“Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore” (心よ原始に戻れ) is probably a well known song in the anime fandom, because it's an image song for the "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth" 1997 movie. As the title of the post suggests, I’m going to
introduce two different renditions of this song, both released around the same time. The
original one, sang by Yoko Takahashi (), is the b-side of her famous “Tamashii no
Rufuran” () single, released in
February 1997. The other version is sang by Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) and it's an album track of her best-selling
album, “Iravati”, released in August 1997. An ethereal downtempo version of “Tamashii
no Rufuran” is also included in “Iravati”, but that’s not subject for today.
About the original version, featured at the beginning of the post, I can say that Yoko’s
voice is very strong. The arrangement is upbeat and rich, with lots of
cool electronic elements thrown here and there. The chorus is made of call and
response sentences between the singer and the backing vocalists, which is very nice. Finally, the violin (not 100% sure if it's a violin) introduced at the last minute of the song is just beautiful. It's probably my favorite part of this version.
Now, let’s check out
Megumi’s version. Listen to it below.
Megumi’s version, called “Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore (Naked
Flower Version)”, in contrast, is not as upbeat as the original. The
arrangement is filled with latin elements and a mystic atmosphere pervades it. About
Megumi’s voice, it’s ethereal and gentle at the same time, which I find truly
amazing (in my opinion, it’s one of her best vocal performances). Moreover, the
call and response chorus is even more evident in this version, because the slower
arrangement fits it better (in my opinion, of course). I’m probably being
biased as Megumi is my favorite singer, but I find her version way more
beautiful than the original. Being fair with Yoko, though, we can’t really
compare the versions because both are different with very distinct vibes.
As my humble Japanese music knowledge started mostly with
Megumi Hayashibara, her version was the first one I came across when I got a
huge MP3 file with all of her albums in very low quality back in 2005.
But shortly after, I discovered Yoko’s original recording. At the time, I
enjoyed both and listened to them a lot. I dare to say that I used to listen to Yoko's version more times because it's upbeat and I was not very fond of ballads and slow songs back then. Nowadays I listen to Megumi’s version
with more frequency than Yoko’s one, which reflects my preference. The fact
that I own Megumi’s “Iravati” helps a lot too as I really like to sit on
the couch and listen to an album while looking at the booklets and photo books
that are part of the package. All in all, “Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore” is a
great song and both versions are offering something different to the listener.
To finish the article, here's a photo of my own copy of Megumi's "Iravati" album. It came with a slipcase and a hardcover photo book, which is always very nice.
Hey, Marcos. Good to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteI just listened to the two versions and I have to say that the different arrangements are both wonderful in their own ways. As for Takahashi's version, it has that dynamic sound that made it fit for the theme of an anime....couldn't tell either if that violin at the end was true wood and string or a synthesizer. But I have to say that I like the Hayashibara version even more because of that haunting intro and the Latin feel to the proceedings.
Hi J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. Things are kinda rushed here but it will probably calm down next month.
Takahashi is a great singer. She is the singer of Evangelion's classic theme, "Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis", and her delivery was top notch. Hayashibara covered this theme as well and, coincidentally, she did it with a latin arrangement as well.
And I agree that the hauting intro on Hayashibara's version of "Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore" is beautiful. I really can't tell if i'm just being a fanboy, but I find her voice in that intro amazing. She was truly experimenting with that kind of voice at the time, because a lot of her more artistic and not radio-friendly songs were sung with it.
Thanks Marcos V for this great post on 高橋洋子's 「心よ原始に戻れ」 and 林原めぐみ's alternate version. Both versions are awesome and being a fan of 『新世紀エヴァンゲリオン』, I definitely appreciated your additional background information regarding the song.
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