Memoirs of a Geisha - Response #2

English Translation

Covered in dirt, In an unfamiliar city

I didn't smile like usual

I just walked hanging my head

To all the people hurrying quickly past me

"Have your dreams come true?"

I'm still struggling

Rather than going back to my childhood

I want to live happily now

I'm a coward by nature

If I try to leave for a place where the sun shines

With open arms

I think, "I wonder if I could cross the sky?"

I still can't see 

my wings for flying

Because I can't just go on, I continue to live

Just by picking up a wet puppy

Enough to smile a little

My tears came pouring out

I want to be loved; I just want to be loved

I've said it 

It's no good just wishing for it

There were also days in my childhood

Where I had hurt my mother

I want to change it all now

I tried to leave for a place where the sun shines

Gripping tightly

Destroying that time and place

I can change my life

But, I can't communicate everything

In my heart

Because I can't just go on

I continue to live

Going to a place where the sun shines

I try to open a map, but

I know... you know... 

There's nothing I can do even if I'm lost

I can change my life

With everything that's gone by lately

I'm only the me I am now

Because I can't just go on

I continue to live

This song seems to describe Sayuri’s life and things she goes through and what she is feeling. When the lyrics “Covered in dirt, In an unfamiliar city” are said, it described how Sayuri was a poor girl coming from a poor household in the town of Yoroido. She was taken to the Okiya/Geisha house and was separated from her sister, Satsu. The area the Okiya was in wasn’t familiar to her. “I just walked hanging my head” describes when Chiyo was helpless when settling in the Okiya and was forced to go to geisha school and yelled at for getting into trouble. “Rather than going back to my childhood, I want to live happily now” shows that Chiyo/Sayuri is determined to become a geisha now because of the confidence she gained when she me the chairman and dreams of a future with him. He encouraged Sayuri to go back home so she went back to the Okiya instead of running away. “I want to be loved, I just want to be loved” is similar to Sayuri longing for the attention of the chairman to notice her but she believes he may only remember her as Chiyo instead of Sayuri. “I tried to leave for a place where the sun shines” could also be an explanation of when Sayuri was young she tried to run away to a better place with her sister one night (but failed and her sister got away alone, without her). “I can change my life” would show the determination Sayuri has to become a geisha. She practices her dancing a lot and listens carefully to when she is being given geisha advice from Mameha. By doing this Sayuri shows an effort in trying to change her life to make it better for herself.