Asami Kobayashi -- Transit

Recently, I was asked by a commenter on how I was able to quickly peg a particular tune from the late 1970s as a Yuming-penned one. I simply answered that it was because of the 50s pop feeling imbued into the melody and I think the only other singer-songwriter who could do that, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）, had just debuted herself.

When I heard the intro for Asami Kobayashi's（小林麻美）"Transit", I received that same inkling that this was another Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）creation especially in the way that piano tinkled away. Well, actually, I was wrong in that Yuming（ユーミン）wasn't responsible for the music. She provided the lyrics. Meanwhile, it was Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）who composed "Transit", the B-side for her 9th single "Kanashimi no Spy"（哀しみのスパイ）from August 1984.

Compared to the suspenseful technopop of that A-side for which Yuming also provided lyrics while Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）gave the music, "Transit" is a shorter and dreamier musical interlude with a bit of blues in there. Yuming's lyrics describe a woman who is in the middle of a stopover just making adjustments to the time and settling into that airport relaxation rhythm. Perhaps she's following that kayo trope of taking an international flight to get a breather after breaking up with a fellow.

I figure that the song was probably the final track on either Side A or Side B of her 4th album "Crytograph ~ Ai no Angou"（愛の暗号...Code of Love）which came out in the same month of the single. Well, I saw on Amazon that it was Track 5 out of the ten tracks, so I think my guess may actually win out here.