Hosono himself mentioned writing the words to the song in a fever state. He has said the music (which came first) demanded not just an oriental scene, but a chaotic oriental scene, and the more chaotic the better. And so we have Yokohama's Chinatown in flames. "Nobody there seemed to mind the lyrics, though," he added. And he'd know, having performed the song on location at least twice.
The first time I gave this translation a go, some six months back, I thought the "you" was the duck itself, and that the red shoes were where the fire met the legs of the hanging duck, and that the foreigner was a chef preparing to cook it. But now that I have a somewhat better grasp of Japanese grammar, it's clear that the duck and the "you" are different characters (and, as per the Japanese wikipedia page for the song, some interpret the ending as a plot twist, in which the "you" and the duck meet up, continuing their escape together). The red of the shoes definitely does have some connection with the red of the streets on fire, but I'm not so sure anymore what that connection is.
:::
Yokohama! The shining city!
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The first time I gave this translation a go, some six months back, I thought the "you" was the duck itself, and that the red shoes were where the fire met the legs of the hanging duck, and that the foreigner was a chef preparing to cook it. But now that I have a somewhat better grasp of Japanese grammar, it's clear that the duck and the "you" are different characters (and, as per the Japanese wikipedia page for the song, some interpret the ending as a plot twist, in which the "you" and the duck meet up, continuing their escape together). The red of the shoes definitely does have some connection with the red of the streets on fire, but I'm not so sure anymore what that connection is.
:::
Yokohama! The shining city!
It's raining,
and just like in that old movie, Singing in the Rain,
there's a man busy singing
as the rain comes down.
A foreigner or someone like that
must have brought you here
and now you're lost.
You've got red shoes on.
Chinatown is an ocean of flame.
There's a duck making a frantic escape
through the fire's furious blaze,
running down the burning streets.
It must be one of those famous Peking Ducks
that's gotten loose.
Yokohama! The shining city!
The fire's ascending,
and just like in a dream,
Chinatown is an ocean of flame.
There's a duck making a frantic escape
through the fire's furious blaze,
running down the burning streets.
It must be one of those famous Peking Ducks
that's gotten loose.
Both the rain
and the blazing flame
are buffeting your back,
and you're holding something
tightly to your chest as you run —
oh, it's that Peking Duck I saw before!
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