I tried to come up with a more attention grabbing title (kononnya SEO), wonder if this sounds right or not.
Finally, after 3 months, my letter to YUI has reached Japan and was read out aloud in YUI Locks, YUI's regular radio show, on Thursday, 6 December 2007. 
Our letter is the square one with blue airmail sticker.
Before that I thought I might have to send it again if YUI didn't mention our covers in the next F Generation segment, in case the letter got lost. Didn't want to waste all the effort done by fellow YUI lovers, spending god knows how much of their precious time to make these wonderful covers of YUI songs. Excluding my cover of Thank you My teens lol.
As the Chinese proverb said: 皇天不負有心人, at last, after all the anticipations I had every week for the past 3 months, my letter...my letter...was read by YUI, well ironically, when I was sleeping.
The next morning after YUI Locks was aired, I saw natsumi's text message around 4 am. Without thinking further I walked slowly towards my computer, trying to act all calm. But I was extremely excited inside.
To my fellow readers who is not members of YL and wondering what on earth am I talking about, please refer to this thread. This is regarding "Send your guitar clips to YUI @ YUI LOCKS!" thing going on in YUI LOCKS. YUI played our fellow YL member, Alanna's LIFE and this time...
She aired another forum member, anas604's English version of TOKYO on December 6 YUI LOCKS, and mentioned my name. Since I was the one who wrote + sent the letter =P I get the recognition~
Normally I don't post download links (upload them at somewhere else) but since this is such a memorable event, I cut out the part where YUI mentioning us and here's what she said:
Oh before that, download the file here.
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Before that it was some crazy rock version of LIFE. Interesting stuff lol.
Minute 00:00
YUI: There's more. Next is another oversea entry, by Teo san from Malaysia.
Hajimemashite, my name is Teo. I'm a Malaysian Chinese, as the representative of YUI International Fan Community (with members around 3000 presently), I have something to give YUI sensei. Actually the cover aired on July 5, by Shinigami from Canada, they are members of this community too. After I listened the broadcast, I really couldn't believe it, I was so happy until I couldn't sleep. Immediately I informed this big news to our members, and Shinigami was glad about it too. This time I represent our community to send YUI sensei covers by members from different countries. YUI sensei, please come to oversea someday ya.
YUI: The letter too...was written in Japanese, well normally people from oversea will write something such as "konnichiwa, YUI san you are angry? You have angry?" they wrote things like that but this one feels like it was written effortlessly, jyouzu desune. (She's good don't you think so?)
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LOL I'm honoured *blush* Before that she was kinda poking weird Japanese written by foreigners, just like us making fun of their Engrish. Btw, from what I've heard, if you can speak even a little bit of Japanese such as greetings, kawaii and things like that, it'll be enough to be complimented by Japanese. So I shouldn't be that proud of it, even if the compliment is from dear YUI. Of course I'm happy. Like YUI always said:"ureshii desu." every time she received nice comments from other people. To me, no other words can describe this.
Notice that every time YUI mentions Alanna's band, Shinigami, she will make those funny accents. Very the cute.
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Minute 01:05
YUI: So Shinigami san was glad about it too? Great! Seems like my message...reached there too. Arigatou gozaimasu. えー this time, among the 16 songs included in this cd-r, I would like to listen Awa Amran san's TOKYO English version.
*anas604 - TOKYO (English Lyrics by Kevin Hilde)*
I even tried to call my family before I got too far
But then what was there to say, so changed my mind
I rolled along a little suitcase, carried one old guitar
I've left all of my photographs behind
If I'm to allow myself to grow, Some things I must let go
Is this what's repeating in my mind?
Minute 02:11
YUI: This has yet another different feeling, this English version. But changing from Japanese and sing in English relatively might seem very difficult, yet the English lyrics fits the melody well. It's like...a totally different feel and I think it's really suteki (wonderful). Ureshii. A CD consists of 16 songs, sent to me, that means every one submitted their covers to this Teo san, to me right? I'm really happy, and grateful about it. Shinigami's version of LIFE was great and at the same time, Awa Amran san's TOKYO is wonderful too, ureshii desu. Why am I sounding as if this one's better? *laughs* And Teo san mentioned that "Malaysia has lots of delicious food so please come ya", included in this letter. Delicious food sounds good. Anyway, thank you guys for all the entries I received!
BGM: HELP
arigatou gozaimasu - thank you
ureshii - happy, glad, delighted
suteki - wonderful, lovely, marvelous
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That's all. Did I miss out anything? In the end dear YUI said that since everyone is enjoying themselves, making different covers, from now on submission is open to ANY YUI songs, it does not have to be LIFE. In the future she plans to have fans sending in their original works *hint* *hint* It can be any genre, please write and sing it, and she will support us!
