Sakura Sakura
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"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period and was adopted as a piece for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888 (in English) by the Department of Education.[1] The song has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan.
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[edit] Variations
Dream of the Cherry Blossoms by Keiko Abe, a virtuoso percussionist, is a five-minute piece for marimba. This piece is based on Sakura Sakura and has become popular in the marimba repertoire.
Yukihiro Yoko, a classical guitarist, made an arrangement for his instrument, a theme with variations, in which he uses different guitar techniques to imitate the sound of the koto.[citation needed]
Alfred Reed's Fifth Symphony "Sakura" is based on this folk song.
Because the melody spans a modest range, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited pitch range, such as the Native American Flute.[2]
[edit] Lyrics
[edit] Standard
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[edit] Hiraganaさくら さくら のやま も さと も みわたす かぎり かすみ か くも か あさひ に におう さくら さくら はな ざかり さくら さくら やよい の そら は みわたす かぎり かすみ か くも か におい ぞ いずる いざや いざや みに ゆかん |
[edit] Romaji
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[edit] Translation
- Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
- On Meadow-hills and mountains
- As far as you can see.
- Is it a mist, or clouds?
- Fragrant in the morning sun.
- Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
- Flowers in full bloom.
- Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
- Across the Spring sky,
- As far as you can see.
- Is it a mist, or clouds?
- Fragrant in the air.
- Come now, come now,
- Let’s look, at last!
[edit] In popular culture
- Cat Stevens used the melody of "Sakura Sakura" at the intro in the live version of his "Hard Headed Woman" song, during his 1976 Earth Tour that was later released on his album and DVD entitled Majikat.
- Bon Jovi sampled "Sakura Sakura" at the opening of their song "Tokyo Road," featured on their 1985 7800° Fahrenheit album.
- Sakura Sakura is used as Tokugawa's diplomacy theme in the 2005 game, Civilization IV.
- Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones performed a version of "Sakura" in his organ solo at the Nagoya, Japan October 5, 1972 show.
- In The Legend of The Five Rings, Muramasa Ando played this song only days before he was infected and couldn't pass the Kaiu Wall.
- A techno dance remix of "Sakura Sakura", titled simply 桜 ("Sakura"), was created for the Konami game Beatmania IIDX and later appeared in the DDR series from Dance Dance Revolution Extreme onwards. It was attributed to RevenG, a psudonym used by Konami composer Naoki Maeda for songs with an ethnic Asian feel.
- The rock band Thrice used an altered version of the melody of Sakura Sakura in their song 'Music Box' which appeared in their fourth album Vheissu, released in 2005.
- The song is in the Tamagotchi Music Star as an Asian-genre song.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Tsuge Gen'ichi. Sakura. International Shakuhachi Society website.
- ^ Clint Goss (2011). "Sakura Sakura - Sheet music for the Native American Flute". http://Flutopedia.com/song_Sakura.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
[edit] External links
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