singing.

They are not singing anything in particular anyway 🙂

Vietnamese Gospel – Komuro Hitoshi et al.

Lyrics

あぁ　雨に濡れながら　咲いている私は

小さいな白い花　祈りの花よ

雨の優しさが悲しみを溶かすよ

涙を暖めて　もう忘れようと

夢の中で聞いていた　あの歌声が　

静かに私をつつむ　もう泣かないで　

いつの日か　この空を越え

あなたのそばにいきたいから

やがてくる光の明日

信じて　生きてゆくの

あぁ　雨の物語りを覚えてる私は

小さいな白い花　いのちの花よ

あぁ雨のメロディーが耳も声ささやく

静かな子守唄　もう眠ろうよ

闇の中で輝く　あの微笑みが

静かに私を迎える　おかえりなさい

いつの日か　この空を越え

あなたのそばにいきたいから

やがてくる　光の明日

信じて生きてゆくの

いつの日か　この空を越え

あなたのそばにいきたいから

やがてくる　光の明日

信じて　生きてゆくの

… [repeat till the end]