The Personal Story of a Song – shattering a Musical Dream
How a Childhood Memory, a Broken Record, and AI Finally Solved a 60-Year Mystery
When I was a child, I used to play with some records my father had brought back from Japan. There were 16 vinyl records in total, from around the early 1960s—just a few years after I was born.
Among these records, there were three different types:
- One 78 RPM record
- Two sets of delicate, thin plastic sheets, single-sided, tucked inside offset booklets of the era, filled with extensive information about Japanese customs, dance methods, and song lyrics
- And finally, twelve 45 RPM vinyl records in sleeves, usually with a photo of the artist on the front and lyrics for both sides on the back
That's how, over the years, I began to learn Japanese writing—through those very lyrics.
The Song That Got Stuck in My Head
Many of these songs I learned to sing just as I heard them. But one of them became permanently lodged in my brain. Time passed, and this particular piece clung to me like a virus—a stubborn earworm that refused to leave.
At some point, not only did the paper sleeve disappear, but the actual record itself vanished or broke—probably because someone carelessly sat on it without noticing.
Years passed, but the memory of this song remained. It went something like this:
A ishitala nanimu kalo
Istsumadema o no ononono
Ta ishitala inoutshisha emo
Site ke mua...
[...]
So no Tokyo yumeni mi temua
yodata otonotoki . mei wo
Often, when it came to mind, I would sing it with immense joy and emotion.
The Search Begins – Fast Forward to 2024
Many years later, we arrive at 2024-25, and the era of artificial intelligence. It was relatively easy to find most of the other songs from the collection—except for a few whose paper inserts had been lost. Three 45 RPM singles remained unidentified.
One of the missing records was this very song that had haunted me for decades. I never dared search for it using traditional methods because I thought it would be impossible.
I was already experienced with various AI tools, having used them since their early beginnings. Among the songs I did manage to identify were:
- Ai to Shi no Katami (愛と死のかたみ - 1962) by Miyuki Yamanaka & Mahina Stars — this was forever my number one. The singer's voice was like an angel . The B-side was Otome Tsuma (乙女妻 / Young Wife) also very nice song.
- Dare ka shira (誰かしら) by Komiya Keiko
- Kaeranu Omoide (からの思い出 / Old Memories) — rare still not in youtube with rather tragic music style . for his dead wife[?] in the song
- Miren no Minato (未練の港) by Hachiro Yura — a song I call "Sayonara" due to its continuous notices inside the chorus part
- Tokyo Anna by Otsu Yoshiko — which deserves its own blog post (link here)
These are the 4 of the 28 songs of the 14 albums disregarding the traditional albms which have never have been ripped into mp3
The Breakthrough – Using Gemini
Recently, I finally decided to tackle the impossible. Using Google Gemini—even the free version—I managed to identify the lost song in a remarkably original way:
- I transcribed the lyrics as I remembered them
- I sang the melody and recorded it, holding the notes as accurately as I could
On the second attempt, I got the correct result.
The song was:
"Nagisa no Date" (渚のデイト) — the Japanese version of "Follow the Boys"
The Emotional Impact
The emotion of hearing it for the first time was incredible. Gemini immediately allowed me to compare my remembered lyrics with the actual ones. My version is in parentheses:
Aishitara nani mo kamo (A ishitala nanimu kalo)
Itsu made mo anata no mono (Istsumadema o no...)
Koishitara inochi sae mo (Ta ishitala inoutshisha emo)
Subete wa anata no mono (Site ke mua...)
Nee itsu no hi ni ka meguri ai Itsu kashira aishiau no
Sono toki wo yume ni mite wa Yogoto kokoro tokimeku...
The Reconstruction of a Dream
However, upon listening, the song appeared slower than I remembered. The link Gemini provided was to Connie Francis—but I initially didn't pay much attention to that detail. Gemini also offered three different Japanese female singers who had recorded their own versions.
Only later did I notice the crucial information:
The original song: "Follow the Boys" (1963) by Connie Francis (American)
The Japanese version: "Nagisa no Date" became a massive hit in Japan, recorded by several major Japanese singers of the era, including:
- Yukari Ito (伊東ゆかり)
- Mieko Hirota (弘田三枝子)
- Mie Nakao (中尾ミエ)
- And even Connie Francis herself, recording in Japanese for the Japanese market
The Greatest Deconstruction
For me, discovering that the song was actually American was the greatest deconstruction of this dream that could have possibly happened. Immediately after, I listened to the American version—which was clearly inferior to the Japanese one disregarding a friends opinion The sound I had known was purely festive and vibrant.
Checking all the versions, the one closest to what I had in my memory was Mieko Hirota's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE1ID98S7iI
Further Research – The Release History
Mieko Hirota's "Nagisa no Date" was officially released on the Japanese market on May 1, 1963, by Toshiba Records (catalog number JP-5216).
Her recording was made in the spring of 1963 (March-April), just months after Japanese producers got their hands on Connie Francis's American master tape from 1962.
The release timeline:
- May 1963: Mieko Hirota & Yukari Ito
- June 1963: Mie Nakao
- August 1963: Connie Francis (in Japanese) with link below
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOySzuPdWFg
The Final Verdict
The song that I had always placed at the top of the mountain—almost sacred—came down to the middle of the village!
At least I am satisfied that I found something I had considered almost impossible for so many years.
Thank you, Gemini!
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