“Grand Escape” (グランドエスケープ; gurando esukeepu) is a song sung by singer-actress Toko Miura (三浦透子; Miura Touko) and written by Japanese rock band Radwimps (ラッドウインプス; stylized as RADWIMPS), lead by singer and guitarist Yojiro Noda (野田洋次郎; noda yojirou). The song was released in the album for the supernatural romance anime film “Weathering with You” (天気の子; tenki no ko, lit. “Weather girl”) by Makoto Shinkai (新海誠; shinkai makoto) which Radwimps was the soundtrack composer for; the album was was released on the same day as the movie’s theater debut on July 19th, 2019.

A video for the song was released on Youtube, together with the entire movie soundtrack, and can be seen here. A video of the full version of the song was later released on November 26th, 2019, as seen here.

Synopsis

In the “Grand Escape” by Radwimps, it is brought to question if it’s impossible to let two different worlds overlap. Be it the sky and earth, or the summer to fall, are they not allowed to be together? Love tells us to take the opportunity to go forth. To not let the horizon, or this society, be the last destination. That we may be fearful or will have to take detours… but we have to “go.”

Lyrics

空飛ぶ羽根と引き換えに

Sora tobu hane to hikikae ni

In trade of the wings that can fly in the sky

繋ぎ合う手を選んだ僕ら

Tsunagiau te wo eranda bokura

We chose to have hands which can hold each other

それでも空に魅せられて

Sore demo sora ni miserarete

Even then, we were fascinated with the sky

夢を重ねるのは罪か

Yume wo kasaneru no wa tsumi ka

I wonder, is it a sin to let dreams overlap*

夏は秋の背中を見て

Natsu wa aki no senaka wo mite

Summer looks after the fall that arrives

その顔を思い浮かべる

Sono kao wo omoiukaberu

I imagine what kind of face it makes

憧れなのか、恋なのか

Akogare na no ka koi na no ka

Is it admiration, or is it love

叶わぬと知っていながら

Kanawanu to shitteinagara

All while knowing that the dream won’t come true*

通り雨が通り雨と

Tōriame ga tōriame to

From passing rain, to passing rain

木漏れ日たちが木漏れ日と

Komorebi-tachi ga komorebi to

Sun shines past tree after tree

名乗る ずっとずっとずっと前から

Nanoru zutto zutto zutto mae kara

Forever and ever before you had introduced yourself

貴方は貴方でいたんだろう？

Anata wa anata de itandarou?

Were you able to remain as yourself?

重力が眠りにつく 1000年に一度の今日

Juuryoku ga nemuri ni tsuku sennen ni ichido no kyou

Today is the one day in the millennia when gravity sleeps

太陽の死角に立ち 僕らこの星を出よう

Taiyou no shikaku ni tachi bokura kono hoshi wo deyou

We stand in the blindspot of the sun, ready to depart from this planet*

彼が眼を覚ました時 連れ戻せない場所へ

Kare ga me wo samashita toki tsuremodosarenai basho e

When he had awoken from his sleep, we head to a place of no return

「せーの」で大地を蹴って ここではない星へ

「See no」 de daichi wo kette koko de wa nai hoshi e

on the count of “go” we slam our feet on the ground, to a planet that’s not here

行こう 行こう 行こう

ikou ikou ikou

Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go

夏風邪に焦る心が

Natsu kaze ni aseru kokoro ga

My heart becomes rushed because of the summer cold

夏を更に早送るよ

Natsu o sarani hayaokuru yo

It makes the summer go by even faster

目まぐるしい景色の中

Memagurushī keshiki no naka

Amidst the dizzying scenery

君だけが止まって見えた

Kimi dake ga tomatte mieta

You were the only one that I could see clearly

君と出会ったあの日から

Kimi to deatta ano hi kara

Ever since that day I had met you

パタリと夜、夢は止んだよ

Patari to yoru, yume wa yanda yo

I had suddenly stopped dreaming at night

土の中で待ち焦がれた

Tsuchi no naka de machikogareta

It had been waiting for long within the ground

叶えるその時は今だ

Kanaeru sonotoki wa imada

The time is now for that dream to be fulfilled

重力が眠りにつく 1000年に一度の今日

Juuryoku ga nemuri ni tsuku sennen ni ichido no kyou

Today is the one day in the millennia when gravity sleeps

花火の音に載せ 僕らこの星を出よう

Hanabi no oto ni nose bokura kono hoshi o deyou

We ride on the sound of the firework, ready to depart from this planet

彼が眼を覚ました時 連れ戻せない場所へ

Kare ga me wo samashita toki tsuremodosarenai basho e

When he had awoken from his sleep, we head to a place of no return

「せーの」で大地を蹴って ここではない星へ

「See no」 de daichi wo kette koko de wa nai hoshi e

on the count of “go” we slam our feet on the ground, to a planet that’s not here

行こう

ikou

Let’s go

もう少しで運命の向こう

Mou sukoshi de unmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past our destiny

