She is a singer-songwriter, who is completely bilingual in English and Japanese because she was raised in Japan but moved to Hawaii at the age of fifteen where she graduated from Iolani School. From there, she moved on to George Washington University where she graduated with majors in politics and music.
She originally released an indie album in the United States in 2000, called These Words, which received much critical acclaim. In 2002, she composed two tracks for Let It Fall by Dianne Eclar, a teenage pop singer from the Philippines. In 2005, in Japan, she released an indie mini-album under Virgo Music entitled One, which alerted 植松伸夫 (Nobuo Uematsu) to her music. Angela Aki is now signed under Sony Music Associated Records Inc. . In 2005 she was announced as the singer of the FINAL FANTASY XII theme song, "Kiss Me Good-Bye".
On March 9, 2007, she revealed in her official blog that she is married to a music director who has been supporting her before her debut. She also revealed that while she was in Washington D.C., she had married once before but the marriage ended in a divorce.
She is good friends with JPOP star 伊藤由奈. Both singers attended the same Japanese language school.
Angela Aki is the daughter of Kiyoshi Aki, the owner/co-founder of AEON Institute of Language Education. This is one of the "Big Four" Eikaiwa (English conversation) schools in Japan.
In May 2006, Angela signed with Tofu Records in order to release English singles and albums. Her first release with Tofu was releasing Kiss Me Good-Bye as a digital single in the USA with a slightly altered track list. Later that month she performed the FINAL FANTASY XII theme song, "Kiss Me Good-Bye" at the premiere PLAY! A Video Game Symphony concert in Chicago on May 27, 2006. With orchestral backup, she played piano and sang the English lyrics, which she had written herself. She also performed her own version of "Eyes On Me," the theme song of FINAL FANTASY VIII with only the piano and her voice.
On Aki's blog, dated March 9, 2007, she announced her marriage to Japanese music producer, Hide Sanjougi. She also mentioned that it will be the second marriage for her. Her first marriage was to engineer, producer, and artist Tony Alany who coproduced her first album in Vienna, VA.
On November 29, 2013, Aki announced on her blog that she would be taking an indefinite hiatus beginning in the fall of 2014, stopping her music activities in Japan in order to attend school in the United States and study music. The subsequent TAPESTRY OF SONGS -THE BEST OF ANGELA AKI compilation and "アンジェラ・アキ Concert Tour 2014 TAPESTRY OF SONGS -THE BEST OF ANGELA AKI" tour are her final respective events prior to this hiatus.
Tasogare
アンジェラ・アキ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
彼女の切ない間違いと共に
沈んでゆく夕日がもの悲しい
二つの重たいかばんの中には
今までの人生を全て詰め込み
大切に膝の上で抱えている
「今度は新しい街
新しい人と幸せになる」
維持する彼女は美しい放浪者
Never finding peace,
never finding love
街に着いたら雨脚が強く
ずぶ濡れの彼女に傘を差し出す
優しい笑顔の人が現れた
食事をしただけで運命を感じ
彼女は彼との生活を始め
幸せに溢れた日々を送った
ある時 朝と夜との
二つの顔を持つ彼に変わった
抵抗すればするほど
体のアザが増えてゆくだけ
Where is the peace?
Where is the love?
決意の瞬間がまたやってきた
手放せない物をかばんに入れて
彼女はバス停を目指し歩いた
新しいスタートを切りたいのなら
古い荷物を投げ出して
手ぶらであなたの
旅を始めた方がいい
「今度は新しい街
新しい人と幸せになる」
Will she find peace?
Will she find love?
バスの窓越しに映る黄昏
彼女が何度も見て来た夕日は
何色に今日は見えるのだろうか
The song "Tasogare" by Angela Aki tells the story of a woman who is leaving her past behind and embarking on a new journey. As the sun sets and she watches it through the bus window, she reflects on her past mistakes and carries all the memories and experiences with her in two heavy suitcases. She holds them close to her on her lap as she thinks about starting a new life in a new city with new people. She wants to maintain her mental stability and keep up the appearance of a beautiful wanderer, but she is plagued by the feeling of never finding peace or love.
When she arrives in the new city, she is caught in a downpour of rain and a kind person offers her an umbrella. She feels the warmth of destiny as they share a meal and begins a new life filled with happiness. However, things take a turn for the worse as the person she thought she knew reveals a darker side and her resistance only leads to more bruises on her body. The woman realizes that this moment is her chance to make a decision and she packs one last suitcase with what she cannot let go of and walks to the bus stop. She knows that if she wants to start a new journey, she must leave behind the old baggage and face the unknown with an open heart.
Overall, the song is about the struggle to move on from the past and find happiness in the future. It touches on the importance of mental stability, the dangers of getting caught up in toxic relationships, and the bravery it takes to make a change.
Line by Line Meaning
バスの窓越しに映る黄昏
She sees the twilight through the bus' window
彼女の切ない間違いと共に
She carries her sorrowful mistakes with her
沈んでゆく夕日がもの悲しい
The sinking sun is melancholy
二つの重たいかばんの中には
Inside two heavy bags
今までの人生を全て詰め込み
Her entire life is packed
大切に膝の上で抱えている
She holds them carefully on her lap
「今度は新しい街
She thinks, "This time, in a new city
新しい人と幸せになる」
I'll become happy with new people."
こうして精神の秩序を
She maintains her mental order
維持する彼女は美しい放浪者
A beautiful wanderer who maintains herself
Never finding peace,
She's never found peace,
never finding love
and never found love.
街に着いたら雨脚が強く
She arrives at the city, and the rain becomes stronger
ずぶ濡れの彼女に傘を差し出す
Someone offers her an umbrella, soaked to the bone.
優しい笑顔の人が現れた
A gentle, smiling person appears
食事をしただけで運命を感じ
She felt destiny just by eating together
彼女は彼との生活を始め
She started living with him
幸せに溢れた日々を送った
They spent their days overflowing with happiness
ある時 朝と夜との
Then, he changed and had two different faces
二つの顔を持つ彼に変わった
One for day, and the other for night
抵抗すればするほど
The more she resisted
体のアザが増えてゆくだけ
The more bruises appeared on her body.
Where is the peace?
Where did the peace go?
Where is the love?
Where did the love go?
決意の瞬間がまたやってきた
The moment of determination comes again
手放せない物をかばんに入れて
She puts her irreplaceable things into her bag
彼女はバス停を目指し歩いた
She walks towards the bus stop
新しいスタートを切りたいのなら
If she wants to start anew,
古い荷物を投げ出して
She needs to throw away the old baggage
手ぶらであなたの
And start your journey
旅を始めた方がいい
Empty-handed.
「今度は新しい街
She thinks, "This time, in a new city
新しい人と幸せになる」
I'll become happy with new people."
Will she find peace?
Will she find peace?
Will she find love?
Will she find love?
バスの窓越しに映る黄昏
The twilight she's seen through the bus' window so many times
彼女が何度も見て来た夕日は
What color is the setting sun she's always watched?
何色に今日は見えるのだろうか
I wonder what color it looks to her today.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: anjeraaki
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind