Lipstick Message (Rouge no Dengon) – Yumi Arai | 1975

ルージュの伝言 [Rūju no Dengon]
荒井由美 [ARAI Yumi]
Words & Music : 荒井由美 [ARAI Yumi]

“Lipstick Message (Rouge no Dengon)” is very famous in Japan as the opening theme song of the Studio Ghibli movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service ^web” (魔女の宅急便 / Majo no Takkyūbin), released in 1989. In America, there was a period when Walt Disney Pictures released it with a different English theme song, so some might not know this song.

The author, known as Yumi Matsutoya after changing her name, is a huge singer-songwriter in Japan, nicknamed Yuming. However, when this song was released in 1975, she was just over 20 years old and was known as Arai Yumi. From the beginning, she had a sophisticated artistic quality that set her apart from other artists of the time.
The arranger is Masataka Matsutoya, who later married Yuming. This is similar to the relationship between Mariya Takeuchi and Tatsuro Yamashita. Tatsuro Yamashita participated in the chorus.

あのひとのママに会うために
ano hito no mama ni au tame ni
今ひとり列車に乗ったの
ima hitori ressha ni notta no

あの　[ano] : that
人（ひと） [hito] : person
ママ [mama] : mom
会う（あう） [au] : meet
今（いま） [ima] : now
ひとり [hitori] : alone
列車（れっしゃ） [ressha] : train
乗る（のる） [noru] : ride

(translation) “To meet his mom,
Now I boarded the train alone.”

There are various ways to call mothers in Japan.

母（はは） [haha] : mother
お母さん（おかあさん） [okaasan] : mother
母さん（かあさん） [kaasan] : mother
おっかあ [okkaa] : mother
おかん [okan] : mother
ママ [mama] : mom

The formal way is “母 / haha,” the most orthodox is “お母さん / okaasan.” The prefix “お” and suffix “さん” add politeness. Other variations include the more plain “母さん / kaasan,” the old-fashioned “おっかあ / okkaa,” and the Kansai region’s “おかん / okan.” Recently, more families have started using “ママ / mama.”

“あの人” (=that person) probably refers to her husband or fiancé. Here, she went to meet her mother-in-law, not her real mother, and she went alone without her husband.

たそがれせまる街並や車の流れ
tasogare semaru machinami ya kuruma no nagare
横目で追い越して
yokome de oikoshite

黄昏（たそがれ） [tasogare] : twilight
街並み（まちなみ） [machinami] : streetscape
車（くるま） [kuruma] : car
流れ（ながれ） [nagare] : flow
横目（よこめ） [yokome] : sideways glance
追い越す（おいこす） [oikosu] : overtake

(translation) “At twilight, the streets and the flow of cars,
I overtake with a sideways glance.”

あのひとはもう気づくころよ
ano hito wa mō kizuku koro yo
バスルームにルージュの伝言
basurūmu ni rūju no dengon

もう [mō] : already
気づく（きづく） [kizuku] : realize
ころ [koro] : time
バスルーム [basurūmu] : bathroom
ルージュ [rūju] : rouge
伝言（でんごん） [dengon] : message

(translation) “By now, he must have realized,
the message of rouge in the bathroom.”

What an astonishing scene. There’s a message written on the wall or something with bright red lipstick. The content of the message is as follows.

浮気な恋をはやくあきらめないかぎり
uwaki na koi o hayaku akiramenai kagiri
家には帰らない
ie ni wa kaeranai

浮気（うわき） [uwaki] : affair
恋（こい） [koi] : love
はやく [hayaku] : quickly
諦める（あきらめる） [akirameru] : give up
家（いえ） [ie] : home
帰る（かえる） [kaeru] : return

(translation) “Unless you give up your affair quickly,
I won’t come home.”

The protagonist of this story wrote a message with lipstick in the bathroom and left the house. The lipstick might be a piece of evidence, possibly belonging to the lover.

不安な気持ちを残したまま
fuan na kimochi o nokoshita mama
街はDing-Dong 遠ざかってゆくわ
machi wa Ding-Dong tōzakatte yuku wa

不安（ふあん） [fuan] : anxiety
気持ち（きもち） [kimochi] : feeling
残す（のこす） [nokosu] : leave
街（まち） [machi] : city
遠ざかる（とおざかる） [tōzakaru] : recede

(translation) “Leaving behind feelings of anxiety,
the city recedes with a Ding-Dong.”

The depiction that the city moves away rather than herself is interesting.

The issue here is the Ding-Dong. It’s not Japanese, nor is it a bell ringing. It’s likely Yuming’s humor, expressing the Japanese onomatopoeia “どんどん / dondon” in a stylish, English-like manner. “どんどん / dondon” means rapidly or continuously.
Incidentally, a viewer on YouTube commented that there’s a city named Ding-Dong in America. Thanks for the information.

明日の朝ママから電話で
ashita no asa mama kara denwa de
しかってもらうわ My Darling!
shikatte morau wa My Darling!

明日（あした） [ashita] : tomorrow
朝（あさ） [asa] : morning
電話（でんわ） [denwa] : phone
叱る（しかる） [shikaru] : scold
もらう [morau] : receive

(translation) “Tomorrow morning, I’ll get scolded over the phone by mom, My Darling!”

This is her way of getting back at her husband or fiancé. The interesting part is that “Mama” is on her side rather than the son’s.
In Japan, it’s common for a wife to leave a message saying she’ll go back to her parents’ house for a while.
If it were “I’ll get scolded by my dad over the phone, darling,” it wouldn’t be funny at all. For Japanese men, a wife’s father is a fearsome figure.

The ways to call fathers include “父 / chichi,” “お父さん / otōsan,” “父さん / tōsan,” “おっとう / ottō,” “おとん / oton.” The counterpart to “ママ / mama” is “パパ / papa,” which sometimes has nuances of a patron.

あのひとはあわててるころよ
ano hito wa awatete ru koro yo
バスルームにルージュの伝言
basurūmu ni rūju no dengon
てあたりしだい友達にたずねるかしら
teatari shidai tomodachi ni tazuneru kashira
私の行く先を
watashi no iku saki o

慌てる（あわてる） [awateru] : panic
手当たり次第（てあたりしだい） [teatari shidai] : at random
友達（ともだち） [tomodachi] : friend
たずねる（たずねる） [tazuneru] : ask
私（わたし） [watashi] : I
行く先（いくさき） [ikusaki] : destination

(translation) “By now, he’s probably panicking,
asking my friends at random about my whereabouts.”

不安な気持ちを残したまま
fuan na kimochi o nokoshita mama
街はDing-Dong 遠ざかってゆくわ
machi wa Ding-Dong tōzakatte yuku wa
明日の朝ママから電話で
ashita no asa mama kara denwa de
しかってもらうわ My Darling!
shikatte morau wa My Darling!
しかってもらうわ My Darling!
shikatte morau wa My Darling!

Although the Matsutoya couple has no children, Yuming calls her husband Masataka Matsutoya “Papa.” This is common in Japan. They seem to be getting along well.

This song wasn’t made for the movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” but the depiction of the city receding overlaps with the scene where Kiki leaves home in the movie.