Memory

Okay, it’s no secret that I have a love for Korean Boy bands.  And that I thoroughly embrace its crazy pop culture.  However, going through the motions, what I find especially interesting is how Korean pop culture is constantly referring back to things that have happened in the U.S./elsewhere, and that in turn gets me interested in what is happening back on my home turf.  A roundabout way of discovering things, but that’s how it goes.  For instance, I listened to Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” song not from the radio, but because Tohoshinki recommended that song on a Japanese Music Show.  Wow.

Anyhow, this time around, I was watching a show called “Family Outing” that I absolutely love.  I initially started watching because of Daesung, a member of the famous Korean hiphop group Big Bang (he also happens to be my favorite member).  Because of his multiple talents, the hosts of the show kept on referring back to his role as Rum Tum Tigger in the korean version of the musical Cats.  On one of the segments of the show (the ranking decision they do to determine the sleeping order), he sang a portion of the beautiful song, “Memory”.  Now, he sang it wonderfully, and I was gettting goosebumps all over, because I really like his voice; it drove me to a point of frustration, however, because I couldn’t remember the lyrics (the English version) and thus went on a Youtube searching frenzy.  (I have watched this musical before on tape, and enjoyed it immensely.  I should watch it again.)

So, I found the tape version of the London Cast, with Elaine Page singing memory.  It was such a beautiful rendition that it nearly made me cry.

It’s slightly different from other versions, so I typed up the parts that have been altered/changed from the original.  Here are the lyrics.

——-

Daylight
See the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses wither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day . . .

Now, All the Deuteronomy

just before dawn

through a silence you feel that you could cut with a knife

announces the cat who can now be reborn

and come back to a different Jellico life

*Memory

Turn your face to the moonlight

Let your memory lead you

Open up, enter in

If you find there the meaning of what happiness is

Then a new life will begin
Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

* Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn’t give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

*Sunlight through the trees in summer

and as masquerading

Like a flower as the dawn is breaking

The memory is fading
Touch me
It’s so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You’ll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun

—–

I really love this song.  It’s full of sorrow – and power.  It stirs something deep within the aches of my heart.

I love it as much as I love Rachmaninoff’s music – and that’s saying a lot.