Meguro River Dance Song and Love Song

Measuring the River Meguro Dance Song and Love Song

The sound of the dance is originally a song that reveals the world as it is.

Only when we boldly expose vulgar customs and unashamedly reveal our true hearts can we truly love this kind of song. This straightforward honesty, which refuses to hide anything, becomes a song of laughter and sorrow for the common people who endure hard days and a life full of failures.

Recently, the author read a short song collection called Kasasagi by Kawata Shun, a famous scholar and poet from the wartime and postwar periods, and wrote his own short song. A somewhat rigid mood persisted, and this was the result of that. Therefore, the author sees a strong sense of the vulgar 'from the heart' in the beginning of the song "Mamurogawa River Dance", which starts with "I am the plum blossom of Mamurogawa River. You are the nightingale of this town..."

How different this is from Kawata's style. The opening line is:

Great Lord, the distant messenger, the peaceful people, and the ones who have gone to the sea

The author feels resistance, but is honestly moved by this style, and writes:

The Nara man rides the waves of the ocean beyond the shore

The wild waves bounce off his own kimono

There is no shame in this. From a thousand years ago to the recent centuries, he jumps in time, and immerses himself in the strange tales of the Edo period, and writes this folk song as follows:

"Mamurogawa River Dance Song" Seishu Hamano

The river Meguro is entangled with a sad love story from the Edo period, written by Tsuruya Nanboku, a famous Kabuki playwright, called "Shirai Gonpachi and the Courtesan Komurasaki". Today's people know nothing of this. It's a shame and cannot be forgiven. If one is possessed by the spirits of the dead, is it only oneself who feels helpless? The author therefore becomes fixated on this story and proceeds with the writing.

First Section

Scchara ka shan shan,...

Scchara ka shan shan,...

The cherry blossoms have bloomed, bloomed, on the Meguro River

Meeting is joy, the crowd is a small wave

Pressing my cheek against the river's surface

Love, love, the first meeting

Even the small fingers we exchange are like a dream

The Meguro River dance is a dream, a dream

SO!

The Meguro River is a good place, come once

Who would have any hesitation?

SO!

The Meg,uro River is a good place, come once

In a cute kimono with a half-width sash

SO!

The great Edo loves, come once

This place is the Genroku era, flower viewing wine, flower viewing wine

Scchara ka shan shan,...

Scchara ka shan shan,...

Second Section

Scchara ka shan shan,...

Scchara ka shan shan,...

The west's Gion is the east's Meguro

Whoever, whoever, the lanterns at night

Drunk on the three-stringed lute and drum

He cuts off the end of the woman's behind

He tightens it up

A refined way of showing off

A smiling face

SO

Dance until the end of the love

On the banks of the Meguro River

Until the last remnants of love are gone

SO!

Dance until the end of the meeting

On the banks of the Meguro River

SO!

Love, love, the Meguro River, the Meguro River

"Meguro River Love Song" Seishu Hamano

First Section

Chinton, chirentsu, tsun shan

Flowers are the great Edo, the cherry blossoms of Meguro

The purple flower Komurasaki waits, the beloved town

Spring rain on the riverbank, the two of us leaning close

Clutching each other's arms, drenched in the rain

Even today, the spring rain is still falling

Drenched, thirsty, thirsty, and wet

The stamens and pistils, the courtesan bridge

Spring is Meguro, Yaaare, the town of love

Chite chite, tsuruun, shan

Second Section

Chinton, chirentsu, tsun shan

Flowers are beginning to fall, the cherry blossoms are loved, loved

Meeting is joy, on the banks of the Meguro River

The moon flickers through the trees

Half-drunk, leaning close, today again

The inn where we meet on the night of the moon

But what's the point of that

Like a nail tapping, the mood of the sake

Like Gonpachi, cut it short

Chite chite, tsuruun, shan

Chite chite, tsuruun, shan

Third Section

Woman: Meeting is joy, it's been three years

Man: The wind of the Meguro River is pleasant

Woman: Alas, I'm alone, you're pitiful

Woman: Are you looking for me every day here?

Man: Just like Gonpachi, Komurasaki

Woman: I don't want that, I want happiness

Woman: The Meguro River is the place of happiness

Man: The river where the small reed boat flows

Repeat

The passing of the rice planting season is only joy

The stamens and pistils, the courtesan bridge

The Meguro River is where it passes, the Meguro River is where it passes

Yaaare, the town of love

This work was written on March 21, 2024, and on March 28 of the same month, it was circulated among members of the Japanese Romantic Society and performed at a flower viewing gathering on the Meguro River. The person who presided over the event was the composer Hideki Yamakawa (graduated from Boston's "Berkeley School of Music" after studying at Keio University's Philosophy Department), the poet and member of the same society, Nao Takatori, who graduated from the English Department of Taisho University, and the organizer was requested from the vice president of the society, Yuji Kawachi, a part-time professor at Shobi University. The poet, Seishu Hamano, is a well-known writer with a long history of publications in Chuo Koronsha and Kenkyusha. During his student days, he lived in Meguro and has many memories of the past. At the time of creation, Seishu Hamano was the first president of the Japanese Romantic Society.