Ulfuls -- Osaka Strut (大阪ストラット)

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Side note: If you're situated in Japan and can't access the above video, please use this link instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGtnAp8KZ_8 (J-Canuck: unfortunately that URL no longer works), or you can try a VPN server like I did. After all, this song is best enjoyed when you understand the lyrics.

Anyways, I have 6 days of holidays coming up starting Saturday, and between Monday and Thursday I'll be spending some time in Osaka. It's my first real travelling adventure since coming here to Japan and I'm looking forward to it like a little kid going to Disneyland. It just seems like such a fun place to be with friendly locals, good food, and the amusing local dialect. When I told my trainer during the training session in Nagoya that Osaka was one of my top places to visit in Japan, he told me to try fake-slashing a local with a virtual sword and watch them fall over like a defeated samurai. Perhaps I'm not that brave to actually try this, but I got the impression that many Osakans have a pretty animated sense of humor. Which takes me to the band that comes from Osaka itself and pretty much embodies what it's all about: Ulfuls (ウルフルズ).

Before scoring a big hit with "Guts Daze!!", Ulfuls released this funky comical number called "Osaka Strut" (大阪ストラット) in May 1995. Its message is basically: "Come to Osaka! It's a fun place to be!" After hearing so many Japanese pop songs dedicated to Tokyo, it's nice to come across ones like this that celebrate the unique culture of another city/town. The whole thing is splashed with references to things like the Umeda district, the famous Kante G teahouse, the Hanshin Tigers team, etc.. The extended version on their "Banzai" album also contains an extra verse mentioning Amemura and Shinsaibashi. Yeah, I'll definitely check a bunch of these things out. As for the "Naniwa Guitar!" part, Naniwa is an old name for Osaka.

And of course, there's the band's characteristic humor. I do suggest to listen to the song along with the video above since it pretty much acts out the dialogue contained within the lyrics. Along with "Guts Daze!!", it was this song and video that attracted me to this band. And of course, it educated me a bit about their hometown. Their personalities just shine through it, and I especially just love watching the singer Tortoise Matsumoto (トータス松本) in all his various guises blurting out one hilarious line after another in Osaka-ben.

It was only recently that I found out that "Osaka Strut" is actually a cover of a much older song by Eiichi Ohtaki (大瀧詠一) called "Fussa Strut Part 2" (福生ストラット Part 2), which appeared on his 1975 album "Niagara Moon". And yes, there is Part 1, but that's almost a different tune altogether. Ulfuls made the fact a little more obvious by titling their single "Osaka Strut Part II".  Fussa is one of Tokyo's suburbs, by the way, and different context means different lyrics. Besides the main melody and the funky vibe, I'd say that the two songs feel quite different. Ohtaki's contemporary Ginji Ito (伊藤銀次) helped Ulfuls out in the arrangement department.

So yeah, this song is gonna be the soundtrack of my life for those four days. And yes, I will be buying a ticket to Umeda when I arrive at the central station. That's where my hotel is.

Image source: cdjournal