Ai no Melody

Performed by: KOKIA
Lyrics: ??
Composer: ??

Released as the single “Ai no Melody”.
Ending song to anime movie Gin-iro no Kami no Agito.

The lyrics can be found here. English translation from gendou.

…

The song opens with a soft piano introduction. This provides the basis of the backing, and it continues throughout the song. However, this solo does not last for long (as if it was ever anything other than backing….), as KOKIA begins to sing after only one refrain of the piano line.

anata marude komorebi no you ni
watashi ni ikiru kibou kureta  shiawase ga waratta
kioku no naka no nukumori mune ni
nani yori mo tsuyoi kizuna wo kanjite iru wa 
You’re just like the sunlight through the leaves
Gave me the happy smile, courage and will to live on
The warmth of the heart in my memory
Is beyond all the trammels

So, KOKIA begins to sing in her high, strangely child-like voice. Honestly, her voice fascinates me. It’s warm and gentle, like a mother….yet, with a childish aspect to it. And when she sings she pays attention to each note; the inflection is always exact and careful, like her little touches of emotion in the verses. Her pitch is good too. >_> Yes, I like KOKIA. If only she were prettier! …I’m so shallow.

The melody here is quite interesting also. It has quite a restricted range, seeming to focus mainly on the note “D”, and the syllables are mostly held for the same short length of time. I’m quite impressed that she can sing all that so evenly in time with the music and not mispronounce anything…but then, Japanese is probably her native language. And she must practise, I guess.

As for the lyrics….well, what can I say. They sound nice in Japanese, but now that I know what they mean, I’m quite…interested.

Gosh, those pesky trammels.

watashi ga watashi rashiku irareru no wa  anata ga iru kara
It’s all because of you, that I can live like myself

Ah, harmonies. <3 A bridge-type thing, settling into a more melodious type of…melody. Leads straight into the chorus.

anata wo ai shite umareta  uta wo utaou
  watashi no ai no akashi ni
shinjite  doko made mo todoke watashi no omoi
  anata ga ikite iru koto ga shinjitsu
Singing I was born to love you is the proof of my love
And you trust that this feeling will be sent to you, and that you are still alive

I really like the constrast between the fast-paced verse and drawn-out chorus. Her tone is so pretty, too, never seeming to lose control, whilst still portraying the emotion of the song. It just shows for all those shouty people – you don’t need to shout to be emotional!

I am doubtful about the lyrics. Don’t you think that it would be more  likely to be….”I believe that my feelings will be sent to you, and that you are still alive”…then again, I actually don’t know, I’m probably wrong. I don’t know much Japanese, sadly.

(wow……ooooooooooooooo………..)

The piano plays a sort of countermelody for a bit, then KOKIA sings another bridge-thing.

itooshikute  ureshikute  kanashikute  setsunakute
kuyashikute  modokashikute…  ai no MERODI-
Pity, happiness, sorrow, vexation, regret, anxiety
Make up the melody of love

I must confess that I do like the lyrics here. A nice idea, listing all the adjectives that make up the MELODY OF LOVE. There are more words that could be used to describe love, which is why i would have preferred it if the lyrics were changed at least for the second time this part is sung. Then again, possibly they couldn’t find any words to fit, and these sound good anyway.

Again, harmonies = love.

Piano interlude. It’s quite a nice sounding piano. I like the atmospheric effects, like the random strings and erm..percussion.

karamiatta kokoro no ito wo
tokihogusu mae ni wakareta  tsurakutemo nozonda
“kono ai wo tsuranukou” hitorigoto no you ni
永久(towa) ni chikai wo tateru
Before I untied the knot in my heart
We were separated, but I have no regrets though I was sad
‘Keep the love alive’ I said this to myself
In order to keep the promise alive

The monotone verse! …the lyrics are quite strange.

