Lyrics


  SOLITARY FRIEND
  (Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)  

  Dreaming like an angel with the wings
  Howling just like some of weary beasts
  Seeing without knowing why 
  But I feel just like a king

  Strong but weak, this foolish saint 
  A clown inside the bright shade
  You can always laugh at me without reason why
  Don’t you know you’re weighing on your spell
  You’re no stranger at night 
  But a solitary friend

  Find me, I am near and far away
  Feel me deep inside your dying soul
  Take me to your paradise
  Now you’re seeing who you really are

  I am made of grain of sand
  You can always break me
  I’m riding high and low, going back and moving on
  Spin around and ‘round and ‘round
  Mmm….a solitary friend

  Strong but weak, this foolish saint
  A clown inside the bright shade
  You can always laugh at me without reason why
  Don’t you know you’re weighing on your spell
  You’re no stranger at night
  But a solitary friend

  And I feel just like a king
  Well I know you may never find me here
  A solitary friend





Nikki's Note :
A man. An individual. We are forever alone. We can never understand what is on other’s mind. We can guess but there is no way what we understand other’s mind completely. So we try to hang on to the fantasy that we do. That we are friends. There is no reason to fantasize it. We only need to understand our only friend is yourself. A solitary friend.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  



THE PARALLEL     
(Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)    

Reason for this cause and strife, I’d say    
Losing a hold of clarity     
An ordinary mind    
Misleading knowledge     

We surf on the sonic waves    
Sail and drift in space     
And trail the king of spades    
Caught in the odds we feel    
Bringer of fortune and strength   
Draws the lines of grades   
As all of us are guided  to this parallel   


Waiting for this moment, so they say   
We’re on the edge of sanity   
How wrong and how absurd   
Army to salvage   

We surf on the sonic waves   
Sail and drift in space    
It’s all uncertainty   
Fooling us day to day   
Illusion has brought us to see   
The castles in the air    
As all of us are guided  to this parallel   

We surf on the sonic waves   
Sail and drift in space    
And trail the king of spades   
Caught in the odds we feel   
Bringer of fortune and strength   
Draws the lines of grades   
As all of us are guided  to this parallel    
 



Nikki's Note :
The parallel is the two lines that never cross over each other. It is the reflection of our society. When I wrote this song, I was thinking of the 2 religions that set us apart. Christianity and Muslim. The world is split between them. The song is also a criticism of the 21st century life style. It's all uncertainty fooling us day to day…

The twin towers that used to stand as parallel are gone.

The song ends with amazing violin and shamisen dual solo. An European and Japanese instruments played together. This is also a parallel that was not imaginable.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  



  GUARDIAN OF THE SEA
  (Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto) 

  There I was in the middle of the stumpy road
  Rain never seemed to stop, I heard the thunder roll

  Oh oh oh, then she comes like ocean breeze
  Charm and the spell she whispers softly in the air
  And the stars fall, the moon breaks up the sky

  Waving her hand of credo, somewhat vincible
  Riding a cloud in haze, guardian of the sea

  Oh oh oh here she comes like ocean breeze
  Charm and the spell she whispers softly in the air
  Wait is over, we’ll dance the night away yeah yeah yeah yeah

  La la la la la la la, la la la la la x2

  Oh oh oh, then she comes like ocean breeze
  Charm and the spell she whispers softly in the air
  And the stars fall, the moon breaks up the sky

  La la la la la la la, la la la la la x2

  Oh oh oh here she comes like ocean breeze
  Charm and the spell she whispers softly in the air
  Wait is over, we’ll dance the night away yeah yeah yeah yeah



Nikki's Note :
Unlike the 2 religions mentioned, we believe our gods are nature itself. We sing and dance with gods and pray for good days. We don’t go to heaven or hell. It strikes us as nature's call.

We are afraid that nature gives us a hardship. This time in 2011, we have learned the hard lesson again. The guardian of the sea went mad..

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  



  OCEAN   
      (Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)   

   Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh oh oh oh   

  Day to day, I have stood by the ocean   
  Yesterday and today   
  Oh the waves of the sea, how they grieve   
  Singing along with my heart beat    

  Sail away, now my boat of the ages   
  Cast away and away    
  I’m alone in the land, born to roam    
  And it’s calling again in my sleep   
  Life is a journey and life is a drif   
  Wander the darkness to home, home  

  So I lay here alone by the stream   
  Dream about all the past   
  You were there now you’re gone from the haven   
  And I know that I don’t belong here   
  Life is a journey and life is a quest   
  Wander the darkness to home, home   

  Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh oh oh oh   

  Day to day, I have stood by the ocean   
  Yesterday and today   
  Oh the waves of the sea, how they grieve   
  And I know that I don’t belong here    
Belong here, don’t belong here here uh uh    

 Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh, Oh oh oh oh oh oh    
 



Nikki's Note :
This song was supposed to be about a fisherman who lost his family while he was out in the ocean. Japanese fishermen sometimes spend days out in the water. As a vegetarian and lover of Sushi, I wanted to pay a tribute to fishermen. But all these fishermen in the northern Japan were struck by the incredible Tsunami.

I realized that the song has more meaning to it now. It is just so mind boggling that I receive this CD 3 hours before the quake hit. And this particular song was being played at the moment..

