Seiko Matsuda -- December Morning

(cover version)

Granted, this article is coming a bit late considering that it is now January, but I still wanted to put Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）"December Morning" up here before it got too late. Currently, Toronto is in the middle of not only an Extreme Wind Chill Warning but also a Flash Freeze Warning. It's gonna feel like -36 degrees Celsius tomorrow morning with the wind chill. Not particularly a pleasant way to start a January morning.

However, Seiko-chan's "December Morning" is a whole lot more sedate. It is the last track of her well-regarded "Kaze Tachinu"（風立ちぬ）, and as the title may indicate, the lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆） describes a peaceful morning waking up in lodge in what I assume to be a Winter Wonderland at the end of the year. The album itself was listed in "Japanese City Pop", but as I also remarked in the article for the album, I don't think it, and especially this song, fit into that genre, but despite Seiko's aidoru vocals, the soothing melody by Tulip's Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫） is such that I believe "December Morning" can go into the J-AOR category. And in a way, it stands out from the other tracks because of this. I could even imagine Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）, a singer who debuted at around the same time and is known for her languid ballads, tackling this one seamlessly.

I'm not quite sure if it merits Xmas song status but just as a winter song, it does just fine. If the weather is actually sunny tomorrow, I can probably look out the window while I'm drinking down a cup of coffee as I listen to this.