Mari Iijima -- Beautiful Music

(cover version)

This song has been getting a lot of plays on my Sansa Fuze ever since I moved to Japan and started teaching full-time. It just has this soothing atmosphere that's helps you get some of that weight off your shoulders after a long and stressful day. Kind of like spending an hour or two at a quiet cafe while reading a book and glancing out the window, lost in time. Feel free to add some calm rain to the picture, though that's not necessary. It was only recently that I began to understand the lyrics by ear and learned that it's about a regret over lost love. Up to this point I always connected the song to its simple yet fitting title that doesn't necessarily have to convey melancholy but could very well accompany one of those tough days. I'll still continue to do so.

"Beautiful Music" was written and composed by Mari Iijima (飯島真理) herself and co-arranged by her then-husband James Studer. Though it was only an album track on her 8th studio album "It's a Love Thing" (1990), I think she liked it so much that she kept including it on her self-compiled Best-Of's. Though many people associate Iijima with Lynn Minmay, I was introduced to her via her original compositions from the mid- and late-80's and got to respect her as a talented songwriter in her own right. Her songs in Macross are, of course, wonderful, but I also hope that people give her other work a shot and see how she has grown over the years. Gems like "Beautiful Music" really show it.

Source: katieleigh.wordpress.com