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| From clipart-library.com |
Last night, when I wrote about the venerable children's song "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni"（手のひらを太陽に）from 1962, I first sent a shoutout to an even older kids' tune that the character of Tomo from "Tomo-chan wa Onna no Ko!"（トモちゃんは女の子！...Tomo-chan is a Girl!）sang at karaoke, much to the mirth of the guy she loves and to her utter embarrassment. Yep, I do feel her pain.
Now, "Donguri Korokoro" (An Acorn Rolled Down) is a children's song that is apparently now part of the public domain so I gather that to mean that no one really has ownership (for you legal eagles, if I've made an error here, please correct me). I'm only using seiyuu Rie Takahashi's（高橋李依）name here because her character Tomo's awesome depiction of the song is so different from the many songs her other popular character Takagi-san did in "Karakai Jouzu na Takagi-san"（からかい上手の高木さん...Skilled Teaser Takagi-san） that I just had to give her the mike, so to speak.
The century-old "Donguri Korokoro" was released in either 1921 or 1922 (for argument's sake, I'll go with the latter year), and it was written by novelist and Japanese literature expert Nagayoshi Aoki（青木存義）and composed by educator Tadashi Yanada（梁田貞）. Soon after the end of World War II, the song was placed into school music textbooks. This tale of errant acorns and loaches was a song that I also often heard here and there over the decades.
I might as well kill two birds (or a cat) with one stone here and also include Tomo-chan's take on another classic "Neko Funjatta" (I Stepped on a Cat). This time, though, I'm not talking about a made-in-Japan kids' song but one whose origins are German and is a song that has been known worldwide, since its probable creation in 1890 by Ferdinand Alfred Gustav Loh according to LS Piano Music. The original title is "Flohwalzer" (The Flea Waltz) although it isn't a waltz, and in Japanese, there are no fleas...just an unlucky cat with back/tail issues. Once again, I used to hear this all the time by folks in band class and other venues when someone just wanted to play around on the 88 keys.
According to J-Wiki, the Japanese version of "Flohwalzer" under the title of "Neko Funjatta" was used in NHK's "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）TV vignette series with lyrics by Hiroo Sakata（阪田寛夫）. However in 1954, Toshio Oka（丘灯至夫）placed his own lyrics onto Loh's original music. Going over to English Wikipedia, the song has different titles depending on the nation such as "La Chocolatera" in Spain and "Szamárinduló" (Donkey March) in Hungary.
Personally, I will be looking forward to any more contributions by the Queen of Children's Songs.
I watched Tomo-chan sing that acorn song and wondered if it was a classic kid's tune in Japan or purpose-made for the show...now I know ! Your blog is consistently interesting and most enjoyable ! And any venue that brings the amazing Rie Takahashi to a larger audience is good as well !
ReplyDeleteHello, latetoedo, and thanks very kindly for your comments. Glad to know that you were able to find out about "Donguri Korokoro" and its origins. I also remember Takahashi from "Wasteful Days of High School Girls" from 2019 where she played a more thoughtful and demure version of a tomboy.
DeleteYeah, Donguri Korokoro is a song that most people growing up in Japan will know because it is usually taught in preschool/nursery schools during the fall season. It is about as common as Jingle Bells is in English speaking countries. But, I find it funny (or out of character) for a Tomboyish person like Tomo chan to sing a children's song at Karaoke!
DeleteI think that some of the humour comes from Tomo trying to become a little more feminine and having some growing pains. I've been coming across some comments on various videos showing the karaoke scene marveling at the fact that this is the same seiyuu who had been singing so sweetly at the end of each episode of "Takagi-san".
DeleteI guess this is a good example of a great Seiyuu or someone who is having a lot fun a their job.
DeleteMorning, Brian. I'm hoping it's both.
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