This Love

I translated this song because I couldn't find a translation already on the web that worked for me. Like many lyrics, there are a couple lines in this song that could be worded or interpreted a few different ways. Lyrics are on top, translation on the bottom.


This Love
作詞：アンジェラ・アキ 作曲：アンジェラ・アキ
Lyrics and Composition: Angela Aki


「愛があれば平和だ」と誰かが口にしていた
頷く人もいれば、 疑う人もいる

苦しみがあるからこそ、 あなたを抱きしめる時
その腕の優しさを平和と感じるのでしょう

ある時から無口になり、心を閉め切り
この恋が引き裂かれそうになった

重ねたこの手を
今度は離さない
信じる力が
愛を自由にする

友情に救われたり、 未来を想像したり
幸せは見えるけれど、 自分を見る事はない

約束と言う私達のコンパスだけでは
この恋は方角を見失うの

奇跡を待つより
この手をつなぎたい
信じる力が
私を自由にする

この恋を恐れずに
You don't have to fear this love,
This love

重ねたこの手を
今度は離さない
信じる力が
愛を自由にする

奇跡を待つより
この手をつなぎたい
信じる力が
私を自由にする



"If there is love, there is peace,"
Someone once said.
And while there are people who agree with this,
There are also those who doubt.

It is probably because there is suffering
That when I hold you close,
In the gentleness of those arms
I feel peace.

Starting from a certain moment in time, I became reticent
And closed my heart
And it felt as though this love would be torn apart

Our hands, placed on top of each other (This hand you have placed over mine / This hand I have placed over yours)
This time, I won't let that go
The power of believing/trusting
Will set love free

Being rescued by friendship
Imagining the future
We can see happiness
But no longer look at only ourselves / but do not look at ourselves

With only the compass that we call "promise"
This love will lose sight of its direction

Rather than waiting for a miracle
I want to connect these hands
The power of believing/trusting
Will set me free

You don't have to be afraid of this love
You don't have to fear this love,
This love

Our hands, placed on top of each other
This time, I won't let that go
The power of believing/trusting
Will set love free

Rather than waiting for a miracle
I want to connect these hands
The power of believing/trusting
Will set me free

Sora ★ Kanno Youko

I have promised friends, family, and others that I would let them listen to songs that I sing. More importantly, when I went away for some time I wasn't able to sing to my chinchilla(s) in person, and it made me realize I really wanted to make some recorded versions available in case something happened to me and I was no longer able to let them listen to my voice. With that, the first commemorative song to be posted is the one that first piqued my interest in Japanese music and art.


While writing this post I played the song, and my chinchilla Toto (Tidbit) wasted no time settling onto my lap and listening. When Flumpy was still here I never played my own voice over the speakers, so he never listened to many of the recordings. I think I did try to sing to them quite a bit, but when a loved one goes away you always end up wishing you did more for them, no matter how much you thought you tried. Recently I've been playing songs on speaker more often for Tidbit (of course, in addition to any TV I watch so he can listen to the sounds; that part hasn't changed since the times of Flumpy).


Interestingly enough, this "Japanese" song does not have Japanese lyrics; rather, the lyrics are a mesh of words, apparently drawing inspiration from a variety of languages to come up with a mystical unknown language. Thinking about it now this is quite fitting, as in my eyes music itself is the language, and the only one I feel most comfortable with.

I found out about this song after looking into the animation series Vision of Escaflowne, of which I saw one episode many years ago. I have loved stories of time travel and different worlds, magic and fantastical possibilities etc. from the beginning of my days, and although the animation ability of the past generally doesn't compare to the growing technological options of current time, the creators were able to communicate the otherworldly feel of Escaflowne's story and the protagonist's wistful emotions. Needless to say, music was a part of this atmosphere thanks to Kanno Youko's sounds. I also learned about voice actress and singer Sakamoto Maaya through this debut series.

Even though the internet and media, and even music are a for granted part of our society today, I still sometimes marvel over the changes it has brought and the global borders it has helped to reduce.





soundcloud.com/madeyoufeel/sora-vision-of-escaflowne