Ulfuls -- Ehh Nen（ええねん）

 

I heard this particular song on last night's episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）as performed by none other than bidanshi enka singer Keisuke Yamauchi（山内惠介）who really rocked one out and maybe scratched up his larynx in the process.

To be honest, I hadn't heard of Ulfuls'（ウルフルズ）"Ehh Nen" whose meaning is the Kansai dialectal variant for expressions like "Hey, it's OK", "No worries" and "We're good". It came out as the band's 25th single in November 2003 but also as a welcome back song to one of the original members of Ulfuls, bassist John B. Chopper, after he'd left the band in 1999 due to philosophical differences with the band's sound. I can imagine that the return was loud, joyful and boisterous with plenty of those ehh nen. Written and composed by vocalist Tortoise Matsumoto, the lyrics are basically letting listeners know that whatever the issue, no probs man!

Hey, I can imagine "Ehh Nen" being a popular choice at karaoke, especially if two good buddies in a company department, baseball team or neighbourhood association had gone through a sudden tiff followed by the making-up phase. Although "Ehh Nen" was a big hit in the Kansai region, overall, it "only" got up to No. 20 nationwide which nullified some plans to provide variations on the song through regional ways to say "Ehh Nen".