- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
ピリオドの雨の音
僕には聞こえていた
知ってる…知ってるよ…
夜毎君は眠れずに
もう一つの魂に
全てを捧げてたね
でも僕は黙って君を抱けばいい
それ位何てことないよ
宙に浮いたベッドで二人一つ影になり
「もう一度もう一度」君は演じるんだね
スパンコールみたいに濡れて光るからだに
ピリオドの雨が降る
真夜中にうなされた
夢で君にナイフを刺した
ピリオドの雨の色
赤く濁ったジェラシーの色
壊れかけのベッドで二人一つ影になり
きしむ音聞きながら僕も演じるんだね
スパンコールみたいに折れた二人の傘に
ピリオドの雨が降る
ああ、キレイな愛程汚れてるのさ
ああ、汚れた愛程終わりはキレイさ
ああ、今夜は誰にも渡さないから
ああ、最後にあの頃のように
嘘でもいい
愛の消えたベッドで二人一つ影になり
もう二度ともう二度と僕は帰らないだろう
スパンコールみたいに君と僕のからだに
キラキラとニセモノの涙が流れる
外は朝焼け部屋の中には
ピリオドの雨が降る
Romanized Lyrics
period no ame no oto
boku ni wa kikoete ita
shitteru…shitteru yo…
yogoto kimi wa nemurezu ni
mou hitotsu no tamashii ni
subete wo sasageteta ne
demo boku wa damatte kimi wo dakeba ii
sore kurai nante koto nai yo
chuu ni ukaita bed de futari hitotsu kage ni nari
“mou ichido mou ichido” kimi wa enjiru n da ne
spangle mitai ni nurete hikaru karada ni
period no ame ga furu
mayonaka ni unasareta
yume de kimi ni knife wo sashita
period no ame no iro
akaku nigotta jealousy no iro
kowarekake no bed de futari hitotsu kage ni nari
kishimu oto kikinagara boku mo enjiru n da ne
spangle mitai ni oreta futari no kasa ni
period no ame ga furu
aa, kirei na ai hodo yogoreteru no sa
aa, yogoreta ai hodo owari wa kirei sa
aa, konya wa dare ni mo watasanai kara
aa, saigo ni ano koro no you ni
uso demo ii
ai no kieta bed de futari hitotsu kage ni nari
mou nido to mou nido to boku wa kaeranai darou
spangle mitai ni kimi to boku no karada ni
kira kira to nisemono no namida ga nagareru
soto wa asayake heya no naka ni wa
period no ame ga furu
Translated Lyrics
The sound of the rain of the period
That’s what I was hearing
I know…I know…
Every night, without sleeping
You were giving your all
To another soul
But I stayed quiet about it, and just held you
Like it was no big deal
In this bed floating in space, we become a single silhouette
You’re playing the part, saying “One more time, one more time”
And on your glistening wet body, like spangles
The rain of the period falls
I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare
Where I stabbed you with a knife
The color of the rain of the period
Is the muddy red of jealousy
In this broken bed, we become a single silhouette
I’m playing the part too, as I listen to this grating sound
On the broken umbrella that we’re both under, like spangles
The rain of the period falls
Ahh, it’s as impure as pure love
Ahh, the end is as pure as impure love
Ahh, I won’t let anyone else have it tonight
Ahh, our last moment that will be just like the old days
Even if it’s a lie
In this bed that love has disappeared from, we become a single silhouette
I probably won’t go back ever again, ever again
And on our bodies, like spangles
Fake tears glisten and fall
Outside is a morning glow, but inside this room
The rain of the period falls
Notes
Period no Ame is pretty much the only song on Four Seasons that is rarely ever talked about by the band or fans. And this is almost certainly because the song is just too plodding. It can be really tough to stick the landing when it comes to medium tempo ballads, but even the chorus doesn’t swell up or have as much energy to it as it probably should. It doesn’t really go anywhere musically at all, which probably makes it the weakest song on Four Seasons.
That said, I actually really like the lyrics. Most songs about infidelity don’t go through this much trouble to not explicitly mention what they are about, but Period no Ame does everything it can to hide that behind expressions: “You were giving your all to another soul”, etc. Also this depiction of a relationship coming to an end because of that infidelity really strikes me as being a more real take on it than you’d normally see: It’s about a person who’s accepted that it’s over and recognizes that they were putting off the inevitable. They’re not particularly angry, just a little sad and wanting to have that “one last moment” before it’s actually done.
Believe it or not, I had a bit of trouble landing on a translation for the title/phrase “period no ame” itself. It seems pretty obvious that “period” is meant to be equivalent to the Japanese word “jidai” (which means “period” in the sense of an era in time). If I didn’t care about keeping the actual word “period” in the translation (since that’s how the song is titled), I probably would have went with “Rain of the Era” instead.
This song seems to have only appeared in one live recording: Tour ’96 For Season at Nippon Budokan (01/12/1996), which was of course during the first leg1996 Four Seasons tour. If you look at some later dates in the tour (such as the 07/21/1996 recording at NHK Hall), it’s been dropped off of the setlist by that point. It will likely remain one of those songs that’s only dredged up live every once in a great while, if ever again at all.