Akiko Shikata is a singer-songwriter, musician and soundtrack composer. A t… Read Full Bio ↴Akiko Shikata is a singer-songwriter, musician and soundtrack composer. A tricky artist to categorize, her works incorporate various genres such as neoclassical darkwave, world music, experimental, jazz, synthpop, new age, classical, ambient, and more ordinary Japanese pop, among many others. She launched her career in 2001, with the vocal EP Midori no mori de nemuru tori ("Sleeping Bird in the Green Forest"), which she made on her own using a synth and a laptop. In 2002, she released an instrumental album, Kurenawi, showing various influences such as Caribbean music, traditional Japanese folk and classical piano music. In 2003, she released her first full-length vocal album, Haikyo to Rakuen ("Ruins and Heaven"), showing influences from Old Europe, classical and ethnic music, in which she sang Italian poetry, but also Japanese lyrics and what is seemingly an invented language ("Iuripuka"). This album gained critical success in Japan through the indie music platform Muzie, where it stayed on top of the sales for two years.

Her latest release is the avant-garde album Ayashi (2018) which could be labeled as world fusion.

Suiren
志方あきこ Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

こぼれ落ちた泪(なみだ)ひと雫
水面(みなも)に弧を描き出す
今もまだ胸に響くのは
もう失った幸せの歌

声もなく孤独に震えてる
麗し愛しき花よ
幾重にもまとった花びらで

その傷口を隠しているのでしょう

疲れ果てた心かたく閉ざした蕾(つぼみ)

微睡(ねむり)なさい
明日を夢見ては
夜にたゆたう睡蓮の蕾
透きとおる淡い紅の
花ひらく時恋が咲くのだから

砕け散った愛を集めては
欠片(かけら)にまた傷付いて
くり返し痛みに耐えても
まだ眩しすぎた想い出に彷徨(さまよ)う

心色褪せたら花は枯れてしまうわ

微睡(ねむり)なさい
この胸に抱かれ
私は闇を
照らす十六夜月(いざよいづき)
蒼白く優しい光で
あなたをすべて包み込む様に

夜霧の揺り籠そっと揺らして
愛しき想い口ずさむ子守唄
心枯れぬように恋が枯れぬように

目醒めなさい夜が明けたなら
螺旋(らせん)を描くすがた美しく
今はただ水面に消えゆく

水泡(うたかた)の様に嘆きを忘れて
目覚めなさい

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Suiren by Japanese artist 志方あきこ speak of lost love and the struggle to move on from it. The first verse discusses tears falling like droplets onto the water's surface, creating a curve, and a song resonating in the chest of someone who has lost their happiness. The second verse describes a voiceless and lonely flower trembling with love and beauty, hiding its wounds under layers of petals. The chorus repeats the phrase "sleep and dream of tomorrow," evoking the imagery of a sleeping lotus flower being illuminated by a moonlit sky. The bridge of the song portrays the pain of collecting shattered love pieces and enduring the repetitive hurt caused by them, all while wandering in memories that were once too brilliant to forget. Finally, the song ends with a message of new beginnings and hope, illustrated through the imagery of a beautiful spiral forming on the water's surface, like a dream of a new day.

Line by Line Meaning

こぼれ落ちた泪(なみだ)ひと雫
A single tear falls down and creates a curve on the surface of the water

今もまだ胸に響くのはもう失った幸せの歌
The song of happiness that has been lost still resonates in my heart

声もなく孤独に震えてる麗し愛しき花よ
Beautiful and beloved flower is trembling alone without a voice

幾重にもまとった花びらでその傷口を隠しているのでしょう
Using layers of petals to hide its wounds

疲れ果てた心かたく閉ざした蕾(つぼみ)
A heart exhausted and closed off like a tightly wound bud

微睡(ねむり)なさい明日を夢見ては夜にたゆたう睡蓮の蕾
Sleep and dream of tomorrow while floating like a water lily bud at night

透きとおる淡い紅の花ひらく時恋が咲くのだから
Love blooms when the transparent pale red flower opens

砕け散った愛を集めては欠片(かけら)にまた傷付いて
Collecting shattered love only to be hurt by the fragments again

くり返し痛みに耐えてもまだ眩しすぎた想い出に彷徨(さまよ)う
Enduring pain repeatedly, I still wander in the memories that were too bright

心色褪せたら花は枯れてしまうわ
If the color of the heart fades, the flower will wither

微睡(ねむり)なさいこの胸に抱かれ私は闇を照らす十六夜月(いざよいづき)
Sleep and be held in this heart, while the sixteen-night moon illuminates the darkness

蒼白く優しい光であなたをすべて包み込む様に
To envelop you entirely in a calm and gentle light

夜霧の揺り籠そっと揺らして愛しき想い口ずさむ子守唄
Softly swaying the cradle of night mist and humming a beloved lullaby

心枯れぬように恋が枯れぬように
In order not to let the heart and love wither away

目醒めなさい夜が明けたなら螺旋(らせん)を描くすがた美しく今はただ水面に消えゆく水泡(うたかた)の様に嘆きを忘れて目覚めなさい
When the morning comes, wake up and forget your grief, like the beautiful spiral that disappears on the surface of the water, like a bubble

Writer(s): 志方あきこ

Contributed by Christian C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS