On Singing Cover Songs

There are things I am careful about when singing cover songs. In a sense, it is obvious. I respect the original song, love the lyrics, and make sure not to treat the original melody carelessly so that I can bring out the charm of the original song to the maximum. "Not treating it carelessly" means not excessively breaking the melody, and I think this is very important.

For example, if it is a song created by the person singing it, I think it does not matter how they sing it. However, it is also a fact that the person singing should think to some extent about how fans who became fans by listening to that song will feel when they hear that song. Even if you change the musical style or the tempo, if you change the melody itself,

"What! That was good, so why?!"

Have you ever experienced surprise and disappointment? Even with the original artist's singing, no, there are many times when I am made to think, I wanted you to sing it the same way... so what if someone covering it changes the melody on their own? I think that is a bit different. What is the reason for that? I cannot help but feel that there is no respect there.

Well, anyway, I think most people usually want to hear the song just like the first sound source!

So, what should a person singing a cover do?

I think the best thing is to sing it in their own way, while keeping it original. With respect, of course.

Before I started singing country music, I had been singing in a choir throughout my student days. After that, I have been living a life of singing country music, that is, singing covers, but my father, who is a musician, once told me in detail to sing by properly capturing the melody. I did not think much about consideration for the original at that time, but now I am being made to re-recognize that it is something that should be done as a matter of course. Now, after the melody, it is about the lyrics. I am currently adding Japanese lyrics to songs depending on the track list and singing them. I am in a position of "being allowed to add them," but I have not particularly asked the person themselves for permission. No, of course, recording and releasing something that has been turned into Japanese... is not allowed. In that case, you must properly obtain permission. In the past, when releasing an album, there were songs that were rejected after checking the copyright, and songs that were given the OK. Especially in the case of languages other than Japanese, I submitted the content turned into Japanese in English, summarized the intention, and properly submitted it to receive permission. There are also things that were rejected. At that time, the reason was that it was not allowed in any language. And many country songs are old, and there are no songs where you can contact the lyricist and composer. Even among them, when I added Japanese to songs by singers who are still active, I happened to be able to contact the person themselves, so I tried asking. The person was surprisingly in a mood like "Kya~ I'm happy! Thank you! Go ahead and sing it! Send me the Japanese!", so I am grateful, but I feel sorry that even if it becomes a hit in Japan, I cannot call them over, so it does not turn out like that!

When turning it into Japanese, I make it follow the meaning of the original song. In the past, there was a period in Japan from the 40s to the 60s when overseas songs were released in Japanese. I am sure you have all heard some of the songs. If it is country-style, I think you have heard "Tennessee Waltz" or "The Last Dance Is Mine". Tokiko Iwatani's Japanese lyrics are very beautiful, and the translated lyrics and lyrics for chansons and the like are wonderful, aren't they? (That might have been work precisely because there was a goal of selling Fubuki Koshiji.) It is not necessarily the same as the original, and there seems to be cases of unique interpretation, but I think there was a deep understanding of the original song there.

I am also studying, but when I wanted to add Japanese lyrics to country and bluegrass songs myself, I am making an effort to study about that singer and investigate the reason why that song was created as much as I can understand. It is not that there are many songs, but I am thinking of having people listen to them at live performances here and there.

By the way, I am distributing several country music songs to which I have added Japanese lyrics. Among them, "Danny Boy" reached the top 5 in the domestic country genre on the iTunes Store in October 2025. Thank you! "Danny Boy" is a song that sings about the feelings of a parent toward a son who went to the battlefield in the original. It is a song about losing a beloved family member. I created the lyrics from the words of a friend who lost their family.

*Besides that, the music video for "Jolene" (this remains in English) entered the top 3 in the Apple Music New Zealand country genre and within the top 20 in Peru. Thank you to someone somewhere for listening!

I will continue to make wonderful American traditional songs into Japanese next year as well. I hope many people will listen to them.

Postscript 20251226
A certain singer on the year-end Asa-Ichi was singing a big hit song in English, but no, I wanted to hear the original... what a pity