Mothra's Song
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- 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 originally composed by Yuji Koseki for the 1961 Toho kaiju film Mothra, in which it was sung by Mothra's fairy priestesses the Shobijin, played by twin sisters Emi and Yumi Ito ("The Peanuts"), in order to summon her to their aid. It has since come to be recognized as Mothra's leitmotif, with renditions appearing in many of her subsequent film appearances. Two exceptions are 1966's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, which features an unrelated song with the same name composed by Masaru Sato and performed by Pair Bambi, and 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, for which composer Bear McCreary created a new arrangement of Koseki's composition that ultimately went unused, save for an instrumental version playing over the end credits.
After its debut in Mothra, "Mothra's Song" was next heard in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), in which it was again performed by The Peanuts, reprising their role as the Shobijin. The song was later performed by Cosmos actresses Sayaka Osawa and Keiko Imamura in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992); by Elias actresses Megumi Kobayashi and Sayaka Yamaguchi in Rebirth of Mothra (1996), Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997), and along with Belvera actress Misato Tate in Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998); and by new Shobijin actresses Chihiro Otsuka and Masami Nagasawa in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003).
Despite its prolific nature, "Mothra's Song" has only received a standalone release twice. The original version by The Peanuts was released by King Records as a 7" vinyl single in May of 1978, with "Daughters of Infant Island" as its B-side. An alternate recording of Osawa and Imamura's rendition, featuring two additional verses sung in Japanese that were not heard in Godzilla vs. Mothra, was released as a promotional mini CD for that movie by EMI Music on November 4, 1992; Osawa and Imamura's recording of "Sacred Springs" was included 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
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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]
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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.
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