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.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Hiroshi Madoka -- Musoubana (夢想花)




Another tribute video today. Earlier this afternoon, Austrian 'Fearless' Felix Baumgartner did the impossible and made the highest freefall jump in history right from the edge of space.

So, why did I post this particular song? Well, it's one verse in "Musoubana"(Dream Flower) which goes "Tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, tonde, mawatte, mawatte, mawatte, mawaru." which means "Fly"(x9) and "Turn"(x4). (Baumgartner was doing a fair bit of both during his descent.) It's probably one of the most famous sets of lyrics in recent Japanese music history but people often can't remember the title or the singer behind the song.

Well, the singer is Hiroshi Madoka(円広志)who was raised in Osaka. He made his debut as a singer at the Yamaha Music Festival in 1978 with "Musoubana"(written and composed by Madoka) where he won the Grand Prize. From that point, the song was released as a single in November of that year and would eventually sell 800,000 records. It went up as high as No. 4 on the Oricon rankings and would become the 23rd-ranking single in 1979. Although Madoka would continue releasing singles for many more years, his debut would be his only bona fide hit. Apparently, he was able to write the song in 5 minutes....a little less than what the song is clocked at!

I think that lyric alone is inspirational enough. Certainly a lot of commercial campaigns have thought so as well since the song has been used over the years by various products for their advertising. If you're feeling somewhat down, give this tune a listen. Strangely enough though, Madoka wasn't inspired to use the "Tonde" verse because he had this need to fly. Instead, he just got inspired by the name of his entertainment agency that he had belonged to, Office Tonde.



In any case, watch Fearless Felix make his supersonic jump!

9 comments:

  1. OH MY GOD IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR WHAT THIS DAMN SONG WAS CALLED



    I CONSTANTLY TYPED IN TONDETONDETONDETONDETONDETONDETONDE LYRICS LOL

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  2. It's my pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure! :)

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  3. Hi again, its the same person from 2 years ago I just wanted to thank you SO much for helping me find this song I reallllyyy wanted to listen to it! i just need the forum I downloaded all that japanese music from...

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    Replies
    1. It's been a while. How's it been going? Glad to have been of help. Are there any other Japanese songs that you've enjoyed?

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  4. This song is so infectious. With a chorus like that, how can it not be?

    Research into Yamaha's World Popular Song Festival led to this single entering my collection, along with "Tabidachi no uta" by Tsunehiko Kamijo and Rokumonsen, Crystal King's epic "Daitokai" and, perhaps my favorite, Asuka's "Hananusubito." With its classically-derived piano playing, it's a real stunner!

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Mike.

      Thanks for commenting. Yep, "Musoubana" is one of the great kayo earworms. I think even kids today in Japan probably know the song even if they don't know the title or the singer. By the way, nice safari outfit.:)

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  5. This song was released by a Chilean group too called "Frecuencia Mod" They tittled the song "Donde, donde".
    Best regards.
    Jesus

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Jesus.

      I saw the video for "Donde donde" and thought there was something very appealingly ABBA (and perhaps Candies) about their cover (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ataUOxRpwXc).:)

      Thanks for letting us know about Frecuencia Mod!

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  6. Hi J-Canuck,
    you are right, they sing using the typical style of late 70s...early 80s... Best regards.

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Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.