Translation: My Heart Goes "Kyun" for You (Yellow Magic Orchestra)

Haruomi Hosono's Chaos Panic was originally meant to open Naughty Boys, but there were delays in manufacturing, which allowed time for second thoughts, and the band came up with a new misson: they would write a song that would hit #1 on the singles chart! Yes! (Several Yellow Magic Orchestra albums had hit #1 on the albums chart, but the singles chart was relatively alien territory.) 

So they figured out the music for My Heart Goes "Kyun" for You together (although, as Nic of Critter Jams points out, the legendary music video gives you the impression that it's Yukihiro Takahashi's song, and that the other two "fucking hate it") and recruited hitmaker-lyricist extraordinaire, Takashi Matsumoto, for the words. 

The result? The single made it all the way up to #2, and stalled. And who was to blame? Hosono and Matsumoto, whose song Kiss in Blue Heaven, written for reigning queen of the charts, Seiko Matsuda, overtook Kyun.

Every time I listen, and can take enough of my attention away from the gorgeous music and vocals to notice the lyrics, I find it strange that Matsumoto's story is of a summer fling, all ocean and beach and sunshine, because the music puts me in mind of spring rain. All those sad, warm, bubbly synths!

Actually, this song is to blame for me not getting interested in Takashi Matsumoto's post-Happy End days sooner. The title line is immortal, of course (again, see the music video), but the rest, while solid (the narrator's personality certainly comes across; the "platonic" bit is a special nod to Hosono, who had written two songs about platonic love for his album Philharmony the previous year) isn't too special. On the page, at least. Takahashi's soulful singing gives the words life.



:::



My heart goes “kyun” for you.
In the naughty summertime,
you put your hand on my shoulder.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
"You like me, don’t you?" you ask.
It’s scary to be read like an open book.

The line dance of the ripples
breaks time, and only time, apart.
The voltage in our glances
heats things up.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
It’s like printing paper in the summer:
the sunlight alone is enough to ignite it.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
And that’s uncharacteristically 

platonic for me, you know.

The breeze from off the sea is cruel,
measuring the distance between our hearts.
When you lowered your eyes for a moment,
I felt such a sweet and painful yearning.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
But "I love you" can't be said so easily.

I’ve seen that happen 

in Italian movies too, though.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
In the naughty summertime,
you put your hand on my shoulder.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
"You like me, don’t you?" you ask.
It’s scary to be read like an open book.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
But "I love you" can't be said so easily.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
I run along the shoreline,
held close by the shade of the clouds.

My heart goes “kyun” for you.
In the naughty summertime...

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