Junichi Inagaki -- Merry Xmas ga Ienai （メリークリスマスが言えない）

With all of the celebrity that has surrounded Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）"Christmas Carol no Koro ni wa"（クリスマスキャロルの頃には....already profiled) over the years, it can be surprising that the J-AOR crooner actually had released a prior Xmas song. "Merry Christmas ga Ienai"(I Can't Say Merry Christmas) is another one of those sad ballads of a lonely person on the 24th reminiscing to happier times when he did have a significant other to celebrate the Holidays with.

Released in November 1990 as Inagaki's 20th single, the song was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康） and composed by pianist-songwriter Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）, who would later create a Misia masterpiece, "Everything" a decade later. Compared to "Christmas Carol no Koro ni wa", "Merry Christmas ga Ienai" has more of the traditional Yuletide arrangements, albeit it's a more melancholy song. It was released 5 times as a single between 1990 and 1994, with the 3rd and 5th times being coupled with its more frenetic cousin "Christmas Carol". The first release was, by far, its most successful outing in terms of sales with it peaking at No. 10 on Oricon. The song was also a track on Inagaki's 11th album, "Will", released in April 1991.

University of Toronto