Life is a journey and life is a drift. Wander the darkness to home..home.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  


  
  DRIFT
  (Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)

  Sound of my heartbeat
  A stream in my veins
  Oh I am here, I am caught in this feeling
  A life full of ravings
  It’s taking its toll while I seek the glimpse of home

  A nightfall I’ve been to
  Hiding away from the light
  The harder it seems, the closer it feels on the line

  One day I’ll read all the signs shown to me
  No one to drag me away from within
  A drift then will seize all the pains of searching in vain

  A flame, trifling starlight
  It’s only a life that I know that burns to an end
  Frightened I’m never
  But what will I see in the dark
  Knowing the state of mind that is deeper than sea

  One day you’ll see all the signs close to me
  The key that will unlock the door, the cell within
  A drift then will seize all your pride

  One day I’ll read all the signs
  No one to drag me away
  A drift then will seize all the pains of searching in vain
  Searching in vain




Nikki's Note :
So the drift continues. This song is more hopeful than the previous one. The children who survived the disaster have mental wounds. I hope this song can ease them.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  



VISION LED ON     
(Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)    

Drawing near, a feeling of cold embrace   
Voices heard, a tone in dismay   
Lord I’m in fear   
And the stars may fall from grace oh oh   

Well can you hear the man scream, he’s right beside you   
One place he had in his mind    
He’d seen it all, the madness in you    
One day he waved the world good-bye   

Vision led on, if you were here with us today   
Would you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders   
If you were here with us today, ah ah ah    

Bring on the power of   
Man within a man, song without a rhyme    
I know that I was a slave   
I gave it all and I’ll go on giving all I can   
Until I wave the world good-bye   

So if you're standing in the back at the theater of pain   
Don't play with madness and lies   
Insanity, the world is so wrong   
Someone controlling your lives   

Vision led on, if you were here with us today   
Would you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders   
If you were here with us today, ah ah ah   

Vision led on, if you were here with us today   
Would you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders   
If you were here with us today, ah ah ah   
Vision led on, if you were here with us today, ah ah ah   

Vision led on, if you were here with us today   
Would you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders   
If you were here with us today, ah ah ah   
 



Nikki's Note :
I wrote this song on December 8th, 2005, It was the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death and it was important for me to do this.

On December 8th, 2010, I made the video of it. I and some of band members went to Budokan where Yoko and Japanese musicians were playing Lennon's songs.

On that day, CNN and BBC were spreading the news of WikiLeaks as the problem of the world. And yes, the world is STILL so wrong

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  


 
  THE LORE
  (Music: Nao Tsuchida & Nikki Matsumoto
   Lyrics: Nikki Matsumoto)

  In the land of innocence
  Our fortune was to be told
  Blazing stars fading from above
  And breaking the dead of night
  Fables hailed and the children cried
  In the shadow where silence would scream

  Night and day from fathers to brothers
  Whisper and sigh and the warmth of touch
  Heaven shed tears and they fall on the faces of joy

  All the fables made the children smile
  In the shadow their darkness prevailed

  Day to day from mothers to sisters
  Whisper and sigh and the warmth of touch
  Heaven shed tears and they fall on the faces of joy

  Now hear the calling when you feel the breeze
  Revive the heart and soul of the lore

  Hear the calling when you feel the breeze
  Revive the heart and soul of the lore
  Hear the calling when you feel the breeze
  Revive the heart and soul of the lore

  La la la la la la la la lo, La la la la la la la la lo
  La la la la la la la la lo, La la la la la la la la lo




Nikki's Note :
The song is about the people of ancient times who lived in caves. Without electricity and any technology of today, they had a very simple life. Everyday, they would look at the sky and count the stars. The sky was the heaven. The rain was the tears from it.

We have come all the way. We have come to conquer the earth, or have we? We have forgotten to give respect to the nature. And the nature strikes back as soon as we forget. The lore is to be remembered.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  



DEAR MY FRIEND   
(Music & Lyrics : Nikki Matsumoto)   

Do you recall how we stood by the wind   
And all of the jokes, all of the things we said    
And if you count on me, I will take you to see    
When the times were so good    
We couldn’t make of what we had    
And here we are once again    

Dear my friend, we will be as young as we met    
Close as we were oh oh    
Lonely friend, you’ve been here    
To see how it’d turn out to be   
How long we’d tried    

So don’t ask me where I have been for all these years   
To the darkness and light, I had roamed oh    
Well I missed out a few    
And something went out from my head    
It’s all clear to me after all    

Dear my friend, we will be as young as we met    
Close as we were oh oh    
Funny friend, you’ve been here    
To see how it’d turn out to be   
How long we’d tried    

Dear my friend, we will be as young as we met    
Close as we were oh oh    
Lonely friend, you’ve been here    
To see how it’d turn out to be    
How long we’d tried    
 



Nikki's Note :
This is a personal one. I used to be on a hard rock band when I was 18. Then I left Tokyo to LA. I had not seen any of the guys I used to play with, but some miracle happened. I and my old drummer from this band ran into each other after 25 years after not seeing each other. This is not going to happen in the age of e-mails and SNS.

So I wrote this song for the long lost friendship and he played drums. So this album starts with a concept of self relationship and ends with happy reunion. I am still very hopeful about the future.

JAPANESE TRANSLATION
(Soon to be completed)  

Copyright © 2011 Rock of Asia, All rights reserved. Website Cesigned and Developed by Layers Technologies