Ken Hirai – Omoi ga kasanaru sono mae ni

I thought I’d do some music posts to lighten the mood after practicing kanji. And not just for you, I need a break from doing those sorts of posts. So I thought it’d be nice to go through some of the Japanese musicians i’ve come across over the year. Some will be popular, some a little underground. I’ll post a song by the artist and some videos/YouTube links, so you can get a feel for them. Maybe you’ll get into some of them!

So, the first artist on the list is a man called Ken Hirai (平井堅 Hirai Ken). He is one of my favourite chill out artists, and has a wonderfully unique voice that seems to be made for those sort of songs. His music is either light and happy, or a little more passionate. If you are looking for Rock music then you’ve come to the wrong place!

Ken Hirai is a Japanese R&B/pop singer. I was first introduced to him during my first trip to Japan in 2004, when I was given a single from the album 「SENTIMENTALovers」.

The single was Omoi ga kasanaru sono mae ni (思いが重なるその前に), which loosely translated means ‘Before our feelings overlap’. It was and still is my favourite Ken song, so i’ll share it with you. [You can get the link at the bottom of the page.]

It is a nice, light emotional song, and it’s great to sing along to (even if you only know the chorus line!). You can learn the lyrics pretty easily; the song has a slow tempo and even though it’s pretty hard to make your voice go as high as his does you find yourself managing somehow ( ^ _ ^ ). It’s one of those songs that sounds best with a good pair of in-ear headphones, laying down looking at the sky. Actually, the single’s cover art does that feeling justice, as you can see below.

If you want the lyrics i’ve put them here (stolen from animelyrics.com!):
ねぇそんなことを隣でキミも
思ったりするのかな
思いが重なるその前に
強く手を握ろう

君の目に映る青空が
悲しみの雨に滲んでも
そんな時は思い出して
笑い合えた今日の日を

肩を落とす君を見る度に
連れ出すのは僕の方なのに
時々わからなくなるよ
僕が救われてるんだ

その掌は虹も掴めるさ
キミだけの歌を
ラララ探しに行こう

ねぇいつかキミは僕のことを
忘れてしまうのかな
その時はキミに手を振って
ちゃんと笑ってられるかな

* Repeat top

誰といても一人ぼっち
唇噛み締める時には
またここにきて同じ空を
何も言わずに見上げよう

涙も傷も宝物になる
キミだけに歌を
ラララ歌って行こう

ねぇいつかキミは君の夢を
忘れてしまうのかな
その時は瞳を逸らさずに
キミと向き合えるのかな

ねぇこんな僕はキミのために
何ができるのかな
言葉にならない思いだけ
強く手を握ろう
強く手を握ろう

Ken Hirai – Omoi ga kasanaru sono mae ni
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This is also one of my favourites, きみのすきなこと（君の好きな事）, lit. ‘Your favourite things’. There’s a very cute video that goes with the song, it’s all lovely and a little cheesy, but in a good way. It is off the 2008 「Fakin’ Pop」 album.

This is also a pretty popular song, Hitomi wo Tojite (瞳をとじて) which means ‘Close your eyes’ (actualy, ひとみ is pupil, but this is another strange Japanese expression that we shouldn’t try to understand…). It was a number one hit and was also the theme song to the movie 「世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ」. It was also off the SENTIMENTALovers album.

Other songs to look out for: Kimi wa su-te-ki ♥ (君はス・テ・キ♥ – You are won-der-ful), Elegy and Pop Star.