- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
そして僕は一人になった そして僕は途方にくれる
そして今は少し平和さ 君の銀の指輪を握りしめて
朝焼けの空の下 汽車に乗る
初めて君と出会ったのは 寒い冬の繁華街
少し軽そうに見えたから
妙に真面目な口調で声かけた
君はそれを見抜いてた
笑いながら………
時間が許す限り君に逢いに行こう
だけど時代はそれを許してはくれない
外は火の海僕のこの恋も
同じように燃えていた
赤茶けたレンガの壁焼けこげて歩きづらい道
君の肩と不安を抱いて
汚れた灰色のコートを着て
息をひそめ急ぐのさ Ah………
いつもの隠れ家でくちづけを続けよう
戒厳令がラジオで流れてる Ah………
君は声を殺し感じてた
嫌な予感も感じてた
外は火の海僕のこの恋も
同じように燃えていた
争いの街で君と恋に堕ちた
ただひたすら手を握りしめた
それは瞼の中それは胸の奥に
今も閉じ込めたまま
そのままさ……………
今は静かな街に眠った
君の指輪を握りしめ
外は青い海 僕のこの恋も
希望に満ちていた
僕は今汽車に乗り etc.
僕はただ汽車に乗り etc.
etc. etc. etc……………
etc. etc. etc……………
Romanized Lyrics
soshite boku wa hitori ni natta soshite boku wa tohou ni kureru
soshite ima wa sukoshi heiwa sa kimi no gin no yubiwa wo nigirishimete
asayake no sora no shita kisha ni noru
hajimete kimi to deatta no wa samui fuyu no hankagai
sukoshi karusou ni mieta kara
myou ni majime na kuchou de koe kaketa
kimi wa sore wo minuiteta
warai nagara……
jikan ga yurusu kagiri kimi ni ai ni yukou
dakedo jidai wa sore wo yurushite wa kurenai
soto wa hi no umi boku no kono koi mo
onaji you ni moeteita
akachaketa renga no kabe yakekoge de aruki zurai michi
kimi no kata to fuan wo daite
yogoreta haiiro no coat wo kite
iki wo hisome isogu no sa Ah……
itsumo no kakurega de kuchizuke wo tsuzukeyou
kaigenrei ga radio de nagareteru Ah……
kimi wa koe wo koroshi kanjiteta
iya na yokan mo kanjiteta
soto wa hi no umi boku no kono koi mo
onaji you ni moeteita
arasoi no machi de kimi to koi ni ochita
tada hita sura te wo nigirishime
sore wa mabuta no naka sore wa mune no oku ni
ima mo tojikometa mama
sono mama sa……
ima wa shizuka na machi ni nemutta
kimi no yubiwa wo nigirishimeta
soto wa aoi umi boku no kono koi mo
kibou ni michite ita
boku wa ima kisha ni nori etc.
boku wa tada kishi ni nori etc.
etc. etc. etc…….
etc. etc. etc…….
Translated Lyrics
And now I’m alone, and now I’m at a loss
And now I feel a bit of peace, clutching your silver ring
I’m boarding a train beneath the morning glow
I first met you in a shopping center during a cold winter
You seemed like you might be approachable
So I said something to you with a weirdly serious expression
And you saw right through me
As you smiled……
I’ll come see you as much as time will allow me
But the problem is that it won’t
It was a sea of fire outside, and my love
Was burning in the same way
It’s hard to walk on the scorched reddish-brown brick road
Holding onto your shoulder and my own anxiety
Wearing a dirty grey coat
I hurry on breathlessly, ah……
Let’s keep kissing each other in our usual hiding spot
Martial law is being broadcast on the radio, ah……
You were quietly feeling it
A very unpleasant feeling
It was a sea of fire outside, and my love
Was burning in the same way
I fell in love with you in a city in strife
Just holding your hand
And beneath my eyelids, and in my heart
That’s all still locked away
Just the way it was……
Now I’m asleep in a quiet city
Still clutching your ring
There’s a blue ocean outside, and my love
Was full of hope
Now I’m boarding a train, etc.
Now I’m just boarding a train, etc.
Etc. etc. etc……
Etc. etc. etc……
Notes
Arasoi no Machi is easily the most forgettable song on Smile. Lyrically and musically it’s just sort of…fine. There’s nothing particularly bad about it, it’s just too long, too straightforward, and too boring. It almost feels like it was thrown on the album because they wanted another ballad there.
I thought that this felt like an attempt to create versions of this type of song done on past albums, like Donna (Experience Movie), Yonsen Tsubu no Koi no Uta (Experience Movie) or Serruria no oka (Jaguar Hard Pain). The problem is that all three of those songs has more character than this one at least by a little bit. They were either arranged in a more interesting way, or Yoshii put much more emotion into his vocal performance. This theory was sort of confirmed in an interview with Yoshii for the Triad Complete Box, where he said it “inherited” the concepts of Jaguar Hard Pain in being about lovers separated from one another by war. He didn’t explicitly say that it was a song held over from that period though.
The idea for the lyrics seem based around two key phrases: Train (“kisha”, more specifically an older style steam engine) and etc. And so those parts of the song are the most interestingly melodically speaking, but not by a whole lot. There just isn’t much to say about this song, since it’s far too straightforward to have much to chew on. Yemon had already proven on this same album that they can have a more pop sound and still be interesting, so I’m glad that they didn’t really push further in this direction.
I’m also fairly confident the band agreed with my assessment of this song, since as far as I know it’s never been performed live.