#uta no mukou de tsunagatteru

[kokiafans]

KOKIA Facebook message [2021.03.20]

Source: KOKIAofficial on Facebook

Translator’s note: Usually I don’t translate KOKIA’s messages on Facebook as they are either bilingual/English or covered by her blog entries, but neither is the case yet for her recent entry at the moment of this writing. 

Hello, this is KOKIA.

In London, spring revolves entirely around the cherry blossoms and daffodils blooming. 

I’m in the middle of preparations to return to Japan, so that I can participate in a luxurious spring relay and enjoy the cherry blossoms in Japan as well.

I’ve wrapped up my new album Kono sekai no katasumi de (’in this corner of the world’) without problems, which is already available for pre-order on the web shop, and we’re only waiting for the supplies from the factory now... so I think it won’t be long now until they’re shipped to you.

And, I have some happy news.

Actually, in my announcements so far I’ve mentioned that I’ve recorded 6 songs for the album, but I’ve decided to include the song Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru (’we are connected over the song’) as a bonus track, which is a song born from this past year’s ‘1 to 1 Live for you’ livestreams and connected my and my fans’ feelings. 

This song and its lyrics really stuck in this year. 

I feel like the many ‘thank yous’ from everyone spread to my heart, and I got to continue in my own way even in situations that felt difficult.

↓ You can purchase the new album here. 

http://ancocoro.shop-pro.jp/?pid=157389373

Sometimes, the products that have been for sale on the KOKIA Jirushi web shop undergo minor changes. Nothing has changed in the content of my special DVD ‘Bird Watching’ which went for sale for my 20th anniversary, but it went up for sale without the booklet included, so that I can sell it at a bit lower price. If I create another such extensive video again next time, it might be for my 25th? 30th anniversary? So I’d be happy if you’d be sure to check it out, as the contents on these 3 DVDs are the highlights from the road I’ve walked for those first 20 years.

↓ You can purchase Bird Watching here.

http://ancocoro.shop-pro.jp/?pid=128637717

Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru (’We are connected over the song’)

Kotoba ni naranai  sonna kimochi wa Meguri megutte arigatou ni tsunagaru Uta no mukou de tsunagaru kimochi Souzou shite hora  hitori ja nai to

Arigatou ga kodama shite Yasashisa ga afuredasu Nariyamanai arigatou ni Sasaerare susunde yuku

Kotoba ni suru dake  sore dake na no ni Anshin suru no wa nande nan darou? Uta no mukou de tsunagaru omoi Kokoro ni itsudatte uta o ukabete Kuyashisa ni naita hi mo Arigatou o sagashiteta Ima dakara tsutaetai Arigatou o anata ni...

Uta no mukou de tsunagaru kimochi Sora o miagete oboete ite ne Hitori ja nai to...

A feeling that I can’t put in words Keeps going around, it’s connected to gratitude I feel that we are connected over a song Imagine it, and see, you’re not alone

Thank you, it echoes Overflowing with kindness It echoes forever, a thank you I'm supported by it and I keep going forward

Putting it into words, that alone Is reassuring, what might it be? I feel that we are connected over a song And songs come floating up in my heart all the time

Even on days I cried in frustration I searched for a thank you Because that’s what I want to tell you right now Thanks, to you...

We feel connected over the song Look up to the sky, and remember, hey You’re not alone...

#KOKIA #translation #translation: lyrics #kono sekai no katasumi de #uta no mukou de tsunagatteru

[kokialyrics]

KOKIA -  歌の向こうでつながってる (’Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru’)

We are connected over the song

A feeling that I can’t put in words Keeps going around, it’s connected to gratitude

I feel that we are connected over a song Imagine it, and see, you’re not alone

Thanks, to you I want to tell you thanks Thanks, to you That’s all I want to say

Putting it into words, that alone Is reassuring, what might it be?