もう少しで文明の向こう

Mou sukoshi de bunmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past civilization

行こう

Ikou

Let’s go

もう少しで運命の向こう

Mou sukoshi de unmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past our destiny

もう少しで

Mou sukoshi de…

Just a bit more…

行こう

ikou

Let’s go

もう少しで運命の向こう

Mou sukoshi de unmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past our destiny

もう少しで文明の向こう

Mou sukoshi de bunmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past civilization

行こう

Ikou

Let’s go

もう少しで運命の向こう

Mou sukoshi de unmei no mukou

Just a bit more, we’ll reach past our destiny

もう少しで

Mou sukoshi de…

Just a bit more…

夢に僕らで帆を張って

Yume ni bokura de ho wo hatte

We are the sails for our dreams

来るべき日のために夜を越え

Kitaru beki hi no tame ni yoru wo koe

We get past the nights to approach the coming day

いざ期待だけ満タンで

Iza kitai dake mantan de

Now, we are filled with expectation

あとはどうにかなるさと肩を組んだ

Ato wa dou ni ka naru sa to kata wo kunda

With shoulders to shoulders, we say “We’ll do something about the rest”

怖くないわけない でも止まんない

Kowakunai wake nai demo tomannai

While we are not fearless, we won’t stop

ピンチの先回りしたって 僕らじゃしょうがない

Pinchi no sakimawari shitatte bokura ja shou ga nai

Even if we try to take a detour from danger, we cannot help when it comes*

僕らの恋が言う 声が言う

Bokura no koi ga iu koe ga iu

But our love tells us, its voice tells us

「行け」と言う

“Ike” to iu

it tells us to “go”

Translation Notes

The singer expresses how it feels like humans chose human bonds over the dream of soaring high. However, even then, humans are fascinated by the sky, so the singer wonders if one is allowed to be so selfish… so sinful to desire both.

In this second stanza, we are back to how Japan likes to personify concepts, in this case the seasons. There may be interpretations of what the summer thinks of autumn, but here, the singer personifies it as someone who admires or loves the fall. However, because of how embedded these seasons are, aside from that baton touch during September, what the summer feels, it’ll never be reciprocated by the autumn.

When looking at this line, about escaping the earth while in the sun’s blindspot, one could say that the sun represents the norm of the universe. The obvious emperor of this solar system. And only when one is standing in that blindspot does one have the opportunity to run from said norms. One of these norms is the mentioned “gravity” which may be another way of saying “grounded reality.”

This last stanza is uplifting, as the singer(s) cheer on about their weaknesses. They are with fear, and they will have to take detours. But they have accepted them, as they are unavoidable. Because in the end, they want to “go” as their love calls out to them. If failure comes their way, they will deal with it at that time and try to triumph over them.

Glossary

Other songs by Radwimps or from “Weathering with You”:

Author’s Notes

I don’t want to be redundant about Weathering with You, so this will solely about my thoughts on this song which hyped me the most for the movie. It’s prominent feature in the movie’s second trailer was ear catching. Not in the ear-worm sense, but simply because of how it ramped up during the mentioned trailer. When I had the chance to hear the fuller version when the soundtrack released, I was even more entranced. It’s the same energy I feel from songs such as those from EXILE; this powerful “everyone” feeling than the usual uplifting songs that are around. It makes me look forward to a full version if one is ever released.

Tow things that came to mind when I took a deeper listen later on is the comparison I made with the main theme of one of Shinkai’s previous works, “Garden of Words,” since both films are related to rain. How the background track emulated “rain” in their own way, and how I like them both. But I also appreciated how poetic the first two stanzas were. How romantic they were, because if I were to be honest, that nostalgic romance is what I like from Shinkai’s work and the music that has come from his films. I am a true sucker for those notions of transient and ideals, of longing for the best of two worlds or letting them overlap when society and reality rejects them.