My Showa Kayou 12　The sun is crying　

Japanese Title "Taiyou wa naiteiru"
Unable to forget the memories
of youthful love,
spending this summer
with someone I don't know.

Ishida Ayumi made a hit with 'The Sun is Crying,' composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi. That same year, she followed up with the over 1.5 million-selling 'Blue Light Yokohama.' This song was the one that led to her breakthrough.

It's not that Izumi Taku was bad. Ishida Ayumi never had particularly strong vocal skills. However, this song covers Ayumi-chan's voice well.

It's not about being good or bad at singing. I think she was fortunate to meet lyricists and composers who made her shine.

However, the melody is essentially enka (a traditional Japanese music genre). But it incorporates the rhythm of the Group Sounds style that was popular at the time.

Of course, since it’s a pop song, my family and I would sing along together, including the intro and interludes, with chants like 'chan-chan' and all that, haha.

Now, about these lyrics. I was puzzled because I couldn't figure out what was happening between the past and the present, haha.

Which lines are memories? Which lines represent the present? ♪ After the kiss, the sun is crying ♪ — which is it?

My husband says, 'Pop songs are made haphazardly anyway. It doesn't matter either way.'

No, no, that's not right. This was written by Hashimoto Jun, the son of my respected children's literature writer Yoda Junichi. So, I care more about the lyrics than I do with other songwriters.

♪ Every summer, I remember you, tanned and twenty ♪ ♪ Because it's a love I don't want to forget, the memories of that day are painful ♪ ♪ After the kiss, the sun is crying ♪ ♪ Invited by a stranger, I returned to your sea ♪

You could say that the whole thing, including the memories, is in the present.

Hmm, is it that when the protagonist kisses a stranger, they recall the kiss they shared with you, and that's when 'the sun is crying'?

If you keep repeating such things, true love won’t come your way! But it’s not like she's utterly desperate; there's a hint of casual indifference in Ayumi-chan's singing that suggests this.

Ayumi-chan was beautiful when she married Kenichi Hagiwara. She's now 75 years old.

The internet has spread, and I've seen photos of her, skinny and wrinkled. But to me, who grew up in the Showa era, I can only see Ayumi-chan as she was back then.

I cannot read or write in English.
This text has been translated by ChatGPT.
I haven't edited it, so there may be some strange parts.

【Reference Video】

Shoken (Kenichi Hagiwara) passed away from GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor). I also underwent surgery for GIST last year, and thankfully, I am now living healthily. Around this time last year, I was diagnosed with GIST during a checkup. When I researched it online and realized, 'Isn't this cancer?' I became really depressed. That’s when I learned about Shoken’s case as well. Since we had the same illness, I wanted to pay my respects, so I watched 'Haikei Ofukuro-san' and reminisced. Showa-era dramas are truly the best.

【Japanese Version of the Article】