Tomoko Soryo -- Mezamashi Dokei（めざまし時計）

From aliexpress.com

 

The last time I wrote about singer-songwriter Tomoko Soryo（惣領智子）was back in December and for the traditional article thumbnail, I had put up a photo of a massive drain snake to illustrate a major clog too far for mere mortals to destroy which plagued our household for several days. It took a figurative python to finally break the probable fatberg and give us control of our sinks again. Well, another issue occurred a couple of days ago when a supposedly routine water pipe maintenance assignment turned into a lousy 15-hour odyssey of no H2O because of miscommunication and damaged valves. The water finally returned at several minutes past midnight on Thursday morning.

Well, my apologies to Ms. Soryo since now her name may end up becoming associated with plumbing  problems. However, I will write right here and now that she officially has nothing to do with the pipe ailments affecting our aging building.

As was the case with my last Soryo article dealing with "Futari no Asa"（ふたりの朝）, "Mezamashi Dokei" (Alarm Clock) is also a track on her 1977 "City Lights by the Moonlight", and I think that I've covered enough of the tracks from that album so that I really ought to invest my yen on getting a copy. In any case, "Mezamashi Dokei" was written and composed by her with her then-husband Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）arranging everything. It's a Junko Yagami-esque（八神純子）City Pop song with a slight lemon twist that gradually turns into something more sinister by the very end in the last few dozen seconds thanks to those scary strings. I was expecting Alfred Hitchcock to appear with his characteristically drawn-out "G-O-O-D E-V-E-N-I-N-G...". Do those city lights suddenly shut off with a bloodcurdling scream by the moonlight?😱