Your words, 'I will never forget you,' can hardly hold true far into the future — so I wish my life would end today, while I still have them.
The Mother of Gidō Sanshi — Takashina no Takako (d. 996) — was a mid-Heian court lady, daughter of Takashina no Naritada, who served Emperor En'yū as a lady-in-waiting and was called Kō no Naishi. Well versed in Chinese poetry and prose, she became the principal wife of Fujiwara no Michitaka and the mother of Korechika, Takaie and Empress Teishi, consort of Emperor Ichijō; 'Gidō Sanshi' is her son Korechika's title. This poem, Shin Kokin Wakashū, Love III, 1149, was composed 'when the Regent Michitaka first began to visit' — at the beginning of their marriage. Its first word, wasureji, 'I'll never forget you', is Michitaka's own vow, placed at the head of the poem. Michitaka later rose to regent, but died suddenly in 995; within a year Korechika and Takaie fell from power and the house collapsed. A poem that, at the height of happiness, said 'this cannot last' ended up foretelling the fate of the family.
She has been told 'I'll never forget you'. It should be the happiest night, and yet the moment she hears the words, the future frightens her. No one can promise forever. So let today be the last — 'let my life end today' is not a wish to die but a wish for time to stop while she is happy. It is not a poem that doubts the vow; it is a poem by someone who knows how heavy a vow is. Joy and fear arrive on the same night at the same size, and the poem holds that instant in thirty-one syllables.
What drew us to this poem was its contradiction: being told 'I'll never forget you', being happy, and being frightened by the very words. In today's scene it is a station platform before the last train: 'never' — how far does that reach? Could you still say it a year from tonight? The last train means that today ends, which is exactly the poem's 'today, and only today'. The chorus sings the poem as it is and then translates it — I felt that even if today were the last, it would be fine; that is how happy tonight was — and the hook became 'today, and only today'. No one knows what lies ahead, so no promises are needed as long as there is today; just remember this one day. The bridge tells how someone long ago, on a night like this, was told the same words and cried, too happy and afraid of what came next. Not only for love — a song for anyone who, at the happiest moment, already knows it cannot last. That is what we put into it, as bright, bittersweet Japanese pop with a light female voice, a stop-time lift into the chorus, and a key change at the end.
忘れじの（新古今集/儀同三司母・百人一首54番）Garu JP
「ずっと忘れない」と 君が言った
終電前の 駅のホームで
うれしいはずの その言葉が
少しだけ 怖かった
ずっとって どこまでだろう
来年の今日も 言えるのかな
先のことは 誰にも分からないから
忘れじの 行く末までは かたければ
今日を限りの 命ともがな
今日が最後でも いいと思えた
それくらい 幸せな夜だった
明日のことは 明日に置いて
今日を限りに 今日を限りに
写真を撮って 髪を直して
終電が来るまで あと三分
いつか忘れる日が 来るとしても
今日のことだけは 覚えていて
ずっとって 言わなくていい
今日だけ ほんとなら それでいい
先のことは 誰にも分からないから
忘れじの 行く末までは かたければ
今日を限りの 命ともがな
今日が最後でも いいと思えた
それくらい 幸せな夜だった
約束はいらない 今日があれば
今日を限りに 今日を限りに
いにしえの人も 同じ夜に
「忘れない」と 言われて泣いた
うれしすぎて 先が怖くて
今日で終わっても いいと歌った
忘れじの 行く末までは かたければ
今日を限りの 命ともがな
明日 忘れられても 構わない
それくらい 幸せな夜だった
終電が来る 手を振る
今日を限りに 今日を限りに
命ともがな……
今日を限りに
Wasureji no (Shin Kokin-shu / Gido Sanshi no Haha, Hyakunin Isshu No. 54) Garu JP
"I'll never forget you," you said
On the station platform before the last train
Words that should have made me happy
Frightened me, just a little
"Never" — how far does that reach?
Could you still say it a year from tonight?
No one knows what lies ahead
"I'll never forget you" — but no vow can hold to the end of days
So let my life end today, at its happiest
I felt that even if today were the last, it would be fine
That is how happy tonight was
Leave tomorrow's things to tomorrow
Today, and only today; today, and only today
We took a photo, I fixed my hair
Three minutes until the last train comes
Even if the day you forget me should come
Please remember this one day
You don't have to say "never"
If it's true just for today, that's enough
No one knows what lies ahead
"I'll never forget you" — but no vow can hold to the end of days
So let my life end today, at its happiest
I felt that even if today were the last, it would be fine
That is how happy tonight was
I don't need promises, as long as I have today
Today, and only today; today, and only today
Long ago, on a night like this
Someone was told "I'll never forget you," and cried
Too happy, and afraid of what came next
She sang that it could end today and she would not mind
"I'll never forget you" — but no vow can hold to the end of days
So let my life end today, at its happiest
Even if I am forgotten tomorrow, I don't mind
That is how happy tonight was
The last train comes; I wave
Today, and only today; today, and only today
Let my life end today...
Today, and only today