#50 – Colorful Moonlight

Did you listen to my English cover of Colorful Moonlight? It’s a rare Mathew cover – check it out here on Youtube! As usual, references are available.

This is an insert song from Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night (yorukura), an anime about finding one’s place and identity as an artist. Light spoilers ahead – I encourage you to give episode one a shot before reading this.

The jellyfish is a very important aspect of this show – it represents how the first two characters meet, the feelings of the main character Yoru, and also the overall setting of Shibuya being like a giant ocean.

ふわふわ浮かぶ 人の波に流されてく 夜の渋谷 深海の街 キラキラ泳ぐ君はただキレイで強くて眩しすぎて

fuwafuwa ukabu hito no nami ni nagasareteku yoru no Shibuya shinkai no machi kirakira oyogu kimi wa tada kirei de tsuyokute mabushi sugite

Adrift, a wispy figure, swept by the bustling crowd, I see the way you float On the waves of this star-lit deep-sea city With flowing strands ashimmer, enrapture me in your dazzling beauty, your cool tenacity

The verse represents Kano’s admiration of Yoru – how Kano sees and appreciates Yoru’s strength and beauty. The jellyfish is strong – it can withstand the immense pressures of the deep sea (Shibuya) but also has a certain vulnerability, in that it gets buffeted around by the currents of water (the crowds of the city).

果ての見えない夜の海 まだ小さな私の色

hate no mienai yoru no umi mada chiisana watashi no iro

A swirling infinity, caught in the night sea Every shade I paint is fading away but

The bridge represents a shift in perspective to Yoru, whose art fades away under graffiti and posters being slapped atop it.

君と出会えた夜の海 その輝きに恋したんだ 街のネオンに染まらないで どうか 君が描いた色できらめいて 夜空を照らせ

kimi to deaeta yoru no umi sono kagayaki ni koi shitan da machi no neon ni somaranaide dou ka kimi ga egaita iro de kirameite yozora wo terase

An ocean surrounding us; night all around us Where we had met, I’m diving deep in the radiance of colors you’ve painted. Promise you won’t be tainted by neon lights. The glow inside your silky fingertips shall illuminate the night sky

The chorus shifts back to Kano’s point of view. The anime implies that jellyfish rely on external sources of light to shine but, from my reading, many species of jellyfish are bioluminescent, meaning that they can produce light internally. I leaned in on this, with Kano imploring Yoru to use her own shine and not to be influenced (tainted) by the city around her.

If you’re an artist, musician, or streamer who is struggling with figuring out your place in the world, please give this series a try. This song and the first episode were truly a pleasant surprise.