Misora Hibari(美空．ひばり) - Kawa no nagare no you ni(川の流れのように)

Kawa no nagare no you ni -- Misora Hibari (1989)

Original Title: 川の流れのように (like the flow of the river)
Genre: Enka
Performer: Hibari Misora
Compositor: Akira Mitake

Lyrics (Yasushi Akimoto)
Shirazu shirazu aruite kita
Hosoku nagai kono michi
Furikaereba haruka tooku
Furusato ga mieru
Dekoboko michi ya
magarikunetta michi
Chizu sae nai sore mo mata jinsei

A~a kawa no nagare no you ni yuruyaka ni
Ikutsu mo jidai wa sugite
A~a kawa no nagare no you ni tomedo naku
Sora ga tasogare ni somaru dake

Ikiru koto wa tabi suru koto
Owari no nai kono michi
Ai suru hito soba ni tsurete
Yume sagashinagara
Ame ni furarete nukarunda michi demo
Itsuka wa mata hareru hi ga kuru kara

A~a kawa no nagare no you ni odayaka ni
Kono mi o makasete itai
A~a kawa no nagare no you ni utsuriyuku
Kisetsu yukidoke o machinagara

A~a kawa no nagare no you ni odayaka ni
Kono mi o makasete itai
A~a kawa no nagare no you ni itsumademo
Aoi seseragi o kikinagara

Lyrics(English Translation)
I came walking on this long, narrow path
without knowing it
When I turn around,
my distant hometown is visible
The uneven path twists & turns
and doesn't even have a map
So is the road of life

Ah, like the flow of the river
the era passes by leniently
Ah, like the flow of the river
the sky is just endlessly dyed at twilight

Living and taking a journey,
an endless path
Take The person I love to my side
while searching for a dream
Even if I'm rained on & the path is muddy,
someday the sunny day will come again

Ah, like the flow of the river
I want to calmly go with the flow
Ah, like the flow of the river
The changing seasons

Ah, like the flow of the river
I want to calmly go with the flow
Ah, like the flow of the river
Forever while listening to the blue blabblings

Trivia: This song was released on Japan's Columbia Music label on January 11 1989. Misora Hibari died in June of the same year. Eight years after its release, it was voted number one in an NHK poll of the best Japanese songs of all time !