Uwagaki (上書き) is an instrumental song released on August 24, 2024.
Background[]
Uwagaki (上書き) is an instrumental song composed and illustrated by Iyowa. It was released as part of Iyowa's participation in the #YouTubeMusicWeekend Event 8.0. It was the first song to premiere in the event, and it precedes the events described in the second one, Write over me (うわがき). The song is only available on Youtube.
The instrumental consists of lo-fi jazz piano arrangements of sections from some of Iyowa's previous songs. Specifically:
- Don't Return to the Water Corpse (0:00-1:30)
- IMAWANOKIWA (1:30-3:00)
- Kyu-kurarin (3:00-4:14)
- Heat Abnormal (4:14-5:41)
Additionally, although the song is instrumental, it does have a transcript consisting of dialogue between two characters, one of whom being the girl depicted in the cover art and video for Write over me.
Meaning[]
As the song is an instrumental, the story is told through visuals and dialogue. The MV follows the perspective of a person waiting at a bus stop, accompanied by a girl in a sun hat. She has recorded a selection of songs she has covered on piano for the other to listen to on earbuds. As they converse idly over the music, the girl worries about behaving strangely.
After the third song, the girl reveals that she is actually from the future, where technology has advanced to be able to 'overwrite' the past. Having traveled back in time and now inhabiting her past self's body, she explains that no matter how much she deviates from the timeline of events, nothing will ever change. As a bus rolls in to the stop, she begs the other person not to board and to continue speaking with her, implying something will happen once they do. The video ends as they get up to leave.
Transcript[]
※ Translation by Spicy Sweets
| Japanese | English |
| ど、どうかな… | S-So, what do you think…? |
| 聞けるぐらいには弾けてる？ | Did I play well? |
| それ、私の好きな曲でね。 | I like that song. |
| こっち来てから自分で録ったんだ。 | I recorded it after I came here. |
| うちに大きめのピアノがあったはず〜、って思い出したんだけど | I could've sworn I had a huge piano back then, |
| あると思ってた場所になくて困っちゃったよ、あはは | but it wasn't where I thought it was, so I was freaking out. Ahaha… |
| きみ、よく音楽をそうやって聞いていたからさ。 | You used to listen to music like that a lot. |
| 喜んでもらえたら嬉しいな。 | I hope you like it. |
| その中にほかにもいくつか入ってるんだ。 | There's more songs on there. |
| もし興味があったら、次のも聞いてみてよ。 | You can listen to the next one, if you want. |
| あ、嬉しそうな顔。 | Oh, you look happy. |
| よかった。 | I'm glad. |
| いっぱい練習した甲斐があったよ。 | All that practice was worth it, then. |
| 完全に再現とかはできないんだけどね。 | I couldn't fully replicate them, |
| きみはこの曲、知らないだろうから。 | but you wouldn't know the difference, since you've never heard them before. |
| 涼しいね。 | It sure is nice out. |
| きみの周りでは何が流行ってるの？ | By the way, what're you into these days? |
| 前も教えてもらったんだけど、忘れちゃった… | I know you’ve told me before, but I forget… |
| …今日の私、しゃべり方とか変じゃないよね？ | …I'm not acting weird today, am I? |
| …ほっ。 | Whew... |
| 君の方も変わりなさそうでよかった。 | I'm glad you're the same as always. |
| えっ？ | Huh? |
| 片方くれるの？ありがとう。 | You wanna share earbuds? All right. |
| うふふ、得しちゃった。 | Hehe, lucky me. |
| いい時代だねぇ。 | What a lovely era this is. |
| うふふ、 | Eheh, |
| 気を遣ってくれてありがどう。 | I appreciate your attentiveness. |
| やっぱりきみは優しいやつだね。 | You're such a nice guy. |
| これ、一緒に聴けてよかったよ。 | I'm glad we can listen to this together. |
| あとどれぐらいもつか、わからないからさ。 | There's no telling how much longer this will last. |
| 充電の話じゃないよ。 | I'm not talking about the battery, by the way. |
| これね、 | Y'know, |
| 今から16年後の曲なの | this song's from 16 years in the future. |
| きみはさ、 | Would you… |
| 過去に戻れる方法があるって言ったら信じる？ | …believe me if I told you there was a way to travel back in time? |
| 上書きする技術ができたの。 | We now have the technology to overwrite. |
| 過去の、両手で掬えるぐらいの質量ぶんのものを。 | As in, overwriting the past, since it now has a mass we can grasp with our own two hands. |
| わたしは、 | I... |
| 過去の自分の頭の中身を、今日の自分で塗りつぶしたの。 | …placed my present mind into my past self. |
| 見た目が変わらない方が、ばれにくいからね。 | Since my appearance is still the same, I figured I wouldn't be found out. |
| ばれる？誰に？って感じだね。 | Wow, "found out"? By who? |
| … | … |
| 例えば、 | What do you think would happen… |
| 私が自分の知っている過去と明らかに違う行動をしたら、どうなると思う？ | …if I did something significantly different than the past I experienced? |
| 何も変わらないの。 | Nothing changes. |
| 宝くじを当ててもお金は手に入らないし、 | If I hit the lottery, I won't get any money, |
| テレビで災害を予言しても放送されないし、 | If I predict a disaster on TV, it won't get aired, |
| 家出しても翌日には自分のベットで起きるの。 | and if I run away from home, I'll end up back in my bed the next day. |
| 過去は、絶対に変えられないの。 | The past is impossible to change. |
| 変えようとしたら、全部ばれて元に戻る。 | If I even tried, everything I did would come to light, and it’d go back to normal. |
| それが分かった時にはもう、 | By the time I realized that, |
| 私は時間切れになってしまった。 | I had already run out of time. |
| 本当はお別れを言いに来たんだけど。 | To be honest, I initially came to say goodbye to you. |
| 無理を承知できみにお願いするね。 | I know this is asking for the impossible, but I have a request. |
| このバスに乗らないで、 | Don't get on that bus. |
| あと三十秒だけ、私と話して、 | Can we just talk for 30 more seconds? |
| 私の声を聞いて、 | Listen to me, |
| 行かないで | Please |
| お願い、 | don't go. |