Well, the Before the Harvest music album is (finally) done! Thank you for listening to some of the songs over the past year(s). I appreciate your feedback and time!
さて、「Before the Harvest」という音楽のアルバムが（やっと）出来上がりました！このアルバムからの歌を、去年も今年も、聴いてくれてありがとうございます。御フィードバックとお時間をありがとうございますね！
You can listen to or download this album at the link below:
以下のリンクで、このアルバムを聴いて、ダウンロードすることができます：
This is the last main song (written in 2008) from the Before the Harvest music album. I think it’s a song that tries to describe, in lyrics and music, times where things change unexpectedly in life. It’s a sad song, but my hope is still in Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening!
これは「Before the Harvest」という音楽のアルバムからの最後のメーンの（２００８年に書かれた）一曲です。人生にはチェンジが案外に起こるという時を歌詞と音楽で描こうとしている歌のだと思います。悲しい歌ですが、僕の希望はまだイエス・キリスト様にあるのです。聴いてくれてありがとうございます！
English Lyrics 英語の歌詞は：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Lights_Down#Lyrics
Song Download 曲のダウンロードは：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/albums/beforetheharvest/10%20Lights%20Down.mp3
This song was recorded+mastered by my friend Andrew Nagatori.
References:
Here is another song from the Before the Harvest music album. This song is called Test Me with Fire. It’s a song about how I desire to be tested with “fire” by God. In time, He has brought me through difficult times. Thank You, Lord!
これはもう一つの「Before the Harvest」という音楽のアルバムからの曲です。この曲は「Test Me with Fire」という歌です。神様が「火」を通して、私を鍛えてくださるようにという願いについての曲です。時間が経つにつれて、難しい時を通して、神様は私を導いてくれたのです。主よ、ありがとうございます！
English Lyrics 英語の歌詞は：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Test_Me_with_Fire#Lyrics
Song Download 曲のダウンロードは：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/albums/beforetheharvest/09%20Test%20Me%20with%20Fire.mp3
This song was mastered by my friend Andrew Nagatori.
References:
Here is another new song draft from the “Spirit Fruit” song project. This song is about the fruit of the Spirit known as “kindness” (from the Galatians 5:22-23 part in the Bible). Thank you for listening, if you have time!
これはもう一つの「Spirit Fruit」という歌のプロジェクトからの新作曲のドラフトです。この曲は御霊の実（聖書にガラテヤ５章22〜23節というところ）からの「親切」という実についての歌です。もしお時間があれば、聴いてくれてありがとうございます！
English lyrics (translated, but not poetic):
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Shinsetsu_(Kindness)#Translation
日本語の歌詞は：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Shinsetsu_(Kindness)#Lyrics
Here’s another new song draft for a recent project. It’s about “patience” related to the fruit of the Spirit (the Galatians 5:22-23 part in the Bible). Thank you for listening if you have time!
これはもう一つの最近のプロジェクトのための新作曲のドラフトです。この曲は「寛容」という御霊の実（聖書にガラテヤ５章22～23節というところ）に関しているという曲です。もし聴く時間があれば、聴いてくれてありがとうございます！
English lyrics (translated, but not poetic):
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Kanyou_(Patience)#Translation
日本語の歌詞は：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Kanyou_(Patience)#Lyrics
Here’s another song draft I’ve been working on lately that ponders the fruit of the Spirit (from Galatians 5:22-23 in the Bible). In particular, this song is about the peace that God gives. God’s peace is unique!
この歌はもう一つの御霊の実（聖書のガラテヤ５章22～23節より）について思い巡らしている作曲のドラフトです。特に、この曲のテーマは神様が与えてくださる平安についてという歌のです。神様の平安はユニークですね！
Song Draft 作曲のドラフトは：
English lyrics (translated, but not poetic):
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Heian_(Peace)#Translation
日本語の歌詞は：
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Heian_(Peace)#Lyrics
Here’s a new song idea I’ve been working on for an upcoming project. It’s a song about wanting the fruit of the Spirit related to self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV) and is called “自制 (Self-Control)”. Thank you for listening if you have time!
これは将来のプロジェクトのために、新しい歌のアイデアです。この歌は御霊の実、特に、「自制」という実（ガラテヤ５章22～23節から）がほしいという気持ちを伝えたいという曲です。そのために、「自制（Self-Control）」という曲の名を付けたのですね。もしお時間があれば、聴いてくれてありがとうございます！
English lyrics (translated, but not poetic):
https://music.andrewsummers.com/Self-Control#Translation
Well, it seems like the year has been going by pretty fast. For a lot of the year, I’ve been away from music production due to another commitment. Been starting again on getting one of the last songs (called Test Me with Fire) on the Before the Harvest music album ready for mastering. I think it’s getting closer to being ready, but still trying to fine tune it a bit. Learning that there’s only so much that can be done if the original recordings (on my part) aren’t that professional. Also, this song recording is so old that I ended up adding more lyrics to the song years later, but it’s not in this original version of the recording.
Along the way, I’ve been working on writing some new songs in the evenings. Even with just spending about a half hour a night during many weeknights, I believe that God has given me many new songs. Really excited about a lot of these—especially ones for an album called Spirit Fruit. It’s an album that hopefully includes some Biblical Scripture and some thoughts about what the Fruit of the Spirit might look like or involve [1].
I’m really enjoying these songs, though, and I hope they are somehow encouraging to you as well. For now, these particular songs are written in (however poor) Japanese—but I usually like to try to include an English translation of the lyrics on my Music Scrapbook when this is the case. I think one song on this project has been translated into English, if I recall, so maybe it’s possible to do more of that someday. Even though I’m not that good at using Japanese effectively, I really like using Japanese for songwriting due to the fairly consistent consonant+vowel combination of sounds. It makes it easier for me to make lines rhyme or sound like they match. With English, though, I like how there are many ways to use short, one-syllable words to be able to fit lots of meaning into a single lyrical line.
With all of the challenges going on in our own lives and around the world, I would like to encourage each of us to keep looking to Jesus even more when life gets tough. Thanks for taking the time to read this update!
[1] Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
“Harvest Moon” is the next song on the Before the Harvest music album. It’s been so long since this song was first recorded that I’m not sure what the purpose was behind putting together this song. Maybe it’s a song that tries to paint a picture with words and music? Thanks for listening!
This song is mastered by my friend Andrew Nagatori.
The next song on the Before the Harvest album is called More of You. Simply put: it’s a song about how I need God more in this life and how I need to focus less on myself. This song was not originally part of this album, but I ended up replacing an old song from 2008 with this one. Thanks for listening!
This song is mastered by my friend Andrew Nagatori.