Member comments about Shinsekai Souzouki - First Half

The members have posted personal comments about every song on the Shinsekai Souzouki album! The link to their original comments on the official website is here. I'm really sleepy today and this is NOT my best work, but here's my English translation.

1. Kokoro no naka made [Into my heart] (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru)

I made both the sound and the melody with the image of a new beginning in mind. It has a feeling of movement from quiet to greater activity, and because we're a 3-piece group, we were able to include the strength of each of our own individual sounds.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

I started writing this as I was wondering why we use the phrase "inside our hearts," when we don't even know where our "hearts" are, or what shape they are. I just wrote simply about the feeling of that "heart" overflowing at nothing more than being next to someone.
(Kawabe Toru)

2. Hard to say I love you ~Iidasenakute [I can't say it]~ (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru)

I included a feeling of tension in the melody and beat, in order to show the temptation and loneliness, and even a bit of the pain that one feels when one wants to say something but can't let it out. Even within the album, this song was the first step towards a new sound for WEAVER.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

Since this was chosen as the theme song for a drama, I wrote the words while thinking about the characters' emotions. I tried to write about the feelings of impatience that all of us have when we can't let ourselves open up to others.
(Kawabe Toru)

3. Bokura no eien ~Nando umarekawattemo, te o tsunagitai dake no ai dakara~ [Our Eternity ~No matter how many times we're reborn, this love keeps us wanting to hold hands~ (Music: Okuno Shota / Lyrics Kawabe Toru)

I wanted to write a song that could make you feel gentler just listening to it, a song that could rescue your heart, and so I wrote this song. I wrote it while picturing the three of us playing it and Sugimoto singing it, so I think that we've made this into a song that WEAVER can confidently present to our listeners.
(Okuno Shota)

I wanted to write a straight-forward song that says, "I don't have much confidence in myself, but my love for you is second to none." I'm sure that everyone has wished to keep something eternally, and also that everyone knows it's impossible. I think it's really wonderful that we still have the power to wish for it anyway.
(Kawabe Toru)

4. Yasashii Uta [Gentle Song] (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru)

I wrote a melody that was warm and fresh like the spring, but with a slightly sentimental and pure feeling to match. I wrote it about two years ago, so when I hear the melody now, it makes me feel nostalgic for a younger and purer time.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

I wrote these lyrics during our Tokyo / Nagoya / Osaka tour in June of 2010.
I thought that I never wanted to forget that fun atmosphere, but it's possible that someday we will forget those things we wanted to always remember. But I wrote this hoping that even if we forget, we can experience new things that are just as fun.
(Kawabe Toru)

5. Kimi to boku no teema songu [Our themesong] (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru]

I wrote this while imagining a person who feels small and unable to express himself well except through music, but who sings about wanting someone to notice him. The whole melody sounds like it's speaking to you, and I think that out of all our new songs, this one has the sound that most brings out its melody.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

During a time when every day was full of difficulties, I've sometimes wished I could become someone other than myself. I thought about what I would have liked to hear someone say to me back then when I was struggling, and wrote it into this song.
I'm sure that there are many people who could be saved just by realizing that they're not the only people struggling. This song is trying to tell them that they're not alone.
(Kawabe Toru)

6. Tsuyogari Bambi [Bluffing Bambi] (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru)

I wrote this music in a bluesy way that we could just play freely, not overburdening it with too much hidden meaning. We also didn't over-think the arrangement, but just played our instruments freely, almost like ad-libbing.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

I wrote these words because I think that there are lots of people who've found themselves trying to act tough in a lot of different situations, but I think if we could all just accept those weaknesses in ourselves and each other, the world could become a really kind place.
Also, this melody reminded me of my favorite deer, so I had him make an appearance.
(Kawabe Toru)

7. Tinkerbell (Music: Sugimoto Yuji / Lyrics: Kawabe Toru)

I tried to write this as a deeper song, pop but with the depth of Western music.
It's an extremely simple arrangement, but I think it turned out as a song with a deep sound that makes you feel a mysterious world around you.
(Sugimoto Yuji)

I wrote this in the hopes that the people who listened to it could get a glimpse of a dreamworld. And I hope that it will also help them stand up a little straighter as they live in this real world around us.
(Kawabe Toru)

English translation by Laura Bartholomew

I'll try to translate the second half soon!