Anri (杏里, Anri), real name Eiko Kawashima (川嶋栄子, Kawashima Eiko), is a Japa… Read Full Bio ↴Anri (杏里, Anri), real name Eiko Kawashima (川嶋栄子, Kawashima Eiko), is a Japanese singer and singer-songwriter born on August 31, 1961 in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan . She has written much of her own music as well as singing songs written by others such as her debut release in 1978, Oribia o Kikinagara, by Amii Ozaki. Her song "Cat's Eye" was used as the first opening theme for the eponymous 1983 anime series Cat's Eye and debuted as #1 on Countdown Japan. It was one of the first J-pop songs used as an anime theme song, and it was included in a recent Dance Dance Revolution game. Her popularly skyrocketed following her appearance at the Red and White New Year's Music Special at the end of that same year.

Other hit songs include Summer Candles and Dolphin Ring, both of which became standard songs played at Japanese wedding and receptions. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Anri's albums were bestsellers. She is often cited as being one the first Japanese singers to fuse Britain and American music into j-pop. She has highly successful tours—one with attendance of almost 100,000—and toured Hawaii for the first time in 1987. She was given a boost by singing the closing theme for the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano. In 2002, she began collaborating with jazz fusion guitarist Lee Ritenour who produced her 2002 LP "Smooth Jam - Quiet Storm".

Surf City
杏里 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

時々もどかしい思いの恋なら
それは私のせいだと思うの
あなたによせてた思いも途中で
また引き潮そして終わる夏

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach
I love you but you go away
水着のあとを指でひく

悲しみの Go away

I 最後の夜なら
Want 月まで羽織って
あなたの腕に
In the surf city
Uh...

夏を片付け帰る人の波に
このままじゃ辛いと初めて思うの
突然夢から覚めたような海は
グレイの幕モノクロの写真

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach
I love you but you go away
冷たい風が砂をかく
秋近い Go away

I 最後の夜なら
Want 闇にくるまり
あなたの腕に
In the surf city

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach
I love you but you go away
夏への扉を閉じれば
I love you but you go away

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach
I love you but you go away
Time goes by sun goes down on the beach

I love you...
I love you but you go away...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to 杏里’s song Surf City paint a picture of a fleeting summer love that cannot withstand the test of time. The first verse talks about the frustration that comes with an unrequited love, and the regret that the singer feels for having placed all her feelings on the person who does not reciprocate. The second verse shifts to the end of summer, where the melancholy tone of the song is accentuated by the beach being emptied out and the singer’s longing for a love that is now gone. The chorus repeats the sentiment that she loves this person but they are no longer together, and that even though time goes by and seasons transition, her feelings remain unchanged.

Throughout the lyrics, there is a sense of nostalgia and a longing to preserve the memories of a love that has been lost. The line “In the surf city” can be interpreted as the place where they first met or spent their summer days, a place that she wants to hold onto even when he is no longer present. The final “I love you” that is sung without a following “but you go away” suggest that despite the sadness and the loss, the singer’s love remains.

Overall, 杏里’s Surf City portrays the bittersweet emotions that come with a summer romance, where love is intense but fleeting, and the memories of the place and the person stay with you long after the sun sets on the beach.

Line by Line Meaning

時々もどかしい思いの恋ならそれは私のせいだと思うのあなたによせてた思いも途中でまた引き潮そして終わる夏
Sometimes love can be frustrating I blame myself for it The feelings I had for you are washed away halfway through like the receding tide, and the summer ends

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach I love you but you go away 水着のあとを指でひく悲しみの Go away
Time passes and the sun sets on the beach I love you, but you leave I trace my fingers over where you left your swimsuit As I bid farewell to my sadness

I 最後の夜なら Want 月まで羽織ってあなたの腕に In the surf city Uh...
On the last night together I want to wrap myself in the moon In your arms In the surf city Uh...

夏を片付け帰る人の波にこのままじゃ辛いと初めて思うの突然夢から覚めたような海はグレイの幕モノクロの写真
As people leave the end of summer in waves For the first time, I realize it's hard to let go The sea suddenly wakes me up from a dream A gray curtain, a black-and-white photograph

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach I love you but you go away 冷たい風が砂をかく秋近い Go away
Time passes and the sun sets on the beach I love you, but you leave The cold wind blows the sand Autumn approaches, go away

I 最後の夜なら Want 闇にくるまりあなたの腕に In the surf city
On the last night together I want to be wrapped in darkness In your arms In the surf city

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach I love you but you go away 夏への扉を閉じれば I love you but you go away
Time passes and the sun sets on the beach I love you, but you leave If we close the door to summer I love you, but you go away

Time goes by sun goes down on the beach I love you but you go away Time goes by sun goes down on the beach I love you... I love you but you go away...
Time passes and the sun sets on the beach I love you, but you leave Time passes and the sun sets on the beach I love you... I love you, but you leave...

Writer(s): 小林武史, 小林　武史

Contributed by Alex V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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