Many thanks to those of you for sending me positive feedback regarding my interpretation of Candy’s poem about Albert. In particular, Antlay pointed out that butterfly had many meanings to Japanese. Since then I have done some research myself, and I must say I was surprised. Initially, by simply reading the aforementioned poem, I just thought that Candy’s hair ribbons were often tied into a butterfly shape, so it sounded cute to me that when Candy tossed her trademark ribbon high into the sky from a garden, it transformed into a butterfly and flew to wherever Albert was.
However, more than one website mention that the Japanese believe butterflies carry peoples’ souls, both living and dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and perches behind a bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is on his/her way to see you. Besides, two beautiful Japanese mythologies, “Filial piety” and “The White Butterfly”, talked about butterflies carrying souls of the dead.
In addition, in Japan, a butterfly is a symbol of the blossoming of young womanhood, especially girls in love and girls transforming into graceful ladies. Butterflies are also symbols of springtime and happy marriages. That explains why butterflies are popular patterns in their kimono, but butterfly is not necessarily a feminine symbol. If you’re interested to read more, The Art of the Japanese Butterfly explains the significance of butterflies in the Japanese culture very well. Antlay also pointed out butterflies symbolizing transformation and rebirth, but I’ll discuss that in a different post. 🙂
Now I wonder if Mizuki meant in her poem that Candy’s soul went with her ribbon, or if Candy wanted Albert to know that she wished to visit him, no matter where he was? 😉 However, I think Candy was somewhat attracted to Albert not out of romance yet in the poem, unlike one of the songs in Candy Candy, “Akogare no Hito” (written by Toshio Oka), which is undeniably a love song. Thanks to Reeka for the link to a video of this song with lyrics in Japanese and translations of English and Spanish. Also, my gratitude to Agnès for the link to a website showing the details of Candy Candy’s songs in Japanese with translations, which is more than a treasure to me. Antlay, Reeka, and Agnès, I truly appreciate your inputs and suggestions ❤ ♡ ❤ ♡ ❤ ♡ , and here let me present my own interpretation of this love song of Candy to her Prince on the Hill.
As you can see, most people would translate the song title to “The one I adore”. It’s correct, but do you know that the word Akogare あこがれ(憧れ) also suggests admiration, your heart’s desire, longing/yearning, your dreams, etc.? So the song title, Akogare no Hito, can mean “the man of your dreams”, which fits the lyrics very well. 🙂 At the very least, I will interpret it as “the person I yearn for”, which suggests a feeling of intense longing for someone or something. ஐ ஐ ஐ
As usual, I’ll try to translate word for word by sticking to the original meanings as much as possible.
| あこがれのひと | The person I yearn for |
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いつもゆめみるのわたし いつもゆめみるのわたし それはすてきなあのひとおかのうえ きんいろのかみをして バグパイプを ふいていた あこがれの おうじさま あなたは どこにいる いつも ゆめみるのよ わたし あなたのことを いつもあこがれているの いつもあこがれているの それは あかるいあのひと おかのうえ ※あのひから このわたし ひるもよるも むちゅうよ あこがれの おうじさま あなたは どこにいる いつも あこがれなの わたし あなたのことを※ |
Always I dream of Always I dream of That handsome person on the hill He has hair of golden color was playing a bagpipe The prince I yearn for Where are you? Always I dream of (things) about you Always I’m yearning for Always I’m yearning for That cheerful person on the hill ※Since that day, Day and night, my thoughts are fully occupied by The prince I yearn for Where are you? Always yearning for (Things) about you※ |
Yes, the word anohito (meaning “that person”) is used to refer to Prince on the Hill. 😛 But as Agnès mentioned, Mizuki wasn’t the one who wrote the lyrics. Anyway, the adjective suteki すてき has many, many meanings, but I picked “handsome”, which makes sense in this case. In the manga, Candy used the same adjective twice in a row when she inwardly admired Albert as the very young and handsome “Granduncle William”. Also, she remembered her prince having golden-colored hair as shown in the song lyrics, kin-iro no kami きんいろのかみ, and that was one of the traits she matched Albert back to her prince in her memory.
What I like the most is that Candy described herself using the word muchū むちゅう (夢中), which means that she was in a daze/trance, dreamlike, absorbed, preoccupied, etc. This had happened day and night since her encounter with the boy playing a bagpipe. Talking about a girl being head over heels in love! 😆 No wonder Candy fell for Anthony at first sight due to his shocking resemblance to the man in her dreams.
Here is a very nice video of this song with various scenes from the anime, which perfectly reflects Candy’s intense longing to see her prince. Please enjoy:
