涙そうそう Tearful

Today would have been my mother's 62nd birthday and despite the type of emotion that brings up (she passed away last March) I did ok.  This is largely due to the fact that Japanese kids are so freakin cute ( I had elementary today) and that my dog is a pain in the butt (and super cute).  Hard to be sad when you are busy controlling cuteness.

Anyway, tonight I went to choir for the first time since my wild night and I was nervous that things would be weird since the last time I saw a lot of them they were extremely drunk.  I was also nervous because I have missed 3 practices and we are in the middle of getting ready for a BIG concert.  But as usual people were happy to see me.

Our big concert is the 10th anniversary of our choir and so we are doing a "greatest hits show" singing past favorites.  This is fun and yet really hard for me since I am a newbie and don't remember all of the favorites like the others (not to mention I am not Japanese so I get lost in some of the lyrics and directions).  But I am a quick learner and I love to sing.  I had to laugh when I saw that we are singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" in Japanese and I was relieved to see we are singing Johnn Rutter's Magnificant.  It's a difficult song, but I have enough training in singing Latin and John Rutter for it to be pretty easy.

However, the real gem tonight was learning the song 涙そうそう　/ nada sou sou or Tearful.  I recognized the melody but didn't know the song.  However, I instantly fell in love with the melody and, due to this being a sad day, connected with the lyrics as well.  It's actually kind of weird that we sang this song today all things considered...

I have found a million different versions of the translation on the internet, all being fairly similar and yet a little different, but this is the one that fits the best for me.  Normally I don't go in for such sap, but it just captures me mood tonight...

I flip through an old photo album
And whisper, “Thank you”
To the person in my heart
Who is always there to comfort me
On clear days, on rainy days
That smile enters my thoughts
Even though my memories fade into the distance
I’ll look for the traces you left behind
And remember you on a tearful day
I pray to the first star in the night
It’s become a habit of mine
Looking up at the evening sky
And searching for you with all my heart
In sadness, in happiness
That smile enters my thoughts
If you can see me from where you are
Then I’ll live my life
Believing that we’ll meet again someday
On clear days, on rainy days
That smile enters my thoughts
Even though my memories fade into the distance
It’s lonely without you
My emotions for you are tearful
I want to see you, I want to see you
My emotions for you are tearful


Here are two versions of the song, the first by men and the second by a woman...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2hKVBDWw2Y


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76cBt4-1c8A&feature=related