A translation and some reflections around the Japanese version of “Take me home, country roads” in the film “Whisper of the heart”.

Notes for the ending song of the film Howl’s moving castle.

Notes and vocabulary for the vocal version of Spirited Away famous theme あの夏へ.

Notes and vocabulary for the ending song of Spirited Away

Vocabulary for ひょっこりひょうたん島, a song from a children’s program in the 60’s that the protagonist sings in the film Only Yesterday.

This is the theme song and ending song of From up on Poppy hill. The name of the song, さよならの夏・さよならのなつ means Summer of goodbye and it is sang by 手嶌葵・てしまあおい Teshima Aoi. Appearing at the end of the film, this song conveys a touch of sadness, echoing with some aspects of the film. It also shows how well the Ghibli films depict the complexity of emotions, when happiness and sadness sometimes coexist and melancholy is often inexplicable. It’s not only a beautiful melody with a beautiful voice, the lyrics are also very beautiful. I found this live version and found it even more touching than the original version of the film: 光る海に かすむ船は さよならの汽笛 のこします ゆるい坂を おりてゆけば 夏色の風に あえるかしら かすむ・霞む to grow hazy, to be misty, to get blurry 汽笛・きてき steam whistle ゆるい gentle (for a curve, a slope) 坂・さか slope, hill おりる・おりる means to descend (a mountain), to go down. Here we have おりてゆけば which is the form: 降りていく (the grammar ～ていくgiving direction) + the ～ば grammar, meaning “if”. In songs, the pronunciation ゆく …