Didn’t think I’d make it this Igu Day, but this song is relatively, uh…straightforward. The only thing I’m not 100% sure about is who the subject of the lines is. The pronoun “I” isn’t used anywhere in this song, but the line この手 (kono te, “this hand” or “these hands”) can only refer to an “I;” you wouldn’t say この手 in reference to someone else’s hands. Unless you were holding them I suppose, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here given the story. So I understand this song as a story being told in first person. The final verse is the person talking to themselves in command form.

This song is a rarity in that the lyrics were written by Jyou! Omi handled the music. I checked the blogs of Jyou, Omi, and miko for posts specifically about this song but there weren’t really any.

Lyrics in Japanese can be found here on Rock Lyric.

☆

forward

kowai kurai hiroi sekai de
mou nani mo nai to hitorikiri de utsumuki

miageta ao ni te wo nobashite ashita wo motometeta

hateshinaku tsuzuku sora wo tsukamezu ni
tsukihanasareta kodoku no naka de
hitori nakikuzure mae e susumenai
tomaranai toki no hari wa saki e susumu

kowai kurai jiyuuna sekai de
kono te ni wa nani mo nai to hitori utsumuki

genjitsu ni ao wo muke hitomi wo tojita kedo kikoeta uta ga aru*

hateshinaku tsuzuku sora wo tsukamezu ni
tsukihanasareta kodoku no naka de
kimi ga oshietekureta jibun de iru koto
tomaranai toki no hari to tomo ni susumu

hateshinaku tsuzuku kono sora no shita de
kimi wo matsu koe ga koko ni aru yo
nakidashita yoru mo wasurenakute ii
hana no you ni saita kimi no omoi

hitotsu arukidase ima
tooku hanareta basho e to mukau
kataku tozasareta tobira wo tataite
tsuzuku nagai michi sora no shita wo susume

forward

In a world so big it’s scary
I hang my head all alone; there’s nothing left

I looked up at all that blue, reaching out, seeking tomorrow

Unable to grasp that endless sky
Within the loneliness I had pushed away
I break down and cry alone, unable to move forward
The relentless hands of time go on ahead

In a world so free it’s scary
I hang my head all alone; there’s nothing left for these hands

In time I turned toward the blue and closed my eyes, but there’s a song I heard

Unable to grasp that endless sky
Within the loneliness I had pushed away
You taught me to be myself
I move forward, along with the relentless hands of time

There’s a voice waiting for you right here,
Underneath this endless sky
It’s okay if I never forget that night I cried
Thoughts of you bloomed like flowers

Take one step now
Heading to a place far away from here
Pound on the tightly closed doors
Under the sky, on this long long road, move forward

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*This little line has a lot going on! First, Jyou makes at least two changes in this line. She sings 今に (ima ni, “in time” or “soon”) for the written lyric 現実に (genjitsu ni, “in reality”). Second, she sings 目 (me, “eye[s]”) for the written lyric 瞳 (hitomi, literally “pupil” but often used poetically to mean “eyes” or “gaze”). Another interesting point is that for uta meaning “song” she chose the kanji 唄, which usually denotes traditional Japanese music. The fact that she heard the song is stated in past tense, yet the fact that song is there is stated in non-past tense. I don’t know what to make of that. Lastly, it really doesn’t sound to me like she’s saying 閉じた (tojita, “closed”) but I can’t make out what else it would be.