[Cover] Princess Mononoke Theme

This is the latest addition to songs from Studio Ghibli movies that I have been covering. Recorded in the summer (no I don't have time to do that now lol.), but as usual, took awhile before I'm comfortable to upload it. Haven't used a reverb in a while, but for this song I think its only fitting! Its my first time uploaded something I sang in English (well for the 2nd half at least!) and I actually think its better than the Japanese part (Yes? No?). Didn't used to like singing cover songs cause I think the Singaporean accent kills it, though by now I'm a little better at hiding it so here it is!

「もののけ姫」テーマ (JP & ENG)　

Princess Mononoke Main Theme, in Japanese and English
Music composer: Joe Hisashi
－Vocal coverー

Lyrics:
張り詰めた弓の震える弦よ 

月の光にざわめくおまえの心 

研ぎ澄まされた刃の美しい 

その切っ先によく似たそなたの横顔 

悲しみと怒りに潜む誠の心を知るは森の精 

もののけたちだけ 

もののけたちだけ

In the moonlight I felt your heart 
Quiver like a bowstring's pulse 
In the moon's pure light, you looked at me 
Nobody knows your heart 

When the sun is gone I see you 
Beautiful and haunting, but cold 
Like the blade of a knife, so sharp and so sweet 
Nobody knows your heart 

All of your sorrow, grief and pain 
Locked away in the forest of the night 
Your secret heart belongs to the world 
Of the things that sigh in the dark 
Oh the things that cry in the dark

~*~

My other favourite song from this movie is "Legend of Ashitaka", an instrumental piece, which I have linked below. Enjoy! Heartwrenching would be an accurate descriptor.

The music from this movie is so good I actually heard it before watching the film lol. Click play for some epic, dramatic music! This is a collection of pieces, I like the first and later portion! The middle piece is more war/battle-like.

[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！

[Cover] SAKURA (Ikimono gakari)

「SAKURA」

Original by Ikimono gakari いきものがかり

I'm back in Singapore for 2 weeks for easter break and decided to record a song before impending dental work (:S). Since its cherry blossom season (or well towards the end of it!) and also graduation time in Japan, I decided to pick this song by Ikimono gakari, which is a very cool band with a youthful vibe, and they have many other good songs that I like too. ^^ Kiyoe sings typically with a very fresh, strong, almost brash, belting voice and well I didn't want to do the same so this is a more toned down version which I hope you'll like!

Since I'm learning Japanese too, here are some words I learnt from singing this song XD. To learn them, just follow the song as the words are taken in the order they appear.

ひらひら hirahira = Fluttering

落ちて ochite = ochiru = to fall

揺れる yureru = to shake/sway
散る chiru = to fall/scatter/disappear/spread

抱きしめた dakishimeta =dakishimeru = to hug close/hold tight

おもかげ omokage = vestige
通った = pass

出た deta = deru = to come out

色づく irozuku = to change color (esp. plants)

川辺 kawabe = riverside

それぞれ sorezore = each

選び erabi = select

終えた oeta => 終える to finish to graduate

咲き(bloom)誇る(to boast of) sakihokoru = to be in full bloom

焦らせて arasete = araseru = to be in a hurry/impatient

映る utsuru = to be reflected/to harmonize with/to come out(photo)/to be projected

受け入れて ukeirete= ukeireru= to accept

ひらく hiraku = to open/spread out/hold or give a party, conference etc.

超えて koete =koeru = to pass through, to exceed, to cross over

こうやって kouyatte = thus, in this way

かな kana = I wonder, should I?

伸ばすnobasu = to grow long (beard, hair, etc.); to lengthen; to extend; to stretch; to reach out; to hold out; to straighten; to smooth out; to spread evenly (dough, cream, etc.); to dilute; to thin out; to postpone; to prolong; to strengthen; to develop; to expand
抱き(daki=dakuto embrace)寄せた (yoseta=yosete= to come near; to let someone approach)

つつまれて tsutsumarete =tsutsumu = to wrap up

残る nokoru = to remain
夢見し yumemishi = yumemiru = to dream

誓いし chikaishi => chikau = to swear/vow.

phew.

now to start studying. =_=

[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

[Cover] Ray of light - FMA 歌ってみた & Utaite culture!

After being a fan of the Fullmetal Alchemist 鋼の錬金術師 series for a while (watched both the original and the brotherhood series), I finally got down to finishing one of the songs which I liked from the anime. Recorded last summer, this is a cover of the ending song "Ray of light" from fullmetal alchemist brotherhood originally sang by Shoko Nakagawa 中川翔子. I chanced upon a video of her talking about the meaning behind the lyrics she wrote which if you're interested. She wrote the lyrics to the song from the point of view of edward to his father who left ed and his brother when they were young just like her own father so she tried to identify her own feelings with edward's. The song means is mostly about conveying the process of growing up, much like a strong ray of light.

I found it a little difficult to record this, I think mainly because the pitch goes lower than I'm comfortable with so I tend to sound flat, but after many tries, this is what I came up with! I hope you like it!

Also found out some terminology today. People who (like me lol.) regularly covers j-pop and anime songs are called 歌い手（うたいて）and the songs that they cover are usually labelled "Song title を歌ってみた" which essentially means "I tried to sing ____". Apparently its a Nico nico douga practice? 面白い。

The discovery of this 歌い手wikipage also uncovered an entire universe of youtube/nico nico douga (NND) cover singers, some of which are more famous and have tracks in compilation albums such as quoted from the wikipage:

• 10 Dai Utattemita Live! BEST (10代うたってみたライブ!BEST) features talented utaite in their teens (10代).
• Ikemen Voice Paradise (イケメンボイスパラダイス) features utaite who are considered ikemen, that is, male utaite whose voices give the impression of being good-looking.
• Kamikyoku wo Utattemita (神曲を歌ってみた) features kamikyoku, or "godly songs", sung by notable utaite.

Amazing isn't it? At the risk of sounding like some fangirls I know of this subculture, some of the male singers of this genre do have very attractive voices, and some of the girls are very professional too! XD Granted alot of it revolves around vocaloid songs that are original productions. Anyway I digress.

Van

Cover of SEASONS （浜崎歩）+ 一週間で、試験時間！

Hello! Its the end of a cold week. :)
Before and after my OSCEs on thursday, the rate of studying fell dramatically (was too stressed from anticipating the OSCEs oral component - had to role-play pharmacy with fake patients), but is slowwwly picking up again. In a few days I will probably enter the panicking/I'm-screwed phrase so this is my last post before all this is over. 

*
Did this recording before the exams, but....hesitated to post the video (perhaps for good reason). Used a photo unlike my previous videos at the urging of someone, though this may be a case of ill-advice...

Anyway, its titled SEASONS by ayumi hamasaki （あゆみ浜崎）, which was meant to be for the holiday season (Christmas, new years etc). Its a little late, but hey! Winter is a wonderful season, cold and exams aside. :)
Cheers!

And wish me luck!

[Cover] Pure again (Breath of fire 3)

A cover of the ending song "Pure again" from the fantasy RPG game "Breath of fire III". 

Recorded in the summer of 2012.

Van