[Cover] 「JEWEL」 浜崎あゆみ

「JEWEL」

Originally by Ayumi Hamasaki 浜崎あゆみ

Covered by Yuria ゆりあ

My cover of "JEWEL" originally by Ayumi Hamasaki. I first fell in love with this song when I watched her live on the Happy Xmas Show, singing it under a lit, tall Christmas tree to onlookers in the night. I've recorded it once before, but this is a newer and hopefully better one. Recorded one-shot. I hope you like this song as much as I do!

Its a wintery ballad about wanting to protect a treasured someone who has touched and helped him/her in the past, and whom gave a more positive and brighter outlook to the singer.

Lyrics from Jpopasia

灰色の四角い空の下を今日も

あらゆる欲望が埋め尽くす

その中で光を見失わず前を

向いて歩けるのはいつも君が

Haiiro no shikakui Sora no shita wo kyou mo

Arayuru yokubou ga Ume tsukusu

Sono naka de hikari wo Mi ushinawazu mae wo

Muite arukeru no wa Itsumo Kimi ga

この街の片隅にも汚(けが)れのない

ものが残っている事

教えてくれるから

Kono machi no katasumi ni mo Kegare no nai
Mono ga nokotte iru koto 

Oshiete kureru kara

疲れ果てた体で眠りについた君を
僕は息をひそめて見ていた
世界中でただひとり僕だけが知っている
無防備で愛しい横顔
Tsukare hateta karada de Nemuri ni tsuita kimi wo
Boku wa iki wo hisomete Mite ita
Sekaijuu de Tada hitori Boku dake ga shitte iru
Muboubi de Itoshii Yokogao

当たり前のように陽射しが降り注ぎ
優しい風揺れたある日の事

僕の中で何かがそっと強く
確かに変わって行くのを
ひとり感じていた

Atarimae no you ni Hizashi ga furi sosogi
Yasashii kaze Yureta Aru hi no koto

Boku no naka de Nani ka ga Sotto tsuyoku
Tashika ni kawatte yuku no wo 

Hitori Kanjite ita

悲しくなんかないのに涙がこぼれたのは
君の想いが痛いくらいに
僕の胸の奥のキズ跡に染み込んで
優しさに変えてくれたから

Kanashiku nanka nai no ni Namida ga koboreta no wa
Kimi no omoi ga itai kurai ni
Boku no mune no oku no Kizuato ni shimi konde
Yasashisa ni Kaete kureta kara

もしも君が深い悲しみに出会ったら

僕にもわけてくれるといいな

その笑顔のためなら何だって出来るだろう

僕の大切な宝物

僕の大切な宝物

Moshi mo Kimi ga fukai Kanashimi ni deattara
Boku ni mo Wakete kureru to ii na
Sono egao no tame nara Nan datte dekiru darou
Boku no taisetsu na takaramono

Boku no taisetsu na takaramono

[Cover] 「M」浜崎あゆみ

「M」
Originally by 浜崎あゆみ Ayumi Hamasaki

Cover/Vocals by Yuria

Lyrics/english translation by Kiwi Musume:

Maria ai subeki hito ga ite 
Kizu wo otta subete no monotachi...
Virgin Mary, there is someone I must love 
Everyone who's ever been hurt

Mawari wo miwataseba daremo ga awatadashiku 
Dokoka ashibaya ni toorisugi
As I look around, everyone hurries past
On their way somewhere

Kotoshi mo ki ga tsukeba konna ni sugu soba made 
Fuyu no kehai ga otozureteta
Now that I look, I can see that the signs of winter 
Have arrived for the year, right next to me

Kyou mo kitto kono machi no dokoka de 
Deatte me ga atta futari 
Hageshiku maku wo aketeku
Today, once again, in this town
Two people will surely meet 
And tear open the curtain

Sore demo subete ni wa kanarazu itsu no hi ni ka 
Owari ga yatte kuru mono dakara
But still, everything
Is guaranteed to come to an end someday

Kyou mo mata kono machi no dokoka de 
Wakare no michi erabu futari 
Shizuka ni maku wo oroshita
Today, once again in this town
Two people have gone their separate ways
And quietly lowered the curtain

Maria ai subeki hito ga ite 
Toki ni tsuyoi kodoku wo kanji 
Dakedo ai subeki ano hito ni 
Kekkyoku nanimo ka mo mitasareru
Virgin Mary, there is someone I must love
Sometimes I feel a terrible loneliness
But all my voids are filled
By the person I must love

Maria ai subeki hito ga ite 
Toki ni fukaku fukai kizu wo oi 
Dakedo ai subeki ano hito ni 
Kekkyoku nanimo ka mo iyasareteru
Virgin Mary, there is someone I must love
Sometimes I get hurt very, very deeply
But all my wounds are healed
By the person I must love

Maria, daremo mina naite iru 
Maria, dakedo shinjite itai 
Maria, dakara inotte iru yo 
Kore ga saigo no koi de aru you ni
Virgin Mary, everyone cries
Virgin Mary, but I want to believe
Virgin Mary, so I'm praying
That this will be my final love

Wake naku hajimari wa otozure 
Owari wa itsu datte wake wo mottsu...
Beginnings come along without reason
But endings always have a reason

あゆ15周年おめでとう！

Happy 15th anniversary Ayu~!

