Mothra's Song
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- This page is about the song originally composed by Yuji Koseki for the film Mothra. For the song of the same name composed by Masaru Sato for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, see "Mothra's Song" (Ebirah, Horror of the Deep).
"Mothra's Song" (モスラの歌 or モスラの唄[2] Mosura no Uta) is a song composed by Yuji Koseki for the 1961 Toho film Mothra. It was initially performed by the musical duo The Peanuts, comprised of sisters Emi and Yumi Ito, who portrayed the Shobijin in the film. The Peanuts reprised the role in Mothra vs. Godzilla, in which they also performed the song. The song was later performed by Sayaka Osawa and Keiko Imamura in Godzilla vs. Mothra, Megumi Kobayashi and Sayaka Yamaguchi in Rebirth of Mothra, Rebirth of Mothra 2, and along with Misato Tate in Rebirth of Mothra 3, and Chihiro Otsuka and Masami Nagasawa in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. The song is also included in the soundtrack for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, with a choir version that was excluded from the film. A different version of Mothra's song was composed by Masaru Sato for the 1966 film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, and performed by Pair Bambi. A spin on "Mothra's Song" entitled "Fly On, Mothra" was also recorded by Sachiko Matsumura in 1971. Though numerous songs have been performed by the Shobijin in Mothra's films over the years, none are as recurring as "Mothra's Song," which is typically sung in order to summon Mothra to the fairies' aid.
"Mothra's Song" has only received a standalone release twice. The original version was released to 7" vinyl as a single by King Records in May of 1978, with "Daughters of Infant Island" as a B-side. An alternate version of Osawa and Imamura's rendition with two additional Japanese verses that are not heard in Godzilla vs. Mothra was released on a mini CD by EMI Music on November 4, 1992 as a promotional single for that movie, with their recording of "Sacred Springs" as its B-side.
Lyrics
The song's lyrics are widely believed to have originated from the Indonesian language, and approximated to Japanese pronunciations. The lyrics were originally credited to "Koji Yuki," a joint pen name of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, and director Ishiro Honda. In the end credits of Godzilla vs. Mothra and the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, Tanaka, Sekizawa, and Honda are simply credited by their real names. The katakana transcription of the lyrics was written by Mothra assistant director Hiroshi Haryu.
The katakana lyrics are relayed inconsistently by different sources. This ranges from simple changes in spacing to discrepancies of entire syllables. Listed below are five such variations, along with their romaji.
| "Mothra's Song" 1978 single release | "Mothra's Song" 1992 single release & Godzilla vs. Mothra theater program |
Godzilla vs. Mothra SCW & Godzilla: Tokyo SOS SCW |
Rebirth of Mothra SCW | Rebirth of Mothra 2 SCW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Japanese[1] | Japanese[3][2] | Japanese[4] | Japanese[5] |
モスラヤ モスラ |
モスラヤ モスラ |
モスラヤ モスラ |
モスラヤ モスラ |
モスラヤ モスラ |
| Romaji | Romaji | Romaji | Romaji | Romaji |
Mosuraya Mosura |
Mosuraya Mosura |
Mosuraya Mosura |
Mosuraya Mosura |
Mosuraya Mosura |
Below are the Indonesian lyrics upon which the song is thought to be based, along with Japanese and English translations.
| Indonesian[6] | Japanese[6] | English |
|---|---|---|
Mothra, ya, Mothra |
モスラよ、モスラ |
Mothra, o Mothra |
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Though only the first verse is used in Godzilla vs. Mothra, two additional verses were written in Japanese by Yoshiko Miura.[1] These additional Japanese verses exclusively appear in the promotional single version of the song. They are presented below as they appear in the film's theater program, along with their romaji and an English translation.
| Japanese[1] | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
モスラや モスラ |
Mosura ya Mosura |
Mothra oh Mothra |
Filmography
- Mothra (1961)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
- Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
- Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997)
- Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998)
- Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003)
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
- Chibi Godzilla Raids Again (TV 2023) [episode 11]
Videos
|
Trivia
- The English subtitles on Sony's Blu-ray release of Godzilla vs. Mothra erroneously translate the Indonesian first verse of "Mothra's Song" using the lyrics to the Japanese second verse, which is not heard in the movie.
See also
- "Daughters of Infant Island"
- "Sacred Springs"
- "Mahara Mothra"
- "Call Happiness"
- "Mothra's Song" (Ebirah, Horror of the Deep)
- "The Song of Prayer"
- "Mothra Leo"
- "Haora Mothra"
References
This is a list of references for Mothra's Song. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
|
Bibliography
- Godzilla vs. Mothra theater program. Toho. 12 December 1992.
- Matsui, Satoshi, ed. (1 January 2004). Godzilla: Tokyo SOS Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-101493-3.
- Sagami, Yasuyuki, ed. (28 March 2014). Godzilla vs. Mothra Super Complete Works (Kindle ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101433-7.
- Takashima, ed. (25 July 2014). Rebirth of Mothra Super Complete Works (Kindle ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101456-6.
- Kawamata, Shigeo, ed. (22 August 2014). Rebirth of Mothra 2 Super Complete Works (Kindle ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101461-0.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments
Showing 19 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
|
|
|
|
|
|
