Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Yukiko Okada -- Dreaming Girl


This is one of the most quintessential aidoru songs I've ever heard. Yukiko Okada（岡田有希子） may have out-aidoru'ed even Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） with "Dreaming Girl". It's just one of those pleasant, cotton-candyish tunes that never seems to fail to put a stupid grin on my face whenever I hear it for the first time in a long time (an apple pie a la mode seems to do the same thing, but I digress).

Released in September 1984, "Dreaming Girl" was written and composed by Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. Lyrically, Takeuchi really hit the mark with what a teenage girl like Okada at the time must have gone through: wondering when she will ever be given that freedom to act like an adult, hiding stuff from Mom like nail polish and lipstick, and stuffing that diary in the back of the drawer. The melody also has that 50s bobbysoxer-like feel, with Okada playing it to the hilt in her own music video.


The song itself was never released in an original album but did make it onto her BEST compilations. It reached as high as No. 7 on Oricon. and was used as a campaign song for Glico Chocolates.
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4 comments:

  1. KeijiApril 9, 2013 at 7:36 PM

    Nice entry! I'm agree with you that Dreaming Girl is a very pleasant and a very catchy song to hear on Yukko's voice. 'Dreaming Girl' is a top favourite song for any Yukko's fan. In my modest opinion I think that 'Dreaming Girl' is just an emblematical song for any 80s 'aidoru' japanese music's fan around. I just love this song to be honest!

    PS: Hope my english is fine enough. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. J-CanuckApril 10, 2013 at 1:06 AM

      Hello again, Keiji. And no problems with your English...you're doing fine! I have to say that amongst the three songs that I've posted for Yukko, this one is my favourite.

      By the way, Keiji, are you from Japan?

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  2. KeijiApril 10, 2013 at 10:39 AM

    Well, I have a japanese nickname but I'm not from Japan. :)

    I'm from Spain (Europe) if you want to know but I like Japan and japanese culture a lot.

    That's the reason why I love japanese music and Yukko's music legacy the most! Okada Yukiko is my favourite one 'aidoru', ever! She was/is and ever will be the 'Smiling Princess' for me.

    Let me tell you that I like any entry about Okada Yukiko which you have posted here. Thanks for it!

    PS: Am I doing fine with my english really? That sounds great! Thank you!

    Best!

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    1. J-CanuckApril 10, 2013 at 8:20 PM

      Hi, Keiji. Thanks for the information and I didn't mean to pry. I was just curious.:)

      I've asked a lot of people who have dropped by the blog, but how did you get into Japanese music? Was it through anime or did someone introduce a song to you? For me, it's been with me almost since I was born.

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