Francesca Solleville: Hiroshima

78 years ago...

Hi all,

Thank you for joining me for this week’s song, Hiroshima, lyrics by Maurice Fanon, music by Jean Pierre Roseau, sung by Francesca Solleville.

If you’d like to hear the song, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article. The lyrics, translated from French, are written in italics. I invite you to leave a question or comment at the end.

For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.

The Song

(248 words)

The song is sung by the French singer/activist, Francesca Solleville. Ms. Solleville has sung songs against the Vietnam War, and earlier, against the Nazi and Franco regimes.

Here, she sings about Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The song is simple, so there is little that needs explaining.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It’s true, I saw nothing of Hiroshima

Nor the port of Honshû on the inland sea

Nor the coral fish in the fisherman’s hand

Nor the rising sun

Nor even the child’s lacquered hair

I was just a child myself

.

It’s true, I saw nothing of Hiroshima

Nor the multiflora rose* that is the camellia

Nor the gold of the chrysanthemum that was not yet

Daisy of death

Nor the reed, nor the city, nor the child

I was only a child myself

.

It’s true, I saw nothing of Hiroshima

Nor the tea tree, nor the mulberry silk tree

Nor in Nagasaki the sea of Amakusa

Nor the perfect wife

Nor the silent question in the eyes of the child

I was only a child myself

.

It’s true, I saw nothing of Hiroshima

Neither the plane, nor the wind, nor that monstrous Western sun

Nor the ashes of the mulberry tree

Nor the dead by the thousands

Nor the lacquered child’s cradle on the lake

I was just a child myself

And I slept!

.

78 years ago this week, Japan experienced the horror of atomic weapons. May such atrocities never be experienced again.

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VOCABULARY

lacquered hair 漆黒 の髪

camellia 椿

chrysanthemum 菊

daisy ヒナギク

mulberry 桑

reed 葦

monstrous 恐ろしい

lacquered 漆

cradle 揺りかご

atrocities 残虐行為

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* The multiflora rose is a plant that is native to Japan, China, and Korea. It is said to symbolize the purity of youth.

From the album “Francesca Solleville chante la violence et l'espoir”‎ (Francesca Solleville sings of violence and hope)

Photo: "Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima" by Bill Pellowe is licensed under CC BY 2.0.