Ghibli’s “Country Road” vs. the original “Country Road”
The moment in “Whisper of the Heart” where Shizuku, prodded along by Seji, begins to sing nervously, and is soon joined by Seji’s uncle and his friends to form an ensemble, is my favourite moment in any Ghibli film, and one of my favourite film moments altogether. The reasons for this are half-quality wise and half-personal. It’s a well directed scene, of course. The version of the song itself is a wonderful arrangement, portraying the simplicity of the scene and expressing how beautiful such simplicity can be. This is the sort of scene where Ghibli films have a clear distinction from Disney films. In a Disney film, this moment, a song, would perhaps start with the solo violin and then quickly transform into a full musical number with a professional singer and production. But Ghibli keeps the simplicity and the beauty of the scene. Shizuku sings as any regular girl would, starting off nervously, a tad off-key in one part, but gaining confidence as the song progresses. The ensemble joins in and you have a lovely moment of musical harmony, and a small moment of pure happiness.
That’s the quality part. It’s a great scene. But perhaps it moves me more deeply because of my personal connection. After all, you all must know by now that I am a very musical person and music is a big part of my life. And making music, together, is one of the greatest joys of life, in my opinion. That’s why it was a particularly personal effect that I had when I viewed that scene. Seeing the joy on Shizuku’s face, the contentment from Seiji’s grandfather – a bunch of people, some of them strangers to one another, together making music.
But now to get to the crux of this post – the difference between the Japanese Ghibli version and the original english version. Because oddly enough, I simply have never been able to appreciate John Denver’s “Country Road”. And yet the Ghibli rendition is an absolute favourite. Is it contradictory? I don’t think so.
The lyrics are a key difference. As John Denver’s chorus begins, the lyrics do resonate – “Country road – take me home – to the place – where I belong” – a very simple, but touching, lyric. But as the chorus continues – and he begin going on about “West Virginia” and “Mountain Momma”, all of a sudden the connection wears off…..because I, an average guy from Toronto, Canada, simply can’t relate with what Denver is singing of. There is a distinct image and feeling formed as I hear those first few lines, but it’s shattered when Denver starts talking about West Virginia. I simply can’t relate to it. That is one of the reasons that I just can’t enjoy Denver’s edition. I can relate with that initial feeling of yearning, but it cuts off as I realize he’s thinking something very specific and completely different than I am. But Shizuku’s lyrics in “Whisper” are less about specific places and more about ideas, emotions, feelings.
I also simply prefer the arrangement of the Ghibli ensemble version. I prefer Shizuku’s pure, innocent voice. I prefer the simple ensemble. John Denver’s country ensemble is fine, but the song when played in that “country” style becomes too light, in my opinion. It loses something (yes, ironic considering that Denver’s is the original). I prefer the Ghibli ensemble version, which is joyful, but which contains that tinge of bittersweet emotion and yearning. Listen to the chorus after the ensemble has joined together, and listen to the beautiful and deep emphasis from the strings on the D-Minor chord (more audible in the actual video then the CD recording). It is such a beautiful moment – out of a consistent movement in major tonality come these held, penetrating notes from the cello and violin – as if they are embodying that sense of yearning directly, and reach straight for the heart. These small details will perhaps go unnoticed by the majority of Ghibli fans, but I find them worthwhile, even if I am one of the few who may notice them.
8 responses so far
I thought I was the only one who felt that when watching that part of the movie. I found myself clicking back on that part over and over again trying to absorb every bit of it. I totally agree, the simplicity of it is its appeal and after viewing it like 15 times…well I set off for my day with an pleasant and idealistic view of the world. It definitely reminded me that there is a whole lot of junk in this world and that finding moments like this is very refreshing and cleansing. and if you must know, I’m a cellist.
I play the piano myself, I’ve always loved the cello, though.
The arrangement is absolute beautiful. I was just looking for sheet music to play with friends when Google brought me to your blog. I also found a piano arrangement which is a bit bland compared to the ensemble, but the individual instrument parts might be extractable…
By the way, I also play cello, but the instrument in the movie isn’t one! It’s fretted, with more strings, and the bow is held underneath. Probably a bass viol – or arpeggione
Good eye, Richard! As a pianist, I have to content myself playing the piano arrangement, but it’s really nothing like quite the ensemble version.
Yes, I deeply agree with you.The show started off normally, like any other teenagers’ life. But then, the scene when Shizuku sings, I was mesmerized! I loved the part so much that I watch it over again and again. I loved all the Ghibi’s production, but this scene struck me the most.6/5 for it!
Wow I was just looking up the lyrics for the song and I was brought here… I watched the film yesterday…twice! It’s one of my favourite movies and that scene which you described is truly wonderful. I loved it so much I put the album on my iPod and I listen to the song often. I love Shizuku’s voice… so clear and simple which I find more enjoyable compared to all those ones with the professional singers
Thanks for this comparison!
I totally agree. This version is absolutely beautiful, much better than the original. However, my copy of the film (my favourite film ever!) is broken and I have been without it for the past year. I can’t find another copy anywhere, and my da doesn’t like me ordering stuff from the internet, so, basically, I’m screwed.
I’ve been a long time fan of this movie, but only recently I start looking inside the particular arrangements of Country Road (both the violin scene and the ending credits). I also consider them superior to the original, and I’ve found some interesting (for me) things:
1. Besides altered and inverted chords, there are some (non-trivial, non diatonic) chords replacements. In particular, the first sequence, in the plain original
F Dm C Bb
is played instead, if I’m not mistaken, as
F Dm Eb Bb/C
This replacement of C (when not acting as dominant) by Eb (flat-VII chord) gives a much more interesting flavour. And also in the chorus:
Instead of
F C Dm Bb …
I hear
F Gm/Bb Dm7 Eb7+ …
I wonder if these (and other) substitutions had been done before (I hardly knew the original song)
2. The ending credits version has a instrumental part, a variation of the main verse, but in the subdominant (Bb).
This corresponds approximately to the instrumental part of the ensemble, in the violin scene.
3. But the violin scene has a solo introduction that, also, does not sound straightforward to me. For one thing, it’s in F but employ some note from subdominant scale (Eb note). Further, it is not very clear to me that this introduction (is it original for this arrangement?) identifies the song. I question: if you had heard those notes (before knowing this movie) would you have identified the song “country roads” from them? It is logical that Shizuku identifies it? I wonder.
4. Another little interesting twist in the ending credits is that the bass plays the weak beats (2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3)