Some info about the song Haruo sings in Chapter 3
Haruo can be seen singing a song to himself on pages 090 and 101 of Chapter 3 in Matsumoto Taiyo’s Sunny.
He is singing an Enka song written by Masuiyama Daijiro called sonna onna no hitorigoto (But I’m just a woman thinking aloud) that was released and was a huge hit in 1977, with over 1,300,000 records sold. Below are the lyrics to the entire song translated by myself. I also pasted a youtube video of a karaoke version of the song.
Masuiyama Daijiro | But I’m just a woman thinking aloud.
This my first time working at a bar like this.
I sat next to you after being introduced by Maki.
I can tell you’re a regular here
by the bottle with your name on it.
But i’m just a woman thinking aloud.
It is not good for you to drink so heavily.
Yumi won’t be here tonight,
but she’ll give us a ring at 10PM.
So why dont you sing a song
to take your mind off things.
But i’m just a woman thinking aloud.
You said you would send me home by car,
Nami, she won’t forgive me.
Your love affair is famous, didn’t you know?
Are you hoping to get me drunk off the fumes
from all that gin you’re drinkin’?
But i’m just a woman thinking aloud.
Cigarettes in your suit pocket.
A loyal customer to this bar.
You try and tell your life story,
but that bitter smile tells it for you.
But i’m just a woman thinking aloud.
As you can tell by the lyrics, which describe the thoughts of a woman new to working at a hostess bar and the politics of her occupation, it is not a song that an elementary school kid would normally be singing to himself. But this follows with the theme of the chapter, the blurring of lines between adulthood and childhood — the things that children shouldn’t be worrying about, like sex and death.