So people, start flooding School of Locks' mail box!! Just send anything to the following address:
〒102-8080
SCHOOL OF LOCK内 バンド部「YUI課題曲」係
If you guys have any questions feel free to ask me. Good luck!!
Btw, fellow YL anas604 is a Malaysian too, check out her other YUI covers, AMAZING stuff. Judging from YUI's comment, I think she really likes it a lot. I am just a representative, not the one who's singing, we should congratulate anas604 instead. Japanese fans seem to love it too, some of them left nice comments in YUI-net message board. According to anas604, this English version was requested by Kevin Hilde after he saw her covers in YouTube.
My actual thoughts: This doesn't feel right lol. I'm really happy about this. It is not often that your name mentioned by the artist you look up to, more than once. It was as if a dream, and I thought that 'Teo' YUI mentioned is somebody else instead. It's amazing that though us fans never seen each other, we do all these cool stuff together, thanks to the internet. I really appreciate it. Hopefully someday, we can meet each other in 'somewhere'.
Once again thank you guys for your wonderful comments! I re-listen some of the covers (not my pathetic attempt) again, all I can say is great job YUI LOVERS!! Keep on 'covering'~ and ROCK ON!!
If I make any mistakes, I might not be able to correct immediately, because I cannot access to the internet in my house.
Till then!
PS: I wonder how many times I have listened to this xD
21 comments:
not reading ya post yet!im too excited waiting ya post!the translation of coz!ommedetou!!!yap!i count it!n it is 4 times!
*off to read ya post*
me again...
so u bribe malaysian food for YUI to come to malaysia?brilliant! XD
food always win!haha!
well..all i can say, celebrities do work hard to be recognized, but fans work MORE harder to be recognize by the them:)
ans604 tokyo english version is so good!no wonder YUI said the cover version sounds better.haha!congratulations guys!
dear YUI knew we exist! XD
Omedetou atheon!
Way to go!
Teo-san~ Omedetou. Your letter got read by YUI, your song was listened by YUI and she even complimented you. Seems too good to be true but it happened! ^^
I really didn't know anas604 is Malaysian too~ @_@ (that's what I get for being a lurker). This deserve a round of Malaysia Boleh! Hahaha. She's really awesome. Just saw the covers too.(^o^)> *salutes* (before she releases her album, where can I download the full version of that Tokyo?? Lol X3)
Nyahaha, and food is always a good lure. And YUI seems to enjoy good food too. Nice move. Kekeke.
OMG!!
Even though I didn't participate in the collaboration or anything, I'm so glad for you guys!
YL FTW!! =P
Congrats Teo and everyone who participated! The covers sound awesome. Looks like all that hard work paid off :)
I usually don't comment on blogs, but I felt this time was appropriate ^^
Hello there, atheon, I'm so happy for you and for all fellow YUI lovers who contributed in the Cd..Although I was hoping that she'll read the contents of the tracks and everybody's names..(I wished that she read my name aloud too..XD)..lol..anyways, congrats again and thank you..^^
-*simply_kawaii*
(former angela100290)
LOL oh i feel so excited reading this! even after i've listened to the show already!..congrats again..so many compliments from YUI herself...i'm so happy for u..and all ur hard work has paid off!! oh man this must boost ur motivation in learning Japanese even more! and i like malaysian food! if i ever go to Malaysia i must get u to be my personal tour guide lol
atheon!!!
I'm so excited reading this..i wrote to Kevin and i'm sure he would be super delighted about this news..when he asked me to sing this it's because he wishes that one day yui would (atleast) *accidently come across this version in youtube..wahhh i don't think he could sleep for a looonggg time..thanks again atheon!
Akyna24: A 'detailed planning' was done before I post the letter haha.
Bem: Thanks!!
Sherwin: I kinda hope that she will skip my song and listen the rest. Glad that now YUI knows where Malaysia is (I think).
Shifty: Lol thank you~!
Tak: I'm honoured :$ Thanks for your 'rare' comment!!
*sky*: Time is limited so she can only briefly introduce our CD. Plus it'll be unfair to other participants if she keeps on talking about the same letter.
But, the time she spent on our CD was longest compared with others, so...yay!
gotchi: Sure, I'll be more than happy to guide you around. Yea I'm forcing myself to read Japanese books these days T.T
anas604: This one even greater than YUI came across YouTube ;) Make sure Kevin listens this, I would like to know how he feels.
