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CLASSICS — BEYOND THE HYAKUNIN ISSHU

Iyoyo Masumasu

“More and More”Source: Ōtomo no Tabito (Man'yōshū V · 793)
世間は 空しきものと 知る時し
いよよますます 悲しかりけり
Yo no naka wa munashiki mono to shiru toki shi
iyoyo masumasu kanashikarikeri
The moment I understood that this world is emptiness,
the sadness only deepened — more and more.
Iyoyo Masumasu jacket art

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ
MUSIC VIDEO — COMING SOON

The Story

歌のものがたり
Around 728, the poet Ōtomo no Tabito, posted far from the capital, lost his beloved wife soon after arriving; this poem is his reply to condolences sent from home. Knowing the Buddhist teaching that the world is emptiness did not save him — the moment he truly understood it, the sadness only deepened; wisdom and grief are not the same thing. Our song sets that honest sorrow in the present, where understanding does not stop the hurt — and yet morning comes, and we choose to keep living, carrying grief without erasing it.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

さよならの意味を知った夜

わかってたはずなのに

「世間なんて空っぽだ」って

口にした 途端に

知ってしまえば 楽になれると そう思ってた

でも本当はね 知るほどに 痛いんだ

世間はむなしいものだと 知るその時こそ

いよよ ますます 悲しくて

答えを見つけた顔で 笑えないよ

わかるってことが こんなにも

重いなんて 知らなかった

それでも朝は来るんでしょ

眠れない夜に 流れてく

誰かの幸せと 別れと

全部 嘘じゃないのに

なんでこんな 空っぽなんだろう

強くなったわけじゃない ただ慣れただけ

泣けないことを 大人って 呼ぶのなら

世の中は むなしきものと 知る時し

いよよますます 悲しかりけり

千年前の あなたも 同じ夜を 数えてたの?

うつせみの この世界で

消えていく ものばかり数えて

それでも歌に したくなる

この悲しみを 抱きしめて

むなしいって わかったって

悲しみは 消えないまま

でも ひとりじゃ ないんだって

千年越しの 声がする

いよよ ますます 愛おしい

壊れやすい この世界が

朝焼けに 溶けてゆく

泣いてもいいよ ねえ

English

The night I learned what goodbye truly means

even though I thought I already knew

"The world is nothing but empty," I said —

and the very moment it left my lips

I thought that once I knew, it would set me free

but the truth is, the more I know, the more it aches

The very moment you know this world to be a hollow thing

ever more, ever deeper, the sorrow grows

I can't smile as if I've found the answer

I never knew that understanding

could weigh on me this heavily

and yet the morning still comes, doesn't it

Through sleepless nights they drift on by —

someone's happiness, someone's farewell

none of it is a lie, and still

why does everything feel so hollow

I haven't grown stronger, I've only grown used to it

if being unable to cry is what they call a grown-up

This world is a hollow thing, and when I know it

ever more, ever deeper, the sorrow grows

A thousand years ago, did you count these same nights too?

In this world, fleeting as a cicada's cast-off shell

I keep counting only the things that fade away

and even so, I long to turn it into a song

holding this sorrow close against my chest

Even knowing it's all in vain

the sorrow stays, it will not fade

and yet I'm not alone — I understand that now

a voice reaches me across a thousand years

ever more, ever deeper, how dear it becomes

this fragile, breakable world of ours

melting away into the morning glow

it's alright to cry, you know

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