It wasn't only Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美） who took care of the theme songs for the Tuesday night suspense dramas on NTV. Going into the 90s, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや） also made her mark by allowing a couple of her songs to be the tunes to see off the resigned criminal walk away with the sage detective. One was "Single Again" released in 1989, and there was this one, "Kokuhaku" (Confessions), released in September 1990, just a week before its year of usage as the ending theme. Takeuchi wrote and composed the song.
Of course with that title, it was a good fit for a suspense drama. However, the lyrics were actually more centered on the agony that one goes through when one wants to confess his/her romantic feelings for that special someone. But since I never got all that interested in "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場）, the first time that I'd actually heard the song was in the Numata City (Gunma Prefecture) equivalent of a Canadian Tire household goods shop. It got played on the speakers overhead while I was looking for a decent tool kit...I guess there was a certain kismet to the situation; tools were often used on the various episodes of the drama....just not in the way they were supposed to be used. Anyways, it had been a while since I heard Takeuchi's voice so I didn't pick up right away who the voice belonged to, although the richness did ring a bell.
Nope, I actually had to come across the end credits of the show one Tuesday night to finally realize it was Takeuchi. One visit to the CD shop later, the single was in my hands. Listening to it, it seemed like a melodic cousin to her husband's recording of "Endless Game", another somewhat melancholy song of the heart released in the same year as Takeuchi's ballad, and itself a theme song to a drama.
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| Mariya Takeuchi -- Kokuhaku |
Thanks J-Canuck for this great post on 竹内まりや's 「告白」. I absolutely love this song and the lyrics are so poignant and melancholy. Has almost slow jazzy feel to the song with the sax bits. 竹内まりや has such a great voice and when its accompanied by 山下達郎's awesome music arrangements it is always magical. I always wondered if the telephone intro faked out some people (when it originally came out) who mistakenly thought that their own phones were ringing.
ReplyDeleteHey, JTM. Thanks for the comments. As for the phone ringing, with the advancement in ringtone technology these days, I'd think that that problem would be even bigger now. :)
ReplyDeleteHOLY MOLY thank you for this post. I'd heard Confessions on a compilation that got deleted and was unable to find it!!!! Id nearly given up until I found your post.
ReplyDeleteSo, thank you. Have a good rest of the year!
My pleasure. I'm happy that you've enjoyed the song. I hope that you have a good and safe remainder of the year.
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