Bonobos -- Thank You For The Music

Thank you for the music indeed. This song hit me in my consciousness when it was used as one of the ending themes for "Countdown TV" on TBS. When a show ends at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, I don't usually pay too much attention to any song that would be playing, but this infectious little earworm by the Bonobos got it with that thumping drumbeat and the happy chirping melody. That boom-boom-thwack reminded me of my lunch periods at my old junior high school when the kids would suddenly and periodically do a mass hand percussion on the cafeteria tables.

The Bonobos (probably named after that monkey indigenous to the Congo) are, according to Wikipedia, an Osaka dub band with roots in reggae and rock. Formed in 2001, the current members are Chunho Sai (蔡忠浩...vocal and guitar), Bondo Tsuji (辻凡人...drums), and Natsuko Morimoto (森本夏子...bass). Two former members are guitarist Yasuyuki Sasaki（佐々木康之） and percussionist Izumi Matsui（松井泉）. It was Sasaki who wrote and composed "Thank You For The Music" for release in May 2005 as the band's 5th single. The song is also a track on their 3rd album "electlyric" released in June.

The original music video for the song is nowhere to be seen on the Net, at least currently (uh, look up?). But it did involve the band enjoying their time in a park while throbbing geometric shapes were pulsing around....I guess you have to be there. But the above video of the Bonobos performing at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture in 2007 will do. Despite the genres that have been listed for them, I consider "Thank You For The Music" as just a gleeful pop song. The lyrics has Sai describing what must have been a very happy day in his life as he observes the lovely scenery around him while waiting for that girl. Pretty happy-go-lucky and pretty infectious. I can only wish for a lot of those days.

http://www.nicozon.net/watch/sm87259

Well, managed to find a fuzzy version of the original music video at the above link.