The Edo period, 1689 (Genroku 2). On the journey recorded in Oku no Hosomichi, Matsuo Bashō rode a boat down the Mogami River, swollen with the rains of the rainy season. It is said that he first composed a greeting verse, "gathering the summer rains—cool," and later polished it into "swift."
Gathering all the ceaseless early-summer rain, the great river rushes on at a terrifying speed—in a single verse, the long rains that had symbolized gloom are flipped into hurtling energy. A verse that feels like the very power of words.
The lyrics take days sunk in "rain that won't stop" and set them running with the reversing force of the original verse. If plans and moods are all being swept away, then you might as well ride this speed. Gather the overflowing feelings without hiding them and run, not knowing where you're headed—a song with the rush of the rainy season breaking.
ぽつり ぽつり 窓を打つ音
止まない雨の中で 息をする
五月雨が 降り続いた 何日も
予定も気分も 流されてくみたいだ
誰かの声も どこかの正解も
全部まとめて この濁りに 飲み込まれてく
止まらないなら いっそ乗ってしまえばいい
怖いくらいの この速さに
あふれた想い 隠さなくていい
集めて 集めて あふれて 走り出す
迷ってる暇もないくらい 流れていけ
行き先も知らず 流されていく
板子一枚 その下で 渦まく水
白い飛沫が 頬を濡らす
岸の杉が 矢じりみたいに 後ろへ走る
濡れた笠が だんだん 重くなる
舟べりに しがみつく指
誰の手か もう わからない
止められないなら それも才能だろ
この濁りも いつか海になる
あふれた想い 隠さなくていい
集めて 集めて あふれて 走り出す
答えはきっと 流れた先にある
行き先も知らず 流されていく
にじむ景色 雨粒の向こうで
自分が今 どこに いるのかも 曖昧で
でも川は知ってる 行き先なんて聞かない
ただ低いほうへ ためらわず 落ちていく
涼しいなんて 言ってられない速さで
旅の途中 立ち止まれない 僕ら
雨よ降れ もっと降れ 全部集めて
怖さも期待も 一緒くたに 連れていけ
五月雨を 集めて早し 最上川
あふれた想い 隠さなくていい
集めて 集めて あふれて 走り出す
迷ってる暇もないくらい 流れていけ
行き先も知らず 流されていく
止まない雨の その先へ
五月雨を 集めて早し……
最上川……
ぽつり ぽつり……
Drop by drop, sound striking the window
I breathe in the rain that won't stop
The summer rains have fallen for days
My plans, my mood, all sweeping away
Someone's voice, some right answer somewhere
Everything swallowed by this murky current
If it won't stop, just ride it instead
At this frightening speed
Don't hide what overflows inside you
Gather, gather, overflow, and start running
Too fast to hesitate—just flow along
With no destination, I'm carried away
Beneath one plank of wood, the water whirls
White spray strikes against my cheek
The cedars on the bank rush past like arrows
My wet straw hat grows heavier and heavier
Fingers clinging to the boat's edge
Whose hand it is, I no longer know
If you can't stop it, that too is a gift
This murky stream becomes the sea someday
Don't hide what overflows inside you
Gather, gather, overflow, and start running
The answer must lie somewhere downstream
With no destination, I'm carried away
The blurring scene beyond the raindrops
Even where I am now becomes uncertain
But the river knows—it never asks the way
It just falls without doubt toward the lowest path
At a speed past saying "this feels cool"
We can't stop in the middle of this journey
Rain, fall harder, gather everything together
Take fear and hope, all jumbled, with you
Gathering the summer rains, the swift Mogami River
Don't hide what overflows inside you
Gather, gather, overflow, and start running
Too fast to hesitate—just flow along
With no destination, I'm carried away
Beyond the rain that will not stop
Gathering the summer rains, swift...
The Mogami River...
Drop by drop...