I feel that we are connected over a song And songs come floating up in my heart all the time

It echoes in my heart Thanks, to you That’s what I want to say, because of this moment Thanks, to you

Thanks, to you I want to tell you thanks Thanks, to you That’s all I want to say

It echoes in my heart Thanks, to you That’s what I want to say, because of this moment Thanks, to you

‘We are connected over a song I want you to remember that as you look up to the skies You’re not alone, so Let’s hang in there together, right’

Thanks, to you

* KOKIA performed this song in her 1 to 1 Live for you livestream on April 25, 2020 and included the title above as the official English translation. She uploaded an excerpt from this livestream on her official YouTube channel and included the lyrics in Japanese, which I translated here.

Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru

Kotoba ni naranai sonna kimochi wa Meguri megutte    arigatou ni tsunagaru

Uta no mukou de tsunagaru kimochi Souzou shite hora   hitori ja nai to

Arigatou o   anata ni Arigatou o tsutaetai Arigatou o   anata ni Tada sore dake o tsutaetai

Kotoba ni suru dake   sore dake na no ni Anshin suru no wa nande nande darou? 

Uta no mukou de tsunagaru kimochi Kokoro ni itsudatte uta o ukabete

Kono mune ni hibiiteru Arigatou o   anata ni Ima dakara tsutaetai Arigatou o   anata ni

Arigatou o    anata ni Arigatou o tsutaetai Arigatou o    anata ni Tada sore dake o tsutaetai

Kono mune ni hibiiteru Arigatou o   anata ni Ima dakara tsutaetai Arigatou o   anata ni

‘uta no mukou de tsunagatte iru Sora o miagete oboete ite hoshii Hitori ja nai kara Issho ni ganbarou ne’

Arigatou o   anata ni

#KOKIA #lyrics #1 to 1 live for you #uta no mukou de tsunagatteru

[kokiafans]

KOKIA updated her official YouTube channel with this clip featuring her performances of her new songs I LOVE YOU 2020 and uta no mukou de tsunagatteru/'We are connected over the song'. She wrote these songs especially for her 1 to 1 Live for you livestreams and performed both on April 25, 2020. Now you get to listen them through her official channel even if you've missed that livestream!

Don't forget about the next livestream, coming up this Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 20:00 JST! And if you can, try to support KOKIA by chipping in via LivePocket or by purchasing her special merchandise in the web shop!

#kokia #promotion: lives and events #promotion: youtube livestream #promotion: youtube #other: web shop #promotion: videos #i love you 2020 #uta no mukou de tsunagatteru #1 to 1 live for you

[kokiafans]

KOKIA YouTube livestream [2021.02.13]

Today was KOKIA’s first 1 to 1 live for you livestream of 2021, and her 12th in the series overall. 

Today’s performance was a longer one again, clocking in at close to an hour and a half. The video is still online at the moment of writing, but will likely be archived soon, so below follows the tracklist and a short report for future reference.

KOKIA sang several of her songs of her new mini album, which are marked with an asterisk * below.

Tracklist:

1. Family Tree 2. Otentou-sama wa waratteru (’the Sun is laughing’) * 3. Makenai you ni ('Don't lose') * 4. Kuma ~kuma ono hatsukoi kuma tta na~ ('Bear ~the bear’s first love, he’s stumped~') 5. Hoshi ni natta inu (’the dog that became a star’) * 6. Make Sense 7. Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru (’we are connected over the song’) 8. Yume o tsunaide (’connecting our dreams’) * 9. Infinity 10. Tsugi au toki wa ('next time we meet'), Titti version

Pianist: Souta Seta Guitarist: Daisuke Takagi

Seta and Takagi start the video with their instrumentals, taking a while until KOKIA herself suddenly jumps into frame. Boo! ‘Were you surprised?’

After the slight mishap last time with the video quality, KOKIA first asks the chat to confirm if video and audio quality are okay now before she starts her intro properly, welcoming us back after a while since her last livestream and starting with the song Family Tree.

After that, she has some exciting news: she has a new mini album coming out! Several of the songs today are from this album, so if you enjoy them, be sure to check out the album. It will be available on the official web shop, and is for now temporarily titled Kono sekai no katasumi de (’in this corner of the world’). Her next track is the first track from the album, the upbeat  Otentou-sama wa waratteru (’the Sun is laughing’).

KOKIA explains that this album comes pretty quickly after its predecessor, Hoshi no uta kaze no naka (’Song of stars, in the wind’), but she has thought about a lot of this in the past year and new sounds keep bubbling up. Her next song relates to this, as Makenai you ni translates to ‘don’t lose, don’t give up’. It refers to her as a musician, but also as a plea to everyone to keep going. Just like how in Family Tree, the KOKIA tree keeps growing and isn’t beaten down by the winds, no matter how strong.

The next song is an older one as it’s Kuma, the bear song, from her first Animal CD. It speaks of the bear’s first love, perhaps a small hint to tomorrow being Valentine’s day.

Jumping back on the topic of her new mini album, KOKIA mentions how the scheduled shipping date is around mid-March right now, with pre-orders available on the web shop linked above.

Content warning: the passages below mention animal death.

Though the bear isn’t a great example of real-life cuddly animals, KOKIA does continue telling about how much she loves animals and how she feels pets are a part of the family. This all relates to the next song from the mini album, Hoshi ni natta inu, ‘the dog who became a star’. She has sad news to share: her dog Titti has passed away at the age of 16. He was truly a member of the family, and KOKIA talks about him very lovingly in the minutes that follow, about how she took him everywhere, how he was there behind the scenes and how she occasionally dressed him up. 

Emotions run high for this segment, although she manages to dry her tears in order to properly deliver the song she wrote for Titti. She points out how she made Seta cry too for a bit there. Luckily, she can still laugh through it all. Titti did live a long life.

Once the tears are mostly dried, KOKIA delivers her next couple of songs, with the third one also being from the mini album: Yume o tsunaide (’connecting our dreams’). Though we don’t know what will happen next, we can all share the one big dream.

Thank you again as always for your support! She hopes to be able to see us again at a next livestream. Please stay healthy! Though there were tears today, let's keep shining ourselves as we share these moments and hang in there, day by day.

The final song is Tsugi au toki wa (’next time we meet’), the Titti version, dedicated to the little dog she took home with her from Okinawa to Tokyo. We got to remember him today in song.

See you soon!

#KOKIA #1 to 1 live for you #Livestream Recap #promotion: youtube livestream #gif

[kokiafans]

KOKIA YouTube livestream [2020.04.25]

KOKIA has successfully wrapped up today's livestream, replacing her Masquerade concert performance which had been scheduled for today. The video has appeared to gone private on this end, so in case you missed it, I have included the tracklist and a report below, with a couple of more screenshots.

The livestream was mostly bilingual, with KOKIA having a sheet up with the title for every song. That also means that a couple of songs now have an official English translation from KOKIA herself, so I have included those below and I might edit the discography pages to my discretion. 

She ended the show telling us she’ll see us again very soon, so stay tuned!

Tracklist:

1. Dear Armstrong 2. Family Tree 3. Watashi no naka no kemono, The beast inside me 4. Chouwa, Harmony sound, ~oto with reflection~ 5. Hontou no oto, The true sound 6. something blue & something red 7. Anshin no naka, From a secure place 8. I LOVE YOU 2020 9. Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru, we are connected over the song 10. INFINITY 11. Kasa o kashita agete, Please share your umbrella to someone who needs it 12. Kawaribanko ni, Take turns

Pianist: Souta Seta

KOKIA starts the stream talking about these strange times, and how she unfortunately had to cancel today's concert. However, it does mean she gets to meet us all here online.

After the first two tracks, she introduces Chouwa as one of her most popular songs in Europe. Tonight she performs it acoustic, only accompanied by piano this time. The first (Japanese) part of the lyrics make a reappearance at the end here. After a deep breath and several other songs, KOKIA introduces her new song I LOVE YOU 2020, which she first wrote last week specifically for these difficult times. She holds up the lyrics asking to use this song freely, without worrying about copyright, so we have something to sing together. 

