I Look Up When I Walk

I was playing around on YouTube yesterday when I came across a video of Kyu Sakamoto singing his hit song Sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is the only Japanese language song to become a hit in the United States- it reached number one on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1963 and was one of my favorite songs (still is) as a child. As I listened I wondered just what the lyrics to the the song were and did a quick Google search. It turns out that the song's original title is Ue o Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk) and the words to this bouncy little tune describe a young man's grief over the loss of his love.

I look up when I walk
So the tears won't fall
Remembering those happy spring days
But tonight I'm all alone

I look up when I walk
Counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those happy summer days
But tonight I'm all alone

Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky

I look up when I walk
So the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

(whistling)

Remembering those happy autumn days
But tonight I'm all alone

Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up when I walk
So the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

(whistling)

Fast forward to 1995 when I first hear 4 P.M. singing a song that I think at the time is titled You Took Your Love Away From Me on the radio. As I listen I realize the melody is from Sukiyaki. It quickly becomes a favorite of mine.

It's all because of you
I'm feelin' sad and blue
You went away
Now my life is just a rainy day
And I love you so
How much you'll never know
You've gone away and left me lonely

Untouchable memories
Seem to keep haunting me
Another love so true
That once turned all my gray skies blue

But you disappeared (you disappeared)
Now my eyes are filled with tears
And I'm wishing you were here with me

Soaked with love all my thoughts of you
Now that you're gone I just don't know what to

If only you were here
You'd wash away my tears
The sun would shine
And once again you'll be me mine oh mine
But in reality (re-al-i-ty)
You and I will never be
'Cause you took your love away from me

(spoken: Girl,
I don't know what I did to make you leave me,
But what I do know,
Is that since you've been gone,
There's such an emptiness inside me,
I'm wishin' you would come back to me)

If only you were here
You'd wash away my tears
The sun would shine and once again
You'd me mine oh mine

But in reality (re-al-i-ty)
You and I will never be
'Cause you took your love away from me, ah baby
You took your love away from me

I've always wondered about the lyrics to 4 P.M.'s Sukiyaki and discovered that their version of the song was not a cover of Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki but a cover of a recording by the band A Taste of Honey. The new lyrics were written by the band's bassist/guitarist Janice Marie Johnson and sung by her and the group's other guitarist Hazel Payne. In Spring 1981 the song reached number one on Billboard's R&B chart and number three on the Pop chart. Why I cannot remember this version of Sukiyaki, I'll never know.

It's all because of you
I'm feeling sad and blue
You went away
Now my life is just a rainy day

I love you so
How much you'll never know
You've gone away and left me lonely

Untouchable memories
Seem to keep haunting me
Of love so true
That once turned all my gray skies blue

But you've disappeared
Now my eyes are filled with tears
I'm wishin' you were here with me

Soft with love are my thoughts of you
Now that you're gone I don't know what to do

If only you were here
You'd wash away my tears
The sun would shine
And once again you'd be mine, all mine

But in reality
You and I will never be
'Cause you took your love away from me, ooooooh

(music bridge)

If only you were here
You'd wash away my tears
The sun would shine
Once again you'd be mine, all mine

But in reality
You and I will never be
'Cause you took your love away from me, ooooh, baby
You took your love away from me

(spoken: Sayonara)

I must say that I love all  three versions of Sukiyaki. There is something haunting about the melody that grabs me and won't let go.