Uploaded November 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Here is what I posted alongside my original 2018 cover of the magnificent original piece, and it still stands in full:
Sometime before 1970, young musician and aspiring singer Yumi Arai returned to her hometown, after a period of absence, to find that her longtime friend had unexpectedly succumbed to years of childhood bouts with illness. Impressively, just two years later, the then-16-year-old penned this song in dedication to her, and even so early on in her life, peppered the bittersweet composition with hope and promise. Over 40 years later, after her prolific career had long peaked, Hayao Miyazaki decided that her dedication would be the ideal musical closer for his film The Wind Rises. Having worked with him before on Kiki's Delivery Service, Arai was only too willing to lend her brilliant song to that beautiful film's closing credits.
This is my favorite of all Studio Ghibli songs, and is also perhaps my favorite song of all time. This was "going to" be a 2 or 3-day cover project, while I apprehensively waited last week for my car to be repaired. As I labored over the recordings, working as my truest self to perfect them, the piece grew more and more a part of me, and I gradually began to feel--as closely as I could--what Arai might have felt upon her loss. This is for her, her friend, and all who know grief tinged with hope.
Here is what I posted alongside my original 2018 cover of the magnificent original piece, and it still stands in full:
Sometime before 1970, young musician and aspiring singer Yumi Arai returned to her hometown, after a period of absence, to find that her longtime friend had unexpectedly succumbed to years of childhood bouts with illness. Impressively, just two years later, the then-16-year-old penned this song in dedication to her, and even so early on in her life, peppered the bittersweet composition with hope and promise. Over 40 years later, after her prolific career had long peaked, Hayao Miyazaki decided that her dedication would be the ideal musical closer for his film The Wind Rises. Having worked with him before on Kiki's Delivery Service, Arai was only too willing to lend her brilliant song to that beautiful film's closing credits.
This is my favorite of all Studio Ghibli songs, and is also perhaps my favorite song of all time. This was "going to" be a 2 or 3-day cover project, while I apprehensively waited last week for my car to be repaired. As I labored over the recordings, working as my truest self to perfect them, the piece grew more and more a part of me, and I gradually began to feel--as closely as I could--what Arai might have felt upon her loss. This is for her, her friend, and all who know grief tinged with hope.
