The Fate of the Lonely Girl
“ロンリーガールはいつまでも届かない夢見て” is the opening line to one of the best known songs by the late Japanese artist, Wowaka (ヲワカ). The line translates roughly as “Lonely girl always dreams of unreachable dreams”. The song itself is called “Rolling Girl” and is one of the most profound works ever created using Vocaloid software (a type of voice synthesizing software that uses pre-recorded voice samples to allow a user to create music by inputting melodies and lyrics). This song has a few popular interpretations that, admittedly, helped me develop my own. So, please, take a seat, and allow me to beckon you into the world of the lonely girl.
The lonely girl is described as dreaming of unreachable dreams. These dreams are fantastical and far-fetched. Still, she stubbornly holds tight to them. Her persistence is used as a punching bag by her peers. The girl is bullied relentlessly, to the point that she wishes to “stop her breathing”. She trudges through life, gradually losing focus on her dream as her attempts to realize it fail repeatedly. The failures begin to multiply faster and faster, as if rolling down a hill like a snowball, each one causing the girl to lose more hope for her dreams. She reaches a point that the bullying and her shattered self-confidence engulf her and she succeeds in stopping her breathing, a victim to the monster known as suicide. A monster that claims far too many lives every day, its tendrils wrapping themselves around people and dragging them to the depths of despair. This is a fate that too many people meet. A fate that I myself have nearly met on multiple occasions. “Rolling Girl” reminds me of the strength and support I am so incredibly lucky to have been gifted, and I hope it instills the same kind of relief and courage to keep living in other people, so that we may avoid the fate of the lonely girl.