Kayo Kyoku Plus: Yumi Arai -- Hikoki Gumo （ひこうき雲）

Today, I came across this blog post - Kayo Kyoku Plus: Yumi Arai -- Hikoki Gumo （ひこうき雲）.  Last spring, a friend of mine lost his 4 year old to brain tumor.  Upon reading this post and the lyrics, it immediately reminded me of that...

The English translation is excellent.  If there's one thing I think could be improved, it would be the 3rd paragraph.  In my humble opinion, the line,
    高いあの窓で　あの子は死ぬ前も 空をみていたの
is a question.  And the next 2 lines are the singer's answer to this question.  Basically, the singer is asking herself a question and then she answers herself (and the answer is "she doesn't know the answer").

So, I would have done it like this:

By that tall window, before that child passed away
Was he also gazing at the sky?
I don't know at this moment
Other people also don't know
I just think he was too young
But he's happy

Correction: Now that I read the lyrics again, I think I was wrong.  Thanks to Miyazaki Hayao's (宮崎駿) recent anime "The Wind Rises" (風立ちぬ).  Otherwise, I would not have listened to the song and read the lyrics again.  The English translation at Kayo Kyoku Plus is as good as it can get.

- June 21, 2014 

Here's the original Japanese lyrics:

白い坂道が空まで続いていた
ゆらゆらかげろうが
あの子を包む
誰も気づかず　ただひとり
あの子は昇ってゆく
誰もおそれない　そして舞い上がる

空に憧れて　空をかけてゆく
あの子の命はひこうき雲

高いあの窓で　あの子は死ぬ前も
空をみていたの
今はわからない
ほかの人にはわからない
あまりにも若すぎたと
ただ思うだけ　けれどしあわせ

空に憧れて　空をかけてゆく
あの子の命はひこうき雲

空に憧れて　空をかけてゆく
あの子の命はひこうき雲

ウー　ウー　ウー　ウー