"Manatsu no Yo no Yume" was Yuming's first single in 4 years since her romantic ballad, "Anniversary", came out in 1989. Composition and lyrics were, of course, by the singer herself. Those lyrics were interesting in that under the surface of having a bit of fun in a tropical setting, there was also something sinister that could have been channeling Sano's character. The cover of the CD single and the original music video also hint at that tropical setting.
In terms of her history of singles, this song became her first million-seller hit, and up to this point, it remains as her most successful tune. Not surprisingly, it hit No. 1 on the Oricon weeklies, and became the 8th-ranked song for 1993. It is also a track on her 25th album, "U-miz" which came out in November of that year and became the 7th-ranked album for 1994.
Thanks for the info! My father loves this song, and he is a fan of Yuming. I remember hearing this song being played over and over when I was a child. I did not know the Japanese lyrics (since I couldn't read what was written at the back part of the single), but I was able to somehow sing it. Only after I studied Japanese by myself that I can now get the meaning of the song. I didn't know that it was a drama theme song, but the melody conveys quite a picture in my mind and I do agree with what you said about the lady being chased. I grew up listening a lot to this song, even tried to think whether the dancing woman in red in the cover had something to do with it, but whether I overread it or not, I love it as much as my dad does. I'm listening to it right now, and I'll never get tired of it.
ReplyDeleteHello, AmaliaVictorique. And thanks very much for your very enthusiastic comments. When the song came out in 1993, Yuming had been in the business for around or over 20 years, and yet she was still able to hit a homer with this one. A number of folks said that her best stuff came out when she was going by her maiden name of Arai, but I think she was still going strong well into the 90s.
Delete