I was reminded of "Taking Off" by Godiego （ゴダイゴ）when I was at my friend's house yesterday, and he gave me a trip down anime Memory Lane by showing excerpts of the first and best of the "Galaxy Express 999" （銀河鉄道９９９） movies from 1979. I may have already mentioned this in my other postings concerning the movie such as "Galaxy Express 999" and "Yasashiku Shinaide" （やさしくしないで）, but the songs and the score were just wonderful. I'm glad to say that I was able to get the soundtrack a few years ago.
"Taking Off" was the Side-B song for Godiego's "Galaxy Express 999" when it was released in July 1979, and is a bit lighter in tone than its "big brother". However, it's appropriately titled since the song, written and composed by the same people behind "Galaxy Express 999", has that feeling of expectation as the legendary train takes off on its journey through the stars. The keyboards also reflect that feeling of innocence (or as much innocence as a future street urchin whose mother was slaughtered can have) and regret within young Tetsuro as he looks out the window and mentally waves goodbye to his buddies and his old life. I think just hearing that song for myself brings back memories of Japanese music back then and when I took off for Japan in 1981 with my fellow graduates from Japanese school.
Thanks J-Canuck for this great post on ゴダイゴ's 「Taking Off」. I didn't realize this was also used for the first 『銀河鉄道９９９』 film but it's definitely a cool song. Of the movies/specials my favorite has to be 『銀河鉄道999 エターナル・ファンタジー』 (1988) although I loath THE ALFEE song 「Brave Love 〜Galaxy Express 999」 that was used for the film.
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