SHIAWASE NO IMI
KŌAN A: Luke's first Japanese song: ignore the ringing phone, then a familiar voice says change now; come to another world, 幸せの意味, I'll show ya.
Listen: Spotify·Apple Music
ISRC QZDA42257783 (soundexchange)
Track four on KŌAN, KŌAN A (March 2022). Luke solo. Bandcamp notes call this Scoobert’s first song written in Japanese, and the title means roughly the meaning of happiness (幸せ shiawase, happiness; 意味 imi, meaning). Same Japan/Zen season as 無門関 and What Makes You You; longer arc in The Bent Stick.
The verses move from a morning of ignoring the phone to picking it up and, without knowing why, finding a familiar voice on the other end. It tells you the same thing twice (今何かを変える時, now is the time to change something) in wellness-poster Japanese, the Don’t Worry register of commands that don’t land, except here it’s sung sincerely. Verse two names the stuck place between ordinary, black-and-white days and the fear that keeps you in them.
The bilingual hook is the whole offer: come to another world with me, a place where you can finally be happy. 幸せの意味, 見せるよ, I’ll show ya. The promise ends on I’ll show ya twice, an offer, never a definition: happiness defined by whoever shows it to you. Middle of the LP hinge between Think About It and Keep Calm Atomic Bomb (KŌAN essay), and after Boardwalk’s idle beach, another world as movement inward rather than along the sand.
Written, performed, and mixed by Luke Francis Walton. Mastered by Riley Knapp. Artwork by Grizzard Graphics.
Lyrics
いつもの朝 鳴り止まない電話 出ないまま無視して イライラして、もういいや スマホを手にとって 少し考えた僕は なぜかわからないまま 君と話していたんだ 君の声は 聞き覚えのある声 どこか懐かしい声 どこか優しい声 君はこう言ったね 今何かを変える時 君の未来が君を待ってる 今何かを変える時 Come to another world with me A place where you can finally be happy 幸せの意味 見せるよ I'll show ya Come to another world with me A place where you can finally be happy 幸せの意味 見せるよ I'll show ya 平凡な日々 白黒な日々 変えるのは怖くて だからできなくて 君はこう言ったね 今何かを変える時 君の未来が君を待ってる 今何かを変える時 Come to another world with me A place where you can finally be happy 幸せの意味 見せるよ I'll show ya Come to another world with me A place where you can finally be happy 幸せの意味 見せるよ I'll show ya I'll show ya