One thing I think this song does really well is the dynamic contrast and flow of the song. Some songs are extremely repetitive, or are the same volume throughout; not so Ai no Melody. This starts mid-soft(verse), mid-loud(chorus+bridge), mid-soft(verse), mid-loud(chorus), loud (rayaraya), very soft (m~I love you), loudest (final chorus), soft(ai no melody #1), mid-soft (ai no melody #2). So as we can see, it has a nice dynamic progression and holds attention well.

itooshisa ni tsutsumareru MERODI-  maiagare sora ni
The melody is surrounded by the love, fly to the sky

I like the way she sounds like she’s really going for it here, in terms of emotion and power, but somehow still sounds gentle and toneful in the chorus.

sono 瞳(me) ni mienai taisetsu na mono wo miseyou
  afureru ai no izumi ni
omoi wa doko made mo fukaku  toki wo koetemo
  ikite yukeru  sore ga watashi no ai no uta
In that spring of overflowing love, to show you something more important than you have seen with your own eyes
This love for you is so deep, through time and space,
Beyond life itself, this is the song of my love

A chest voice –> head voice transition? It’s quite effective here, though. Portrays the…emotion.

(ra~ya~ra~ya~ra~ya~  ooooooooooooo etc.)

I quite like this bit, it provides a complete contrast from everything that’s gone before. The voices singing this are harsher and more penetrating (but still very toneful…it doesn’t take much to be harsher/more penetrating than KOKIA) than the main singer, but it is possible that she’s altered her voice to sing this, in which case I am most impressed. If she can sing both ways…that’s quite exciting, i think.

The dynamic drops dramatically, with almost all backing fading away, until we’re left with nothing but the piano and KOKIA.

mmm  fureru hada wo  toiki ga nozoru
“nee  mou nechatta no?”  sore nara mimimoto de “I love you”
I touch your body and feel your breath, ‘are you asleep already?’
If you are, then I whisper ‘I love you’

Quite a random section, where KOKIA almost whispers. It’s very effective, though, and showcases her unique tone. It’s quite brave of her to drop to this volume, too. I wonder what this song would be like if she performed it live? I can imagine that the whole audience would be silent, listening to her whisper “I love you”…then once more plunging into the chorus, with a drastic change in dynamic!

anata wo ai shite umareta  uta wo utaou
  watashi no ai no akashi ni
shinjite  doko made mo todoke watashi no omoi
  anata ga ikite iru koto ga shinjitsu
It’s all because of you, that I can live like myself
Singing I was born to love you is the proof of my love
And u trust that this feeling will be sent to you, and that you are still alive

sono 瞳(me) ni mienai taisetsu na mono wo miseyou
  afureru ai no izumi ni
anata to deatte  nagaredashita kono MERODI-
furuete iru ima kono toki mo ikiteru
In that spring of overflowing love, to show you something more important than you have seen with your own eyes
The flow of the melody when I met you
Still exists in this shaking time

itooshikute  ureshikute  kanashikute  setsunakute
kuyashikute  modokashikute…  ai no MERODI-
itooshikute  ureshikute  kanashikute  setsunakute
kuyashikute  modokashikute…  ai no MERODI-
Pity, happiness, sorrow, vexation, regret, anxiety
Make up the melody of love
Pity, happiness, sorrow, vexation, regret, anxiety
Make up the melody of love 

Almost whispered, as in the “I love you” part. Effective, but makes one wonder about whether she has that much power in her voice…? It’s hard to know, you would have to listen to one of her other songs to find out. Maybe I will~! I really liked this song, and her voice is pretty enough for me to want to hear more. Care to recommend any?

…apart from that, this song is rounded off well, with the ending repeated twice. If it was sung only once, i don’t think the song would be so satisfying. And it was a good idea also to cut the almost-whispering and sing the last lines properly, at about the same volume as the beginning – makes one feel that it has come full circle.

~Pity, happiness, sorrow, vexation, regret, anxiety make up the melody of love.