Chara (ちゃら), born on January 13, 1968 in Kawaguchi, Saitama, is a Japanese… Read Full Bio ↴Chara (ちゃら), born on January 13, 1968 in Kawaguchi, Saitama, is a Japanese singer, songwriter and actress. Her real name is Satou Miwa (佐藤美和). After sending a demo tape to Sony Japan in 1990, she landed a record deal and released her first single, "Heaven", in 1991.

Chara earned her nickname as a schoolchild from her teacher (charachara means "scatterbrained") and has been called such ever since. She has always been musically involved, she began composing music in her later years of elementary school and played keyboard in a band from her second year of high school.

One of the things that defines Chara's music is her singing voice. It is often described as sweet and whispering like a child's, yet forceful and sincere. Despite her very distinctive singing voice, Chara considers herself a musician first and foremost; proficient with instruments such as the piano, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer and tambourine. There are common themes to a lot of her music, including motherhood, innocence, love, beauty, and cheerfulness.

She has appeared as one of the main characters in 'Swallowtail Butterfly' movie and sang all the songs. The album 'Montage' is actually a vocal collection from this movie, that's why it was released under the name of Yen Town Band - which is a fictional band from the story. She has also starred in 'PiCNiC' where she played the mental patient Coco. She would go on to marry her co-star Asano Tadanobu (浅野忠信) in 1995. Currently, the pair have two children, a daughter Sumire (born 1995) and later a son Himi (born 1999).

Fantasy
Chara Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

甘く切ない思い出してよ
会いにきてお願いよ抱き合う
大事なことがわかって
悪い夢から覚めれば
なくした地図のかわりに愛を
ひろげてたよりに
してるのどう思う?
どうすればいいの?流れる日も私の

馬鹿げた空想で一日をつないで
見たい夢もわからない悲しい夜には
追いかける孤独をうたう時には
甘く切ない思い出してよ
会いにきてお願いよ抱き合う
大事なことがわかって
悪い夢から覚めれば

臆病な私が憧れていた
永遠に愛する能力をいけないの?
全てを手にしたい
拾い集めてどれが
大切なことか見失う時も...
大人たちの勝手に埋もれたくない
はきちがえる自由を
つれていけないわ
甘く切ない思い出してよ
会いにきてお願いよ抱き合う
大事なことがわかって
悪い夢から覚めれば
どんな意味を知りたい?
新しい日がくるわ
微笑みと想像の時代に
変わればいいのに...。
甘く切ない思い出してよ
会いにきてお願いよ抱き合う
大事なことがわかって
悪い夢から覚めれば
切ない思い出してよ会いにきて
お願いよ抱き合う

大事なことがわかって
悪い夢から覚めれば

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chara's song FANTASY are a plea to someone to remember and come back to embrace the sweetly painful memories of their past. The first stanza asks for a chance to meet and hold each other, after having realized the important things in life and waking up from a bad dream. The singer replaces the lost map with love and wonders what the other person thinks of it. The second stanza talks about the singer's fear and desire for eternal love, wishing to hold on to everything important but losing sight of what really matters in the process. The lyrics end with a question about the meaning of it all, hoping for a change in the future towards a time of smiles and imagination.

The lyrics are emotionally charged and speak to the human need for connection and reflection on what is truly important in life. The repetition of the plea to "remember the sweetly painful memories" and the desire to "grasp everything important" highlight the importance of those things in the singer's life. The use of the word "fantasy" in the title suggests the idea of a dreamlike state, which is mirrored in the lyrics by references to dreams and imagination. The song is overall a bittersweet reflection on the past and a hopeful longing for the future.

Line by Line Meaning

甘く切ない思い出してよ
Remember the sweet and painful memories

会いにきてお願いよ抱き合う
Come see me, please, and hold me tight

大事なことがわかって
Realizing what is important

悪い夢から覚めれば
If only I could wake up from this bad dream

なくした地図のかわりに愛を
In place of the lost map, spreading love

ひろげてたよりに
What do you think of what I am doing?

どう思う?
What do you think?

どうすればいいの?流れる日も私の
What should I do? Even my passing days

馬鹿げた空想で一日をつないで
I keep going through the day with foolish fantasies

見たい夢もわからない悲しい夜には
On sad nights when I don't even know what dreams I want to dream

追いかける孤独をうたう時には
When I sing of the loneliness that I am chasing