Japanese To English

Someone else pointed out on another "Down Colorful Hill" song that this album has a lot of Japanese references, this one being the most obvious. Notice the lines "I drank so much tea / I wrote my letters in Kanji" on Medicine Bottle and "put me to sleep here / and wake me in Japan. / I want to speak a new language" on Lord Kill the Pain. Interesting how Japan is used in three different ways: in this song language seems like an awful barrier which keeps us alone; in Lord Kill the Pain the idea of a new language seems to offer some hope to what is otherwise a pretty fed up speaker; and in Medicine Bottle Japan seems to invoke a kind of quiet contemplation, like a zen monk the country is so famous for.

I just think it's interesting sometimes how a place can capture our imagination, sometimes even if we've never been there.

This is a quitessential RHP song. No Mix tape to an old girlfriend your trying to woo back would be complete without it.

i cant beleive anyone who likes this band would not comment on this song. i think they must just be totally pussy. if your reading this now your obviously not pussy because here you are n all, unless you actually came here earlier and were all like "ohh nah im not gonna write anything its not that great.." cause id be like "ohh man thats so pussy... it is that great and your just timid, weak, wussy, frigid and fraidy cat that you dont fucking love this kick ass song.... yeah hows your band going?"

it's like crossing over the cultural boundaries for love..........good stuff, i love this song.

This song is fucking amazing!

"It's not that simple this dictionary never has a word for the way i'm feeling.."

RHP are Brilliant!

what i had to say is unsaid what i had to do is undone

you still got hope when you got something more to say, and you're a living individual...love this song...it would be so nice to have a japanese lover...and maybe it would be difficult to understand even her face and behaviour... RHP right at the aim one more time

Wow. That last comment is marginally offensive.

I don't think this song is literally about taking a Japanese lover. I mean maybe it is, but it seems to really be about being somewhere else in the world and feeling completely alone and unable to relate both literally and metaphorically. The "we" is clearly NOT a happy pair.

If you've ever been with someone 10 years older than you, you will definitely understand this song and how sometimes, it feels like translating english to japanese and japanese to english.

For years, I imagined him talking about an onsen (Japanese word for a hot spring) instead of 'on the sand'. Always found onsens a scary experience when you're not sure of the culture mores. But can be such a beautiful, relaxing experience in an outdoor onsen. You can be warm yet it's snowing on your head. I imagined the connection to onsens with "this dictionary never has the word for the way I'm feeling"

What a beautiful, haunting song about a relationship gone wrong. Really gets to me. Fantastic album as well.