Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣, Hosono Haruomi, born July 9, 1947 in Minato, Tokyo),… Read Full Bio ↴Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣, Hosono Haruomi, born July 9, 1947 in Minato, Tokyo), also known as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese popular musician, best known internationally as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Hosono first came to attention in Japan as the bass player of the psychedelic rock band Apryl Fool, who released the album "The Apryl Fool" in 1969. Members from this band (including Hosono) then formed the influential folk-rock group Happy End, which led to Hosono's first collaboration with Van Dyke Parks. After Happy End disbanded, Hosono worked with a loose association of artists making "exotica"-style music under the title Tin Pan Alley and also released four solo albums with increasingly eclectic instrumentation. Additionally, he made an innovative electronic soundtrack for the film "Cochin Moon", together with artist Tadanori Yokoo.

In 1978, Hosono formed the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Yellow Magic Orchestra (a.k.a. YMO) released a number of albums in the late 70s and early 80s to considerable acclaim both inside and outside Japan. After YMO disbanded in 1984, Hosono released a number of solo albums covering a variety of styles, including film soundtracks, and a variety of electronic ambient albums.

He was one of the first producers to recognize the appeal of video game sounds and music. YMO's self titled debut in 1978 continued substantial game sounds and after YMO disbanded an early project was an album simply titled "Video Game Music" containing mixed and edited Namco game music and sounds. In the late 80s and early 90s the influence of world music on his music deepened, and he worked with international singers and musicians such as Amina Annabi.

As well as recording his own music, Haruomi has done considerable production work for other artists such as Miharu Koshi, Sheena and the Roketts, Sandii and the Sunsetz, Chisato Moritaka and Seiko Matsuda.

He's produced a number of short term band projects as a band member. His first post-YMO band was Friends of Earth. As with most of his projects he combines musical styles he's interested in. F.O.E. seemed to be a combination of Funk and Techno and included a collaboration with James Brown and Maceo Parker for a remake of the song "Sex Machine". Another notable band project was 1995's Love, Peace & Trance. Members were Mimori Yusa ("Love"), Miyako Koda ("Peace"), Haruomi Hosono ("&") and Mishio Ogawa ("Trance").

In the 1990s he started the Daisyworld label to release a wide range of experimental artists from Japan and the rest of the world. Hosono collorated on many of the releases, such as World Standard, a trip into Americana; HAT, a supergroup (the acronym stands for Hosono, Atom Heart, Tetsu Inoue),and "Quiet Logic", by Mixmaster Morris and Jonah Sharp. The Orb also paid tribute with a series of remixes including the notorious "Hope You Choke On Your Whalemeat".

In 2002 Haruomi formed the duo Sketch Show with his YMO band-mate Yukihiro Takahashi. They have released two albums, one of which, Loophole, has received a UK release. When the third former YMO member, Ryuichi Sakamoto deepened his involvement it was decided to bill those collaborations as Human Audio Sponge.

In 2007, his fellow YMO members and other artist paid tribute to Haruomi with a 2-disc album titled "Tribute to Haruomi" in Spring of 2007. Also, that same year, the animated film "EX MACHINA" (Appleseed) which will be released worldwide will feature a soundtrack performed and supervised by Haruomi Hosono.

ウォーカーズ・ブルース
細野晴臣 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

着の身着のままきみはきみのまま
ぼくはぼくのまま
ともかく歩くだけ
沈む心もち昇る夢心地
ぎこちなくこのまま
死ぬまで生きるだけ
そのうちいつか辿り着けば
そこがパラダイス

とどのつまり
魂を鎮め手を取り合い歩く
脇目も振らず眼(まなこ)を見開き
魔物にかまわず先へと急ぐだけ

そのうちいつか辿り着けば
そこがパラダイス
とどのつまり
魂を鎮め今日も明日も歩く
着の身着のままきみはきみのまま
ぼくはぼくのまま
ともかく歩くだけ
沈む心もち昇る夢心地

ぎこちなくこのまま
死ぬまで生きるだけ

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of ウォーカーズ・ブルース speak about walking through life and staying true to oneself while doing so. The first verse suggests that we should walk through life with our clothes on our back and our true selves intact. The singer encourages the listener to keep walking despite the ups and downs of life, with both sinking and rising emotions just being a part of the journey. The chorus suggests that Paradise lies at the end of this journey and the ultimate goal is to find it. However, regardless of the final destination, it’s important to walk through life each day with inner peace, holding hands with one’s loved ones and not letting fear or obstacles block the way.

The second verse reiterates the idea of Paradise at the end of the journey, but emphasizes the importance of finding inner peace along the way. The phrase “死ぬまで生きるだけ” (shinu made ikiru dake) translates to “just live until you die” – indicating that the journey itself is as important as the destination. The lyricist encourages walking through life with others, ignoring distractions and moving forward regardless of the challenges that may arise. The final chorus repeats this message and maintains the same melody but adds “今日も明日も歩く” (kyou mo ashita mo aruku) which translates to “today and tomorrow, we will walk”. This suggests that walking through life is a daily task, and we should strive to stay true to ourselves, find inner peace and walk forward every single day.

Line by Line Meaning

着の身着のままきみはきみのまま
You stay yourself, as you are dressed, as am I

ぼくはぼくのまま
I remain as myself

ともかく歩くだけ
Anyway, let's just keep walking

沈む心もち昇る夢心地
Feeling down or dreamy with each step

ぎこちなくこのまま
Awkwardly, like this

死ぬまで生きるだけ
Just keep living until we die

そのうちいつか辿り着けばそこがパラダイス
If we eventually arrive, that will be paradise

とどのつまり魂を鎮め手を取り合い歩く
In the end, we hold hands and walk to calm our souls

脇目も振らず眼(まなこ)を見開き
Without looking around, we open our eyes wide

魔物にかまわず先へと急ぐだけ
Ignoring the demons, we hurry forward

魂を鎮め今日も明日も歩く
We keep walking to calm our souls, today and tomorrow