What is “Green Green”?
“Green Green” is a song based on a 1963 song by the American folk group the New Christy Minstrels. In Japan, Japanese lyrics were written by Kataoka Hikaru, and it spread after being introduced on NHK’s “Minna no Uta” in 1967. It later appeared in elementary school music textbooks, and many people remember singing it as children.
The dark rumors about “Green Green”
The Japanese lyrics depict a boy’s memories of his father; in the first half, the father tells the boy about the joys and sorrows of living. In the second half, however, the song tells how one day the father left the boy and never came back.
From this development, various interpretations spread online and among children: “the father went to war and was killed,” “he died in an accident or of illness,” “it is actually a song set after nuclear war destroyed the world.” The gap between the bright, energetic melody and the sad story of parting is thought to have given rise to such rumors.
What does it really mean?
The lyrics never clearly say why the father left, so listeners can take the song in many ways. It is often understood as a song about a boy growing up through parting with his father. Another urban legend about a children’s song is the “phantom fourth verse” of Sacchan.
