The Music of Hayakawa Yoshio (1): “Love Generation”
(In anticipation of the October 18, 2013 concert by Hayakawa Yoshio and Sakuma Masahide at the University of Chicago, over the next few weeks I will be posting a series of entries here introducing Hayakawa’s music. More information about the concert, which is free and open to the public, is available here.)
“Love Generation??? (????????????????) with lyrics and music by Hayakawa, was a stand-out track on Vacant World [Jakkusu no sekai, 1968], the celebrated debut album by The Jacks, Hayakawa’s 1960s folk-rock group. With Hayakawa’s searing vocals, Mizuhashi Haruo’s psychedelic guitar, Tanino Hitoshi’s fluid bass, and Kida Takasuke’s jazz-influenced drumming, the original recording is an excellent example of the dark, moody style of The Jacks that captivated audiences on the underground music scene of late 1960s Japan.
Okabayashi Nobuyasu, the “God of Japanese Folk Music,??? recorded a cover version of “Love Generation??? on his classic 1970 album, Leap Before You Look (Miru mae ni tobe). Hayakawa himself has also revisited this composition repeatedly during his solo career. In addition, the song provided the title for Hayakawa’s first book, a lively collection of essays first published in 1972 and still in print today.
The original Jacks’ recording of “Love Generation???:
Hayakawa’s cover of the song from his 1995 solo album Sunflower [Himawari no hana]:
“Love Generation???
(Lyrics and music by Hayakawa Yoshio)
English translation by Michael Bourdaghs
When we want to start something
We don’t want to fake being alive
So sometimes we fake being dead
That’s right: we fake being dead.
If you want to, you can fly through the sky
The swelling of joy when you feel that way
We cry as we exchange cups of a saké you can’t drink
That’s right: we exchange cups of a sake you can’t drink
It’s those things everyone says are true because they want to believe
It’s all those lofty things: those are the things you should question
Adults are supposed to be better than this
You’ll find the real adults among the children
It’s because I want to be alone
That I talk with so many people, like a fool
But deep in our words, the love—
But deep in our words, the love—
Overflows
***********
Bokura wa nani ka o shihajimey?? to
Ikiteru furi o shitakunai tame ni
Toki ni wa shinda furi o shite miseru
Toki ni wa shinda furi o shite miseru no da.
Shiy?? to omoeba sora datte toberu
S?? omoeru toki ureshisa no amari
Nakinagara nomenai sake o kawasu
Nakinagara nomenai sake o kawasu no da.
Shinjitai tame ni tadashii to omowarete iru mono koso
Subete arayuru ??kina mono o utagau no da
Otonnatte iu no wa motto suteki nan da
Kodomo no naka ni otona wa ikiten da
Jitsu wa hitori ni naritai yue ni
Baka mitai ni takusan no hito to hanasu no da
Bokura no kotoba no oku ni wa ai ga
Bokura no kotoba no oku ni wa ai ga
Ippai aru.