Congrats Teo! I'm glad your message got to Yui.
This is freaking amazing!! I'm so happy to read this news, and keep repeating that audio while reading your translation!
teo!!! that's great... sorry just now because of all those major exams...
woot!!! i still have to listen to that YUI locks...
hahah!!!
I must learn how to play the guitar and speak Japanese.
Hi Teo,
I don't even know what to say...
It has been six days since I found Anas' email about this, and I still have a hard time believing it.
It's cool to see that Yui and I agree that Anas does the best covers!!
I watched lots of covers on YouTube, and Anas was the one person who seemed to have the best feel for the music, good guitar, the nicest voice, so I sent her my lyrics hoping something good would happen. But WOW!!! I didn't expect this! I don't even know how many times I've listened to that clip.
And this all happened because of your effort, Teo. All I can say is Thank you.
BTW, I'm very impressed with your blog. And four languages? At 20yo? WOW!! Maybe sometime you can give me an honest appraisal of how inaccurate my adaptation really is...lol....I did it all by analysing line by line using multiple on-line translator sites, and then wrote it when I thought I understood what Yui was saying. I don't speak any Japanese.
I didn't know there were all these fan sites to help me until after I sent the lyrics to Anas.
Anyway, enough for now.
But again, Thank you Teo.
And Anas, if you see this, I want to say this again where everyone can see it. I was certain I was choosing the right person when I sent you the lyrics. But this has turned out better than I could have imagined. Thank you so much Anas.
Kevin
Kevin: !!!
Thank you for sharing your story :$
Yea it is quite amazing that among 16 songs, YUI picked yours. Maybe it was because it's in English, or maybe Anas's has a great voice. What matter most is our letter was read by YUI.
You can do another English version if you want to =P I can be your proof reader this time. But, since YUI praised your lyrics for matching the melody nicely so I guess it shouldn't be a problem =)
Thanks again for everything!
That's funny Teo...I've been thinking exactly the same thing for several days now.
Well no, not exactly....actually I was thinking I need a little more help than just proofing.
I wasn't sure I should make the request. You seem to have a very busy schedule already.
The hardest part is understanding the meanings. Online translators only help with literal meanings (and not even very good at that.)
Anything subtle or any figures of speech get lost completely. And if she's using any unusual poetic style, I'm clueless about it.
Anyway, I don't even know which song I'd try next...any suggestions?
Mr. Kevin, congrats! I think it's definitely the fact that the song was in English that made it stood out. And Ms.Anas's cover made it a winner. But YUI had to have listened to all 16 songs(I don't know if she actually listens to all the entries...but a 16 track cd coming from around the world, yeah, she probably would listen to it) so I'd say everyone wins. Oh yeah, Teo, didya send the lyrics together with the letter? *Imagines YUI singing Tokyo in English one day...*
Btw, pardon if I'm barging in on the discussion. I think you did well on the lyrics, kevin. Added some details(to match the tone n stuff I expect) but it's nice that it fits the 'story' being told. It's hard enough to translate the lyrics from Japanese to english, but adapting it to be sung in English is even harder. So, it'll be great if you and Teo(and Anas) can work together for another English version. =D
Suggestions? I'd suggest something slow and flowy...like Goodbye Days or I remember you. The adaptability is probably higher than something 'chunky' like Umbrella. If that makes any sense...^^
P/S: There are 2 types of proofer, one that checks the accuracy of the translations and the other checks for grammatical stuff. Or one can be both. =P
Good job Sherwin...help me twist their arms...lol
"*Imagines YUI singing Tokyo in English one day...*"
Perfect arm twisting technique Sherwin.
I just sent Teo a VERY long letter.
Maybe she will give up the title of proof reader for the title of co-writer.
Anas,
Have you decided on a guitar yet?
I'm getting excited to see your video up on YouTube...(with the slightly improved lyrics)
Which song would you like to sing in English next?
Oh BTW, I noticed that there was a Mr. Kevin in the shoutbox that has been around long before me, so I may need to find a way to distinguish myself...I'll think about how to change.
omg is this real? I mean you mentioned "submission is open to ANY YUI songs"?? Because I love Yui sensei a lot too! =D and I've been singing her songs and translating her songs, but they're in Chinese, and well, I can't say they're good but I think they're okay? =D
Rain: Yeah ANY YUI songs. Chinese songs are welcomed as well, but it would better if you provide Japanese translation, explanation or something. Stay tuned, I'm still working on the details ;)
PS: I would love to visit Brunei someday.
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