The Tigers/Toi et Moi -- Kaze wa Shiranai（風は知らない）

 

It is once again Hump Day this week so perhaps the stress levels and blue feelings are at their peak. Well, I can't prescribe anything professionally, but at least, I can provide some soothing music. This time, I'm plucking something from the Group Sounds era of the late 1960s in Japan...specifically, this B-side from a March 1969 single by The Tigers（ザ・タイガース）titled "Kaze wa Shiranai" (The Wind Doesn't Know). Written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）and composed by Kunihiko Murai（村井邦彦）, it was the flip side of The Tigers' 9th single "Utsukushiki Ai no Okite"（美しき愛の掟...A Decree of Love）.

There are some lovely harmonies between Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）and his colleagues and some peaceful arrangements as a lot of natural images come through Iwatani's lyrics such as wind, rainbows and the great big sky. I guess that would be par for the course for a pop song from the late 1960s. However, the impression that I got from the song was that one shouldn't rely on those symbols of nature for wisdom; ultimately, one has to rely on his/her own soul for guidance.

Some months later in December 1969, the folk duo Toi et Moi（トワ・エ・モワ）recorded a cover of "Kaze wa Shiranai" for their first album of cover songs, "Anata to Watashi to Toi et Moi"（あなたと私とトワ・エ・モワ）. The English translation of "You and Me and You and Me" sounds obviously redundant which may explain the official English title of "A Wonderful World of Toi et Moi". Anyways, their cover version is also lovely and it sounds a little more upbeat.