In anticipation of 08.04.2013...

How I got into "Ayu"・あゆ.

Ayumi Hamasaki・浜崎あゆみ. Debuted 8th April 1998.

Thinking back towards the end of primary school/start of secondary school, that was the time when idols are all the rage and friends around me have long started listening to music of their choice frequently and naming their favourite singers along with the usual primary school (fav colour, foods, movies etc). Back then I was still slow to catch on this phase and didn't really listen to anyone in particular save for the oldies my parents play as I don't have the habit of listening to the radio and didn't really start using the internet alot till secondary school. 

Younger self

So I guess the first time a singer intrigued me was when I heard her short commercial on TV playing quite frequently promoting her new album, which was "I am". And it always ends with a very resounding "AVEX TRAX" lol. And that was Ayumi Hamasaki back when she was at her height of her popularity?So I remembered the short snippet of her songs but didn't know where to find it then (was not that tech savvy despite playing computer games since I was 4). But I chanced upon it on my cousin's playlist one day when she had the track "I am".

Then well I learnt to use the internet a while later, got into neopets which fascinated me alot then, played MMOs, created anime graphics website (which was all the rage then headers, banners, web skins and what nots). Then I started getting into her songs and she soon became the no.1 artist in my playlist with the greatest number of songs. The first song that I liked from her would be "M", for its strong chorus and guitar solo and climax at the end, and it is also the first song she composed under the name "CREA". My playlist is, incidently about 90% japanese. ^^; And she was really, I guess my first idol and still would be the one I would name when asked.

From the time around "M"'s release.

Thats because she's so versatile, always keeping a fresh image and continually changing. On top of that, she always really fashionable.  Even her array of hairstyles over the years is inspiring (though she seems to favour the same light golden brown shade). From the documentaries of her I've seen, she appears to be a very independent woman who works hard to ensure what she puts out there is what she wants and less of the company's decision. She's also quite resilient even coming back again after deafness in one ear threatened her singing for a while as she would struggle to get the right pitch. I'm happy to say in recent performances she's been better vs a slight rut earlier. Also, I really like the lyrics to her songs, all of which she writes herself, and is more about life in general than just purely love which most songs (non-japanese I find) tend to be about. Not to mention, her live performances and concerts are always SUCH a pleasure to watch. always.The setting, the theme, the concept, the costume, the raw singing shows alot of effort and thought put into the performance. It makes the songs come to live and sometimes you see it in a new light through the way she presents it or understand it more.

Big scale concerts interspersed with simpler deliveries keeps things interesting.

So, when people are puzzled over why I'm obsessed over this singer so much more than others, I guess my answer is I think she is very inspirational in all those ways I've mentioned and a really creative person. And I guess she is more personable than some pop stars out there too.

I think most of her fans came in around the same time as I did and still tend to hawk back to her songs of that era, and take less to her newer songs (but don't we all do? I mean that's how oldies come about. I think most people stop taking in new songs past a certain age lol.) I'm similar, but I still find a few songs out of every new release that I liked and know will grow on me with time. 

One of my fav pictures

I think 15 years of continual concerts, albums, appearances etc is a feat that majority of artists are not able to do. (She is so, so unbelievably active come to think of it). And the whole journey is marked by different "eras" and phases that she goes through where each has distinct styles. So many of my other favorite bands/singers have either disbanded (e.g. school food punishment) or gone on long hiatus (e.g. Utada hikaru). Of course they have have their personal reasons etc, and as we all know, life happens. So all the more I really appreciate ayu for always being there so far, and hopefully for as long as possible!

So to my first and favourite singer ever, Happy anniversary! 

From her latest release LOVE again.

P.s. I'm seriously contemplating going to her 15th anniversary concert in Tokyo in July post-grad. Anyone up for it too? 

Collection of lives from her official channel:

Also, Nico nico douga ニコニコ動画 is having a live feed that starts on 7th April and ends on 8th April to commemorate this so watch it here! 

[Cover] Rainy day ～浜崎あゆみ

A slow piano cover of ’Rainy day' originally by Ayumi Hamasaki.
浜崎あゆみさんの「Rainy day」を歌ってみた。
Piano backing track and arrangement by Abottchen.

Lyrics from here.

For a rainy day.

Romanji:

Wasuretakunai koto nara

Oboeyou to shinaku temo

Wasureru koto nante nai

Sou shizuka ni kanjiru

Are wa aru samui hi de

Tsuyoi ame no naka

Boku wa tada kimi dake o

Machi tsuzukete ita

Hitori kiri kasa mo naku 

Tachi tsukusu boku wa 

Dare yori mo odayaka ni 

Hohoende ita 

 Kogoeru te o kazashite 

Arawareta kimi o mite 

Nakidashi sou ni natta no wa 

Kanashimi no sei ja nai 

 Bokutachi o isshun no 

Hikari ga terashita 

Korekara no yuku michi o 

Iwau kano you ni