Like a Story, My Home is Far, Far Away by Tomioka Taeko x Sakamoto Ryuichi (物語のようにふるさとは遠い / 富岡多恵子 x 坂本龍一)

Just like in a story, my home　is far, far away
Nobody knows anybody
They fall in love with strangers
And just like a story, their love comes to an end

Just like in a story, my home is far, far away
The only ones who remember are the dead
They bear a grudge against the living
And have no desire to go back home

Just like in a story, my home is far, far away
When everyone dies, they go back there all alone
They go back carrying flowers in their arms

物語のようにふるさとは遠い
みんな知らないヒトばかり
知らないヒトと恋に落ち
物語のように恋は終る

物語のようにふるさとは遠い
想い出すのは死んだヒトばかり
生きてるヒトには怨みがのこる
帰りたくないふるさとへ

物語のようにふるさとは遠い
みんな死んだら一人で帰る
腕にいっぱい花を抱えて帰る

NOTES:

This is a song from 1976 with lyrics written by modern poet Tomioka Taeko (b. 1935) and music written by composer Sakamoto Ryuichi (b. 1952).

Still Life by Tomioka Taeko (静物 / 富岡多恵子)

Your story has ended
By the way, have you
Eaten anything today
Yesterday your mother said
I wish I were dead

You took your mother’s hand
Went outside and walked around
And looked at the sand-colored river
And the landscape around the river

In France they say the willow weeps
And sometimes so do Bonnard’s women

Yesterday you said
Mom, when did you give birth to me
Your mother said
I never gave birth to a living thing

きみの物語はおわった
ところできみはきょう
おやつになにを食べましたか
きみの母親はきのう云った
あたしゃもう死にたいよ

きみはきみの母親の手をとり
おもてへ出てどこともなく歩き
砂の色をした河を眺めたのである
河のある景色を眺めたのである

柳の木を泪の木と仏蘭西では云うのよ
といつかボナールの女は云った

きみはきのう云ったのだ
おっかさんはいつわたしを生んだのだ
きみの母親は云ったのだ
あたしゃ生きものは生まなかったよ

NOTES:

Tomioka Taeko (b. 1935) is a major Japanese poet, novelist and critic. She also wrote the screenplay to a famous film, Double Suicide (心中天網島, 1969). She was born in Osaka, and she graduated from Osaka Women’s University with a degree in English literature.

Pierre Bonnard (1867 – 1947) was a French artist.