The next song is also new, this time in Japanese: Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru (we are connected over the song). She's thanking us through this song, saying we're connected and not alone going through this. The next song, INFINITY, she performed a lot in both Europe and Japan, and she also feels connected through this song.

With kasa o kashite agete, she explains how this song means we should take turn taking care of each other: right now, she's lending us her umbrella, but she might need ours tomorrow. (She does go out of her way to mention it's a metaphorical umbrella, she doesn't need an actual umbrella right now!) There are people struggling in other ways right now too, and we shouldn't forget about them either.

Finally, her last song is also new. KOKIA has had some trouble sleeping lately, so she wrote a song that hopefully helps to sleep at night. This is Kawaribanko ni, Take turns.

After turning the last sheet, showing an empty stand, she shows off a huge bouquet she's received and thanks her audience for tonight. Stay safe, stay home! See you very soon! 

 (And just before the stream cuts off, we hear that the bouquet is very heavy, haha.)

#KOKIA #promotion: youtube livestream #1 to 1 live for you #livestream recap

[kokiafans]

KOKIA blog: June 24, 2020

Source: KOKIA.com/blog, June 24, 2020

With more than enough love songs

Yesterday, I did recordings for a collaboration.

It’s been a long time since I got to sing while live recording piano, guitar and a quartet (4 string instrument players)...

Ura’s arrangement is once again amazing, with a three-dimensionality coming out like magic through the layers of gentle sounds.

It was a blessed time.

And today, I was thinking about the menu for the Suntory Blue Rose concert, which I hurriedly decided to hold on July 18. As I was thinking about what I’d like to make you hear along with my current feelings and along with the musicians I’m together with, a new song called Hoshi no uta (’star song’) was born.

The sounds were born from my current feelings.

I don’t know if it’s a nice song, but without current circumstances, this song might not exist. 

It’s not limited to this time; songs always stir up in my heart like that, and new songs get born.

There’s the songs that were born that I performed at my ‘1 to 1 Live for you’ livestreams scheduled on Saturdays:

♪ Uta no mukou de tsunagatteru (We are connected over the song) ♪ I LOVE YOU 2020 ♪ Nen-nen korori (’Hushabye, sleep now’) *

And the song I sang for the first time at Yatsugatake:

♪ Kaze ga iu... (’the wind says...’)

These too are sounds that were born this spring because they welled up inside me.

And when I consider how I continued this time with Hoshi no uta, I noticed I keep writing ‘love songs’ myself, which are surely necessary for the year 2020, which has so many wounds that even having an abundance of love songs isn’t enough.

They’re songs I’ve sung with a strong mark of my current feelings, and befitting a concert called ‘Remember this summer’.

Since these aren’t ordinary circumstances, it might be fine if the songs aren’t ordinary either? With that in mind, I’ll write new songs for this concert again tomorrow. That’s what someone inside me is telling me.

Surely, maybe I want to look for a point where I can resonate with the guests that’ll be there.

There are still some days left until the concert, so I’ll be deciding on the menu with care and take my time.

↓ You can find more information about the July 18 concert here:

https://www.kokiafans.com/post/621637262420197376/suntory-hall-blue-rose-concert-information

↓ I’ll hold a livestream on Saturday evening this weekend on the 27th, starting at 20:00 JST. You can watch it here.

https://youtu.be/Uid0YxOBEfU

I’d like to deliver songs to everyone in all kinds of situations, whether it’s at a livestream or a concert, in this year of 2020 which needs an abundance of love songs.

* T/N: this is the first line of a traditional lullaby in Japan, the Edo Komoriuta (’Edo lullaby’). Since KOKIA has referred to the livestream-exclusive song Kawaribanko ni (’Take turns’) as a lullaby and the styles are similar, I think she might mean Kawaribanko ni here.

#promotion: remember this summer 2020 #1 to 1 live for you #KOKIA #translation #translation: blog