NOTHING HAPPENS なにもおこらない A poem/song by Yuri Kageyama
I started working on this song in February 2019. It’s 2023, and I’m still working on it, finally to make a recording, with singing and music. The piece is about how people like to talk about “what’s happening” or what’s going to happen. But most of the time, nothing happens. And nothing needs to happen. If anything, it can be a good thing when nothing happens. With the pandemic unfolding, the song became for me more pertinent than ever. I reworked the song to reflect that. In June 2020, I added the rap section in Japanese that refers to the death of George Floyd. We must not forget how precious those moments are when horrible things that can happen don’t happen, and we can just sit back and enjoy the passage of time, when utterly nothing happens.
The work in progress (Artwork by Munenori Tamagawa):
Yuri Kageyama · NOTHING HAPPENS a poem/song by Yuri Kageyama with guitar/arrangement by Hide Asada
Nothing happens なにもおこらない
_ a poem/song by Yuri Kageyama
(1)
Nothing happens
Bombs no longer falling
Nations aren’t killing
Nothing happens
^___<
(2)
Nothing happens
Women aren’t screaming
Children aren’t starving
Nothing happens
^___<
(BRIDGE)
なにもおこらない
このきもち
なにもおこらない
しずけさ
^___<
(4)
Nothing happens
The stars will shine
Behind clouds that hide
Nothing happens
^___<
(5)
Nothing happens
Birds, blossoms remind
The passing of time
Nothing happens
^___<
(rap section)
Nothing happens
We took it for granted
Nothing is boring
Nobody up to no good
Looking for something
Something to happen
Before the coronavirus
Now we wake up to numbers
Pray the curve gets flattened
Pray it’s no one we know
Waiting for a vaccine
Scared by the sirens
Italy, New York, Spain, Wuhan, Tokyo
Now nothing else happens
Nothing else can happen
Now you know it:
Now you wish you didn’t wish it
Now you know for sure you like it
When Nothing happens
Yeah, Nothing happens
なにもおこらない
死ぬまえ
のこる生命で
えらんだ言葉
息ができない
彼のおもい
アメリカの差別
歴史のおもい
すべてすごくて
言葉がない
息ができない
息ができない
You know that’s the view:
No news is good news,
It’s so quiet you can hear it
Silence is the music
When NOTHING HAPPENS
^___<
Nothing happens
The Virus descends
Like a stranger of death
Nothing happens
^___<
Nothing happens
We can forget the rest
How we miss those days
When Nothing happens