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Kodokushi (The Lonely Death)

Kodokushi (The Lonely Death) is a song that I wrote about the phenomenon of elders dying alone in Japan. Due to its low birth rate, Japan is one of the fastest aging countries in the world. There are not enough young people to take care of the old. Kodokushi is a symptom of the breakdown of the traditional family structure and the consequences of Japan's post-war socioeconomic model.

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I decided to write about this because it particularly struck me as tragic. For people who grew up during the post-war economic miracle, having a lifetime comittment to a job was necessary. Now, due to economic stagnation, many of those people have lost their jobs and now live out the rest of their lives alone in suburban danchis (appartment complexes). I was inspired by reading accounts from both the elderly and the people whose full time jobs are to clean up after lonely deaths. 

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This song was written and produced entirely by me in Garageband. Due to technical problems, the microphone I used was the one attached to my earbuds. I applied my experience with jazz theory in order to write something that fit the mood but was not too melodramatic. Now, while I am a guitarist, I have never claimed I was a singer. My approach for this was to basically do melodic spoken word. I am attaching an instrumental copy of my song so that if anybody can sing and wants to the song justice, they can.

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Kodokushi (The Lonely Death) - Hamish Robb
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Lyrics

Outside of the city  in concrete flats

You can find the children of a golden age

United for the future but not in death

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In squalor and seclusion

They live without a sign of life

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What happened to your children and your wife

Mrs. Ito isn’t eating her food

what happened to the scrapbook times

Now there’s too few to care for you

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When cicadas fall out of the sky

They fall on their backs and let of their cry

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There’s a strange smell from the upper floor

There’s no response to a knock on their door

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The lonely dead lying in their bed

How long until they find you

The lonely dead sink into their sheets

Rotting in their rooms for more than weeks

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In an air filtered suit, a young man arrives

There’s morbid recognition in the elderly’s eyes

He has his head shaved to keep off the scent

As he comes to clean up a lonely death

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Maggots in a ramen bowl

Walls of garbage leading to their room

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Mr. Kinoshito’s not in one piece

All that’s left is the hair on his head

He used to own a firm downtown

Now he’s 65 years old and dead

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Garbage bags are being dragged through the hall

Mr. Kinoshito's seeped into the wall

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The lonely dead lying in their bed

How long until they find you

The lonely dead sink into their sheets

Rotting in their rooms for more than weeks

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Kodokushi (The Lonely Death) (Instrumental) - Hamish Robb
00:00 / 00:00
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