Oh My Little Girl is written and performed by Ozaki Yutaka 尾崎丰 (wei qi feng). A Japanese love song I fell in love with when I first heard it in Japan in 1994.
It was my first long overseas trip and on my own with a classmate. Just the two of us. We stayed with friends and they brought us to places that a travel agency couldn’t cover.
We went ice-skating, queued for an hour to visit the museum in Ueno Park to see the Barnes Collection. Japanese students used us for English practice when we visited our friends’ university near Yokohama.
A friend’s parents drove us to Mt Fuji by private car. It was so cold that I had to borrow a coat.
We ate piping hot takoyaki (たこ焼き or 蛸焼) at Ueno Park (上野公園, Ueno Kōen), DIY okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), ate sushi at a sushi bar with a revolving belt, had home-cooked sukiyaki and more.
And I fought the temptation to buy a Sony Walkman.
At night, my young host Nana had us watch a Japanese drama (この世の果て) with her. I saw a total of 2 episodes but didn’t understand a word since I don’t know Japanese. “Oh My Little Girl” was the theme song and it stuck with me for a long time even after the trip.
When we left Japan, our host made us a cassette tape of her favourite songs and this song was in it. Back in Singapore, I tried to find out more about the song but couldn’t get much since the Internet was still in its infancy and there’s no Google or Youtube. And I don’t know Japanese.
More than a decade later, I came across a VCD set of the Japanese drama. It’s called 爱没有明天 in Chinese. The English name could be End of the World but I can’t be sure. Finally, with Chinese subtitles, I know what the story is about and how it ended.
Once I know the name of the drama, it is not hard to find more information about the song. The songwriter was Ozaki Yutaka 尾崎丰 (wei qi feng). He was active and famous in the late 80s to early 90s. His career was cut short when he died suddenly in April 1992 at the age of 26.
Now, I know who was behind the song that tied all these precious memories together for me. To think, he died 2 years before I visited Japan yet his song can still affect and impact me so.
The power of music.
My little regret was that I am only able to listen to and enjoy his other songs 20 years later.
I hope you like this song too.
Lyrics of Oh My Little Girl in Japanese
こんなにも騒がしい街並にたたずむ君は とても小さく とっても寒がりで 泣きむしな女の子さ 街角の love song 口ずさんで ちょっぴりぼくに微笑みながら 凍えた躰 そっとすりよせて 君は口づけせがむんだ Oh, my little girl 暖めてあげよう Oh, my little girl こんなにも愛してる Oh, my little girl 二人黄昏に 肩寄せ歩きながら いつまでもいつまでも 離れられないでいるよ君の髪を 撫でながら ぼんやりと君を見てるよ 甘えた声で 無邪気に笑う ぼくの腕に包まれた君を Oh, my little girl 素敵な君だけを Oh, my little girl こんなにも愛してる Oh, my little girl 冷たい風が 二人の躰すり抜け いつまでもいつまでも 離れられなくさせるよ Oh, my little girl 暖めてあげよう Oh, my little girl こんなにも愛してる Oh, my little girl 二人黄昏に 肩寄せ歩きながら いつまでも いつまでも 離れないと誓うんだ
English Lyrics of Oh My Little Girl
You stand still on this busy street A girl who's very small and very sensitive to the cold and a cry baby As you sing a love song on the street corner And smile at me just a little bit Your frozen body gently nestles up to me and you beg me to kiss you Oh my little girl, I'll keep you warm Oh my little girl, I love you so much Oh my little girl, I'll walk with you side by side in the twilight I'll never, ever leave you I stroke your hair and look dazedly at you Wrapped in my arms you laugh innocently with a coquettish voice Oh my little girl I love you so much Oh my little girl only you, my wonderful you Oh my little girl, the cold wind blows through us I'll make sure you never, ever leave me Oh my little girl, I'll keep you warm Oh my little girl, I love you so much Oh my little girl, I'll walk with you side by side in the twilight I swear I'll never, ever leave you
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