雲がゆくのは
武田鉄矢 Lyrics

The song "雲がゆくのは" by 武田鉄矢 is a heartfelt ballad about watching the clouds and contemplating the unknown lives of others. The first verse describes the clouds flowing northward while the singer holds a handkerchief soaked with tears, wondering if there are people in a distant land whose hearts ache more than his own. The chorus is a plea to the clouds, asking them to float by the person who is on the singer's mind, and if they see tears, to dry them and leave an image of the person's eyes in the sky. The second verse describes the clouds flowing southward, carrying a bundle of white roses that the singer imagines a traveler carrying to their loved one, and again asks the clouds to reach their destination before sunset so the petals can turn red. Finally, in the third verse, the singer imagines the clouds raining over his town while a sunny day is shining in another town, and declares that if it is for someone else's sake, he is willing to get soaked in the cold rain.

The song paints a vivid picture of a person who is acutely aware of their own pain and loss, but also empathetic towards the suffering of others, even strangers in faraway lands. The clouds become a metaphor for the human bonds that transcend physical distance, and the chorus is a plea to the universe to help communicate the singer's feelings to the person he is thinking of. The song is a beautiful example of how music can connect people across cultures and languages, and help express emotions that may be hard to put into words.