Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Arukou) - Kyu Sakamoto (English Translation and Lyrics)

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 17:48:16 +0000

I uploaded this video a few years ago, because it's one of my father's favourite songs and it reminds me of my childhood when he would play it on the cassette player. It's wonderful to read the daily comments people leave on how they are connected to this song. It's no wonder that this song is played every single day by so many people.

Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Arukou)- Kyu Sakamoto (English Translation and Lyrics)

About the Lyrics

The lyrics tell the story of a man who looks up and whistles while he is walking so that his tears won't fall. The verses of the song describe his memories and feelings. The English-language lyrics of the version recorded by A Taste of Honey are not a translation of the original Japanese lyrics but a completely different set of lyrics set to the same basic melody.

The title Sukiyaki, a Japanese hot pot dish, has nothing to do with the lyrics or the meaning of the song; the word served the purpose only because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to most English speakers. A Newsweek columnist noted that the re-titling was like issuing "Moon River" in Japan under the title "Beef Stew."

About the song:

"Ue o Muite Arukō" (上を向いて歩こう?, literally "[I] shall walk looking up") is a Japanese-language song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, and written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura. It is best known under the alternative title "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking parts of the world. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States in 1963, and was the only Japanese-language song to do so. In total it sold over 13 million copies internationally. The original Kyu Sakamoto recording also went to number eighteen on the R&B chart.[3] In addition, the single spent five weeks at number one on the Middle of the Road charts. The recording was originally released in Japan by Toshiba in 1961. It topped the Popular Music Selling Record chart in the Japanese magazine Music Life for three months, and was ranked as the number one song of 1961 in Japan.
Well-known English-language cover versions include a 1981 cover under the title "Sukiyaki" by A Taste of Honey and a 1995 cover by 4 P.M.. There is also an English language version with altogether different lyrics by Jewel Akens under the title "My First Lonely Night" recorded in 1966. There are many other language versions of the song as well.

About Kyu Sakamoto:

Kyu Sakamoto (坂本 九 Sakamoto Kyū?, born Hisashi Oshima (大島 九 Ōshima Hisashi?), 10 December 1941 -- 12 August 1985) was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside of Japan for his international hit song "Sukiyaki", which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached number one in the United States Billboard Hot 100 in June 1963.