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"Sukiyaki"
Song
B-side"Anoko No Namaewa Nantenkana"

"Ue o muite arukō" (上を向いて歩こう " shall walk looking up") is a Japanese song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, and written by Rokusuke Ei and Hachidai Nakamura. It is best known under its alternative title "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking parts of the world. The song reached the top of the sales charts in the United States in 1963, and was the only Japanese language song to do so. In total it sold over 13 million copies internationally.

The lyrics start as follows:

上を向いて歩こう ue o muite arukō ( shall walk looking up)
涙がこぼれないように namida ga kobore nai yō ni (so tears won't fall)
思い出す春の日 omoidasu haru no hi (remembering spring days)
一人ぼっちの夜 hitori bocchi no yoru ( lonely night)

The recording was originally released in Japan by Toshiba in 1961. It topped the Popular Music Selling Record chart in the Japanese magazine "Music Life" for three months. In 1963, the British record label Pye Records released a cover version of the song by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. They were concerned that English-speaking audiences might find the original title too difficult to remember/pronounce, so they gave it the new title of "Sukiyaki'". This title was retained when Capitol Records in the United States, and His Master's Voice in the UK, released Kyu Sakamoto's original version a few months later.

The title, sukiyaki (which is a Japanese steamboat dish), has nothing to do with the lyrics or the meaning of the song; the word served the purpose only because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to most English speakers (very few of whom could understand the Japanese lyrics anyway). A Newsweek columnist noted that the re-titling was like issuing "Moon River" in Japan under the title "Beef Stew."

Sakamoto's follow-up to "Sukiyaki," "China Nights (Shina no Yoru)," charted in 1963 at number fifty-eight. That was the last song by an artist from Japan to reach the U.S. pop charts for sixteen years, until the female duo Pink Lady had a top forty hit in 1979 with their English-language song "Kiss In The Dark".

On March 16, 1999, Japan Post issued a stamp commemorating this song.

Kyu Sakamoto was one of the 520 people who died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 near Gunma on August 12, 1985. He was 43.

The song was recently featured in a scene of the critically-acclaimed series Mad Men (Season 2, Episode 2: Flight 1).

Covers and variations

Several artists have recorded cover versions of the song, while others have written and/or performed songs based on the melody. A 1981 cover by A Taste of Honey reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart (Adult Contemporary and R&B number one), while a 1995 version by 4 P.M. reached number eight.

Both the 4 P.M. and A Taste of Honey versions used the same English-language lyrics, written by Taste of Honey's Janice Marie Johnson. Johnson is quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One R&B Hits by Fred Bronson as saying that when she translated the original Japanese lyrics into English, she found out that the lyrics could be interpreted in three ways: as a man on his way to his execution, as someone trying to be optimistic despite life's trials, or as the story of an ended love affair. "Me being the hopeless romantic that I am," she explained, "I decided to write about a love gone bad." Thus, the English version featured lyrics like: "In reality/You and I will never be/'Cause you took your love away from me." A Taste of Honey, who were quite popular in Japan (Johnson and her bandmate, Hazel Payne, often wore kimonos in concert), also considered their version of the song a tribute to one of the countries where they were most popular, and added a whispered "Sayonara" at the end of the song.

Johnson's explanation notwithstanding, the standard English translation of the Japanese lyrics has nothing in common with the lyrics used by A Taste of Honey.

A Spanish version (featuring the lyrics written by Janice Marie Johnson translated into Spanish) was also recorded by the late Tejano singer Selena in 1989.

Notable artists and bands who have recorded covers or variations of the original Ue o muite arukō include:

Other uses of the song

Rapper Slick Rick sang a verse of the Taste of Honey version of the song on his and Doug E. Fresh's hit 1985 song, "La Di Da Di"; he sang it from the perspective of an older woman who was infatuated with Rick. The rap duo Salt-n-Pepa then sang a similar verse on their own 1985 debut single, "The Show Stopper", which was a response to both "La Di Da Di" and the single to which it served as a B-side, The Show. Snoop Dogg included the verse in his 1993 cover of "La Di Da Di", titled "Lodi Dodi". Slick Rick also song the verse in a guest appearance on Will Smith's 1999 song "So Fresh". Possibly in homage to Slick Rick, the verse has also been included, in whole or in parts, on other hip-hop and R&B songs, including Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's "Bless Da 40 Oz.", Raphael Saadiq's 1995 hit "Ask Of You" and Mary J. Blige's 1997 song "Everything". Wii Music includes this song in the hand chime section.

References

  1. "坂本九さん 〜心のふるさと・笠間〜". Kasama Tourist Association (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  2. Ringo Houso. "uemuite" (in Japanese). Sigh For The Old Good Times. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  3. Fred Bronson (2003). "Sukiyaki". The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0823076776.
  4. "わたしの愛唱歌シリーズ第9集郵便切手". Japan Post. 1999-03-16. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  5. "Sushi-Yucky (Sukiyaki)". A Prairie Home Companion. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
Preceded by"It's My Party" by Lesley Gore Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Kyu Sakamoto version)
June 15, 1963 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by"Easier Said Than Done" by The Essex
Preceded by"Being with You" by Smokey Robinson Billboard Hot Soul Singles number-one single (A Taste of Honey version)
May 9, 1981 		Succeeded by"A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" by Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
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