It's been a while since I've written on a Teresa Teng （テレサ・テン）ballad. And after listening to "Koibito Tachi no Shinwa" (Lovers' Legend) for the first time on "Sounds of Japan", I could say that, yep, "Koibito Tachi no Shinwa" is a Teresa Teng Ballad with capitals T, T and B.
It has all that atmosphere in the arrangement as the late singer glides through the Toyohisa Araki （荒木とよひさ）lyrics of the trails and tribulations of love. It's not quite in the same vein as an enka song but neither does it fit completely in the Mood Kayo area as the song seems to go beyond the confines of a regular izakaya. The song seems to soar into more philosophical territory. I'm thinking more of sitting on a hill around midnight contemplating the universe as "Koibito Tachi no Shinwa" is playing, although for me to be able to do that, I probably would have to drink down quite a few cocktails. Then again, by that point, I'd be more passed out on a hill around midnight.
In any case, Takashi Miki （三木たかし）really brings the epic and introspective into his music for Teng which makes the song one of my favourites by the singer. It was released in January 1988 as her 19th single in her Japanese discography.
She pre-dates kayokyoku, and possibly enka as well, but it might interest you to know that Yoshiko Yamaguchi, aka Li Xianglan or Rikouran, died recently. One of her signature songs was Ye Lai Xiang, of which Teresa Teng did a famous cover.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a12DhVO6awQ
Here's Aya Ueto singing it in her biopic of Rikouran.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbUmhMPutEE
And here's Rikouran herself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt7QJ9_nY38