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OGURA HYAKUNIN ISSHU — POEM No. 41 of 100

Koi su Chō

“They Say I Am in Love” — Mibu no TadamiSource: Shūishū, Love I · 621
恋すてふ わが名はまだき 立ちにけり
人知れずこそ 思ひそめしか
Koi su chō waga na wa madaki tachinikeri
hito shirezu koso omoisomeshika
'He is in love,' they say — the rumor is already abroad,
though I had only just begun to love, telling no one.
Koi su Chō 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
This is the poem that lost that same legendary contest of 960 — and has been sung beside the winner for a thousand years; tradition says Tadami took the defeat so hard he fell ill and died. His grief in the poem is gentler: the rumor of his love got out before he had even named the feeling to himself. Our song follows a modern heart overtaken by gossip — a feeling too new to be called love yet, still untouched by the noise — that finally decides: I will go and tell you in my own voice.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese
Verse 1

打ち明ける言葉 選んでるうちに

うわさのほうが 先に歩いた

廊下の視線 ひそひそ声

君は気まずそうに 目をそらす

Pre-Chorus

まだ何ひとつ 伝えてないのに

恋の名前だけ ひとり歩き

Chorus 1

恋すちょう わが名はまだき

立ちにけり 早すぎるだろう

人知れずこそ 思い初めたのに

そっと育てる はずだった花を

土の中から 抜かれてしまった

Verse 2

訂正するほど 嘘っぽくなる

黙っているほど 認めたことになる

本当のことは たったひとつだけ

君が好きだと まだ言えてない

Pre-Chorus

うわさの中の 「わたしの恋」は

わたしの恋と 別ものなのに

Chorus 2

恋すちょう わが名はまだき

立ちにけり 返してほしい

人知れず 温めた時間ごと

噂話の 軽さの中で

恋が別物に なっていく

Breakdown

恋すちょう わが名はまだき 立ちにけり

人知れずこそ 思い初めしか

Verse 3

はじまりは ほんの偶然

ふとした横顔 胸に灯った

恋と名づけるのも もったいなくて

そっとしまってた それだけなのに

Pre-Chorus

言葉になる前の 淡い光は

さわがしい声に かき消されていく

Chorus 3

恋すちょう わが名はまだき

立ちにけり それでも胸に

まだ誰にも 渡していない

生まれたままの 想いがひとつ

噂も知らない 色をしてる

Bridge

噂はいつか 風に消えても

この気持ちだけ ここに残る

知られたくらいで 枯れるような

やわな花じゃ なかったんだ

Final Chorus

うわさなんて 追い越してやれ

わたしの声で 伝えに行くよ

人知れず 思い初めた日から

この気持ちだけは 本物だから

君の返事を 聞かせてほしい

Outro

思い初めしか……

思い初めしか……

English

While I was choosing the words to confess

The rumor started walking ahead of me

Glances in the hallway, whispered voices

You look away, uncomfortable

I haven't told you a single thing yet

But the name of my love walks on alone

"She's in love" — my name, already

Set adrift — too soon, isn't it

Though I began to love in secret

The flower I meant to grow gently

Was pulled up from the soil

The more I deny it, the more it sounds like a lie

The more I stay silent, the more it looks like yes

Only one thing is true

I still haven't told you: I love you

"My love" inside the rumor

And my love — they're different things

"She's in love" — my name, already

Set adrift — please give it back

The time I nurtured alone, and everything else

Inside the lightness of gossip

My love is becoming something else

"She's in love," my name, already set adrift

Though I began to love in secret

It started as a small coincidence

A profile glimpsed by chance lit up my heart

Even calling it love felt too much

So I kept it quiet — that's all

The pale light before it became words

Is being drowned out by noisy voices

"She's in love" — my name, already

Set adrift — but still inside me

There's one feeling I've handed to no one

A newborn wish, whole and untouched

A color the rumors will never know

Even if the rumor is swept away by wind

This feeling stays right here

Was mine a flower so fragile

That being known could kill it? No

Let the rumor go on ahead

I'll pass it with my own voice

Since the day I began to love in secret

This one feeling alone has always been real

Please, let me hear your answer

Began to love in secret...

Began to love in secret...

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