Friday, October 24, 2014

Mayumi Itsuwa -- Atsui Sayonara (熱いさよなら)




My other entry tonight was on the playful side of cafes. However, I came across an old chestnut that I hadn't heard in years by beautiful chanteuse Mayumi Itsuwa(五輪真弓)that also envisions a cafe. Titled "Atsui Sayonara" (Passionate Goodbye), Itsuwa wrote and composed this bittersweet ballad as her 28th single from June 1984, and it's about a woman keeping on a good face while inevitably giving her farewells to a once-thriving romance.

When it comes to Itsuwa, I can always imagine her penning her songs at a Parisian cafe along the Seine while sipping that café au lait. As soon as I heard the first notes of "Atsui Sayonara", the song immediately hit me as an Itsuwa creation...the piano weaving a wonderful and introspective melody from decades past. First hearing this on a highlight episode of "Sounds of Japan", I could almost feel the chill of l'automne that Itsuwa could have felt while writing.



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