Kyu Sakamoto "Sukiyaki" - 1963 (Spanish subtitles)

"Ue o Muite Arukō" (上を向いて歩こう?, "I Look Up As I Walk") is a Japanese-language song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, and written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura. Ei wrote the lyrics while walking home from a Japanese student demonstration protesting continued US Army presence, expressing his frustration at the failed efforts.[1]

In Anglophone countries, it is best known under the alternative title "Sukiyaki", a term with no relevance to the song's lyrics, as sukiyaki is a Japanese dish of cooked beef.

The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States in 1963, one of the few non-Indo-European languages' songs to have done so.

It is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold over 13 million copies worldwide.[2][3] The original Kyu Sakamoto recording also went to number eighteen on the R&B chart.[4] In addition, the single spent five weeks at number one on the Middle of the Road charts.[5] The recording was originally released in Japan by Toshiba in 1961. It topped the Popular Music Selling Record chart in the Japanese magazine Music Life for three months, and was ranked as the number one song of 1961 in Japan.

Well-known English-language cover versions with altogether different lyrics include "My First Lonely Night" by Jewel Akens in 1966 and "Sukiyaki" by A Taste of Honey in 1980. The song has also been recorded in other languages.
The lyrics tell the story of a man who looks up and whistles while he is walking so that his tears will not fall. The verses of the song describe his memories and feelings. Rokusuke Ei wrote this song while coming back from a protest against the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan and feeling dejected about the failure of the protest movement, but the lyrics were rendered purposefully generic so that they might refer to any lost love.[7] The English-language lyrics of the version recorded by A Taste of Honey are not a translation of the original Japanese lyrics, but instead a completely different set of lyrics arranged to the same basic melody.

The title "Sukiyaki", a Japanese hot pot dish, does not appear in the song's lyrics, nor does it have any connection to them; it was used only because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to English speakers. A Newsweek Magazine columnist noted that the re-titling was like issuing "Moon River" in Japan under the title "Beef Stew".[8]

A rough translation of lyrics: I keep my eyes to the sky as I walk, so my tear drops never fall. Remember the spring day, alone at night.

I keep my eyes to the sky as I walk, I can't count the stars through the tears. Remember the summer day, alone at night.

Happiness lies above the clouds, Happiness lies above the sky.

I keep my eyes to the sky as I walk, so my tear drops never fall. Crying while I walk, alone at night.

Remember the autumn day, alone at night.

Sorrow lies in the shadow of the stars, sorrow lies in the shadow of the moon.

I keep my eyes to the sky as I walk, so my tear drops never fall. Crying while I walk, alone at night.