EPO -- Asa no Drive （朝のドライブ）

I first heard EPO's "Asa no Drive" (Morning Drive) on her GOLDEN BEST compilation from 2005, although it was originally a track on her 6th album, "Hi Touch Hi Tech" (February 1984). EPO herself composed and wrote this relatively calm and collected mid-tempo ballad about a woman's inner thoughts as she is escorted home in a taxi by a male colleague who she has some unrequited feelings for.

I love the whole song but especially at the point EPO tells herself "No, no" (sounds like a pounding heartbeat) in the refrain to refrain herself from confessing her feelings. Most of us have been there, haven't we? I still consider it a City Pop tune although the theme here is not so much about life in the big city but is more introspective. I guess it must be the arrangement by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）....the flugelhorn always helps in that respect. While the lyrics have EPO struggling with her feelings, the music has that sense of driving during those cool early hours. It feels somewhat dreamy and relaxing as if finishing off the midnight shift and heading home for a good morning's sleep....although I hope that any person who had been listening to "Asa no Drive" on the car stereo didn't take the music too much to heart lest he/she wrap the vehicle around a light pole.