Lyrics for Tsumiki / 積木

Tsumiki / 積木: “building blocks”

Being one of her more obscure indies songs, and one of the most unusual at that with only drums instead of piano, Tsumiki was a hard find.

I follow a bot on Twitter, @09876lyrics_bot, that tweets an excerpt from Oku Hanako’s songs every hour. I noticed a few of times that it posted lyrics for Tsumiki and it has apparently posted the whole song over five tweets:

２人が一緒にいるとなんだか嬉しかった 「２人で食べるとおいしいね」って言ってたね いつもと同じはずなのに 空気も景色も すべてが綺麗に見えた あなたの隣にいるからじゃなくて 心がわかったから / 積木

— 奥華子歌詞bot (@09875lyrics_bot) August 14, 2015

会うたびに変わってゆく あなたが恐くて 誰よりも愛しい 好きという気持ちだけじゃ頼りないけど 何よりも大事なこと / 積木

— 奥華子歌詞bot (@09875lyrics_bot) April 2, 2015

あの頃の私達を 天秤に架けてみよう きっと釣り合ってたね ２人はいつも同じ場所にいた よそ見もしないで あなただけを見る事がとても幸せだった あなたの手の中もがいてる その苦しさが今は欲しい / 積木

— 奥華子歌詞bot (@09875lyrics_bot) February 18, 2015

心があなたのとこに置きざりのまま 私から目を反らすあなたのことを見てる 信じたもの 許したもの 手に入れたもの 全てが消えてゆく / 積木

— 奥華子歌詞bot (@09875lyrics_bot) December 31, 2014

２人の間の見えない積み木を一つ一つ一緒に積んだ 絶対に崩れてしまわぬように ボンドでいっぱい固めた 私といることが辛いのなら 遠くからあなたを見守ってるよ こんなにも あなたを知ってしまったら もう他の誰も 愛せないから･･･ / 積木

— 奥華子歌詞bot (@09875lyrics_bot) April 8, 2015

These tweets are recent, but the bot has been posting lyrics for this song since 2012.

Line breaks were determined from this image:

Ai no Shizuku / 愛のしずく booklet showing Tsumiki / 積木 lyrics

And while I was formatting the lyrics, I noticed an error: @09875lyrics_bot had 許したもの instead of 許したこと (note もの and こと).

Such a novelty item this mini album is. I found the picture above from an auction site and that copy sold for ¥36800, which is over US$300. There’s another one that sold for ¥27000 (over US$200).

All that’s left for this song is a translation. If you have one, please submit it

Shiwakucha / しわくちゃ

Shiwakucha / しわくちゃ: “Wrinkled”

Happy Valentine’s Day! I had a bit of trouble deciding what song to post for the occasion, but I decided on this one after remembering Edward’s translation and I think it fits nicely.

“Shiwakucha” is track 10 on Oku Hanako’s 2015 album Kimi to Boku no Michi / 君と僕の道. It’s an upbeat song with beautiful lyrics about the singer wanting to be with her partner until they’re both wrinkled. I like how she mentions that they argue sometimes (occasional argument is actually a sign of a healthy relationship), and more importantly that she mentions that they make up in the end. I get vibes of true love (ai / 愛, not koi / 恋) reading these lyrics, much like with Shiawase no Kagami / しあわせの鏡.

Musically, it’s like Lip Cream / リップクリーム or Present / プレゼント but in her recent style. I’m also reminded of Wasurerareta Kinenbi / 忘れられた記念日 and Chocolate / チョコレート. Style aside, this song is unique because all the syllables she fits into the verses. It’s difficult to do that without making it sound too forced, and I think she does a decent job at it.

しわくちゃ (Shiwakucha) – Hanako Oku [zing.vn]

I echo Edward’s comment: this song is great, but I would love to hear a hikigatari rendition of it.

10th Anniversary Live DVD/BD to be released in March

The release date and track list for the “Oku Hanako 10th Anniversary Special Concert 2015” DVD/BD have been announced!

DVD cover

In case you’re wondering, it’s too small to confirm but I have a hunch that the music on the cover is Kusabi / 楔.

Sandome no Fuyu / 三度目の冬

Sandome no Fuyu / 三度目の冬 : “third winter”

sandome / 三度目

“third”

san / 三

“three”

dome / 度目

makes a number ordinal

no / の

A particle acting as a noun modifier.

fuyu / 冬

“winter”

Believe it or not, this is Thoughts on Oku Hanako‘s third winter! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, my readers, for your support over the years and for contributing to meaningful discussion. I also hope you have enjoyed the content here and will continue to enjoy future content. The 2015 annual report is up if you’re interested in taking a look.

Too bad today’s song isn’t so joyous.

三度目の冬 奥華子　【ずっと味方でいるからね】　宇宙 by 宇宙

At least, I don’t think it is. It doesn’t sound very joyous, and a machine translation doesn’t really suggest it. The song has a very reflective feel to it, and for me it evokes the greyness of winter. I can’t make much sense out of the machine translation, but I get the impression that the singer was separated from a loved one. If you can come up with a better interpretation, let us know in the comments.

I’ll be honest, though: it may be Oku Hanako, but I think this may be her most boring plain song. There’s nothing about this song that really sticks out for me.

What do you think? Am I missing out on something that would make me appreciate it better? Let’s discuss it!