Those Summer Days (feat. GUMI)

About this song

A quiet reflection on memory.
Released during Obon-Japan's quiet season of remembrance.

Lyrics (English)

"Those Summer Days"

At dusk, along a trail through the paddies
Golden waves of rice swayed in the breeze
Stepping on shadows, I returned once more
To this place held so dear

In the river beyond, drifted and played
Bathed in the midday sun
At evening, silver shadows leapt and shimmered
On the river, beneath quiet eyes

Back and forth through festival stalls
Within the shrine at twilight
Cheerful voices and soft glowing lanterns
Unraveled into the quiet night at the mountain's foot

Green grass scents the air
Walking with the sound of water beside me
Drifting to distant days, with those once known
Swinging nets, chasing after winged things

Small and breathless, chasing in the sun
Burnt cheeks, wings like gossamer
Now only a shimmer in the heat

Countless stars once shimmered above
A sky that stole the breath away
Now filled with sleepless lights
And wonder fading into the haze

Grandma, living now in a quiet place
No longer knows just who I am
She gazes far off, singing "Red Dragonfly"
Like a girl, lost in the song

Seasons turn, and colors change
But this feeling does not
Still quietly here, and part of me

In the hush before dawn, it softly returns
The clear call of a waking cicada
Wrapped again in those summer days,
My eyes gently close once more.