I'm not quite sure how the song got onto one of my ancient audiotapes, but I've remembered the refrain from Tomoko Tane's（種ともこ） "Mermaid In Blue" although I didn't know that it was the theme for the anime, "Sangosho Densetsu -- Aoi Umi no Elfie"（サンゴ礁伝説～青い海のエルフィ...Coral Reef Legend -- Elfie of the Blue Sea） back in the mid-80s. From what I've seen of the excerpt above, those submariners must have had a grand time on those adaptable jet-skis.
Tane released her song as her 2nd single from May 1986, and even without the anime knowledge, I immediately got this image of a fantastical underwater kingdom just from her vocals and the melody. "Mermaid In Blue" just has that sparkling quality about it, and reading the other articles of her songs by nikala pretty much cemented my impression that Tane is quite a unique pop singer. Usually when I go and see a movie, it's to escape for a few hours. This song also has that escapist quality....perhaps it's just for 4 minutes, but often that is enough to get into a nice headspace.
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| Tomoko Tane |
I've listened a number of Tane's songs before coming to this one, but it's when I heard "Mermaid In Blue" that my reaction went from "I like this singer" to "Great!". I agree with you on its escapist quality. It's like a short fairytale that suspends my sense of reality. I prefer the original single arrangement since it's got that mysterious echo feel to it. Stays more true to the title.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the songs by her that I've reviewed so far fall into the dreamy category, but she also had a number of happy-go-lucky tunes like "Pumps Race Song". She's quite a versatile artist.
Hi, nikala.
DeleteYeah, I was surprised when I took a look at the video for her debut, "You're The One" on YouTube, and saw Tane bopping about. I thought she and the song were the second coming of EPO.