DESCRIPTION:
I wrote this song about the Tohoku disaster, the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan on March 11th, 2011. Hideyuki Katsumata directed and animated the video. The song is from my album Silver Silver, released on the Honest Jon's label, 2012.

In The Water Where The City Ends
by Simone White

sat the corner
on the crossing
hear the border
where the light begins
single doorway
of a station
in the water
now the city ends

all divisible by you
hold me close we slip right through

cross a bridge
whisper the houses
would the narrow wooden walkways
stand a chamber
left the structure
in the the tidal river bend

all divisible by you
hold me close we slip right through

palace speak
fire the canyon
understood and congregation
reflected us quiet formation
in the water
where the city ends

all divisible by you
hold me close we slip right through

The Japanese text in the video is from the 13th century war tale,
The Heike.
English translation (P.G.O'Neill):

The knell of the bells at the Gion temple
Echoes the impermanence of all things.
The colour of the flowers on its double-trunked tree
Reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall.
He who is proud is not so for long,
Like a passing dream on a night in spring.
He who is brave is finally destroyed,
To be no more than dust before the wind.