Ukifune (浮舟) is a song from 2002 by the Japanese band GO!GO!7188 and one of my all-time favourites. It is a song about broken love, with very poetic lyrics inspired by story from very long ago.
春の匂いも芽吹く花も 立ちすくむあたしに君を連れてはこない
haru no nioi mo mefuku hana mo
tachisukumu atashi ni kimi wo tsurete wa konai
“When spring comes, I’ll still be frozen and the scents and budding flowers won’t bring you back to me.”
夏が来る頃は明け方の雨 静かに寄り添って かけら拾い集める
natsu ga kuru koro wa akegata no ame
shizuka ni yorisotte kakera hiroiatsumeru
“When summer comes, the rain at dawn.
Snuggling quietly, I gather up the fragments”
秋が過ぎたらきっとあたしは のびた黒い髪を切り落としてしまう
aki ga sugitara kitto atashi wa
nobita kuroi kami wo kiriotoshite shimau
“When autumn is gone I’m sure I will
finally cut off my long black hair.”
愛しい人よ離れ顔なんて 3日もすりゃすぐに忘れてしまった ただ染みついて消えないのは煙草の匂い
itoshii hito yo hanare kao nante mikka mo surya sugu ni wasurete shimatta
tada somitsuite kienai no wa tabako no nioi
“Darling, you’ve been gone only three days and already I have totally forgotten your face.
All that remains is the ever-lingering smell of your cigarettes.”
君を待つ日々は足りない 切ない 鳴り止まない 不協和音が響き合って
kimi wo matsu hibi wa tarinai setsunai nariyamanai
fukyouwaon ga hibikiatte
“Waiting for you day after day —
it’s futile — heartrending — incessantly ringing —
a crashing dissonance.”
それがあたしの枯れない 溶けない 鳴り止まない 孤独の唄 来来来…
sore ga atashi no karenai tokenai nariyamanai
kodoku no uta rai rai rai
“That is my unwithering, unthawing, incessantly ringing
song of solitude.
Come, come, come!”
かすかな別れを漂わすこともなく 足音は突然 絶切れた あぁ悲しくも美しき白い冬
kasuka no wakare wo tadayowasu koto mo naku
ashioto wa totsuzen tachikireta
aa kanashiku utsukushiki shiroi fuyu
“Without even a faint hint of parting —
The sound of footsteps suddenly cut off.
Ah, the sad and beautiful white winter.”
会えるものならば他に何も望まない 降り積もるは あの日も雪
aeru mono naraba hoka ni nanimo nozomanai
furitsumoru wa ano hi mo yuki
“If I could only meet you I would not wish for anything else.
The snow was falling thickly that day.”
君を待つ日々は足りない 切ない 鳴り止まない 不協和音が響き合って それがあたしの枯れない 溶けない 鳴り止まない 孤独の唄 来来来…
kimi wo matsu hibi wa tarinai setsunai nariyamanai
fukyouwaon ga hibikiatte
sore ga atashi no karenai tokenai nariyamanai
kodoku no uta rai rai rai
“Waiting for you day after day —
it’s futile — heartrending — incessantly ringing —
a crashing dissonance.
That is my unwithering, unthawing, incessantly ringing
song of solitude.
Come, come, come!”
The title of the song, “Ukifune”, is the name of a character in the “Tale of Genji” (Genji monogatari,源氏物語), a masterpiece of Japanese literature from the early 11th century (Heian period), written by the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu.
The word ukifune (浮舟) is the title of the chapter where the story starts. It can be translated as “A Drifting Boat”. As is common in the Tale of Genji, the name of the chapter is used as a nickname for the character. In this case, the title and the character’s name were based on a poem she wrote in which she calls herself “a drifting boat” to express her uncertainty and inner turmoil:
橘の小島の色は変はらじをこの浮舟ぞ行方知られぬ
tachibana no
kojima no iro ha
kawaraji wo
kono ukifune zo
yukue chirarenu
“The enduring hue of the Isle of Orange Trees may well never change, yet there is no knowing now where this drifting boat is bound”
The poem is written in winter, with all the land around Uji deeply covered in snow. With her suitor, they have gone out on the Uji river in small boat and moored at the Isle of Orange Trees.
Later in the story, when she finds herself caught between two powerful suitors, and it seems that whichever one she choses it will end badly, Ukifune tries to drown herself in the Uji river. She fails and becomes a nun. In the Heian period, when noble women became nuns, they would cut off their very long hair. And in the tale, it is indeed autumn by the time Ukifune becomes a nun.
The song has many other classical references, such as the use of 〜き adjectives (美しき) and the on reading (i.e. the reading derived from the original Chinese proncunciation of the character) rai of 来 (“come”) used as refrain: rai rai rai. The word for “song”, uta, is usually written as 歌 but here as 唄, this more specifically refers to songs accompanied my shamisen, the traditional three-stringed lute. The song’s mode and melody reflects those traditional songs. It is often said that GO!GO!7188’s music is influenced by the enka musical genre, but for this song it is probably more correct to say that it is influenced by the traditional music that gave rise to enka. And although lost love and loneliness are typical enka themes, they are universal themes that are also very common themes in the Tale of Genji.
The song starts with a huge reverberating chord, reminiscent of the sound of a biwa (琵琶), a traditional type of lute that in the Heian period was played at the Imperial court.
Then follow three verses that repeat the same melody (A) in crescendo. The first word of each verse is a season: spring 春, summer 夏 and autumn 秋. Then a two new melodies (B/C) are introduced, and a new lyrical theme: the verses address the departed lover. This is followed by the refrain, the single character 来 rai (“come”) repeated over and over again.
Then follows and instrumental version of A, followed by a dissonant part reflecting the dissonance in the lyrics. After this interlude comes a verse in melody B that is the heart of the song, the moment when the lover left. Its final word is “winter” 冬. The following verse in melody C ends in “snow” 雪 and blends into a repetition of the first verse in melody C and the refrain D: the single syllable ki is both use as the last syllable of the verse, the ki of yuki (“snow”) and the first syllable of the next verse, kimi (“you”).
The references to the seasons in the song reflect the important role the seasons play in traditional Japanese culture. The Tale of Genji is full of allusions to the seasons, season-specific rituals and poetry. Traditional Japanese poetry (waka) is also often inspired by the seasons, I discussed some of them in my article “The Beautiful Japan of the Mind”.
The banner picture of this article is the statue of Ukifune in Uji, near Kyoto, where the story is set. It is a picture I took during a visit in the summer of 2017.
Here is a live version of the song, recorded at Nihon Budokan in 2005.