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Shôchiku Harmonica Music Sheet (Shôchiku hȃmonika gakufu) No.6
松竹ハーモニカ楽譜No.6 文藝小唄 麗人
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Literary Ditty, Beautiful Woman (Bungei kouta, Reijin)
Shôchiku Harmonica Music Sheet (Shôchiku hȃmonika gakufu) No.6
松竹ハーモニカ楽譜No.6 文藝小唄 麗人
Designer: Tomita Morizô (Japanese, dates unknown)
Composer: Horiuchi Keizō (Japanese, 1897 – 1983)
Arranger: Gotō Genji (Japanese, dates unknown)
Lyricist: Satō Hachirō (Japanese, 1903 – 1973)
Publisher: Shōchiku kinema gakufu shuppan sha (Japanese)
Composer: Horiuchi Keizō (Japanese, 1897 – 1983)
Arranger: Gotō Genji (Japanese, dates unknown)
Lyricist: Satō Hachirō (Japanese, 1903 – 1973)
Publisher: Shōchiku kinema gakufu shuppan sha (Japanese)
Japanese
Shôwa era
1930 (Shôwa 5), June 20
Medium/Technique
Color lithograph; ink on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 26.7 × 19.1 cm (10 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mary and Robert Levenson
Accession Number2023.1106
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsMusical scores
DescriptionTranslation of lyrics from Japanese, by Kuniko and Kendall Brown:
“By wet eyes and whispers, One easily falls in love
Beautiful roses have thorns, Beautiful men set snares
When you discover them, it’s too late
Prospect is better than possession.
Deep breaths look seductive, A newborn has no sin
Disconsolate about myself, A man’s heart is damnable
Prospect is better than possession.
Troubles, sorrows, sighs, Discard them with a clear heart
Seek a way of revenge, Woman are weak but strong
Prospect is better than possession.
Yesterday ‘golf’, today horseraces, ‘Mahjong, ‘‘dance,’ ‘cocktails’
Day and night, evil pleasures, Shoot glances, blow ‘kisses’
Prospect is better than possession.
Make-up by day, face powder at bed, For wrinkles in the mirror
Cannot return our youth, Longing for old painted beauty marks
Prospect is better than possession.
Look back, at the road taken, Reflect deeply, on the way of love.
Where is there real love, In the single-minded true heart?
Prospect is better than possession."
“By wet eyes and whispers, One easily falls in love
Beautiful roses have thorns, Beautiful men set snares
When you discover them, it’s too late
Prospect is better than possession.
Deep breaths look seductive, A newborn has no sin
Disconsolate about myself, A man’s heart is damnable
Prospect is better than possession.
Troubles, sorrows, sighs, Discard them with a clear heart
Seek a way of revenge, Woman are weak but strong
Prospect is better than possession.
Yesterday ‘golf’, today horseraces, ‘Mahjong, ‘‘dance,’ ‘cocktails’
Day and night, evil pleasures, Shoot glances, blow ‘kisses’
Prospect is better than possession.
Make-up by day, face powder at bed, For wrinkles in the mirror
Cannot return our youth, Longing for old painted beauty marks
Prospect is better than possession.
Look back, at the road taken, Reflect deeply, on the way of love.
Where is there real love, In the single-minded true heart?
Prospect is better than possession."
Marks
MOR mark on lower left cover
ProvenanceBy 2019, Mary and Robert Levenson, Belleair, FL; 2023, gift of Mary and Robert Levenson to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 13, 2023)