Yep, I have heard of the current troubles that Aska is going through right now. But he certainly isn't the first Japanese pop music artist to have fallen into the drugs trap and I'm pretty sure he won't be the last. All we can hope is that he will come back reflective and healthier soon.
Moving on, I came across this old song of Chage & Aska from a couple of decades back that I hadn't heard in some time. And it was good to hear again since compared to some of their huge anthems such as "YAH YAH YAH", "no no darlin'" is a nice and mellow piece, thanks in part to Jess Bailey's smooth and comfy piano. Plus, the boys keep the volume down a little more than usual. As for the official music video above, it's a nice little slice-of-life of a London suburb where everybody seems to know your name, although the last half when Chage & Aska go all Clarence The Angel and start spreading the pixie dust on that bickering couple had me slightly gagging.
"no no darlin'" was Chage & Aska's 30th single written and composed by Aska for release in October 1992. An intriguing piece of trivia I was able to dig up from the J-Wiki article on the song was that the title was actually derived from one small part of the lyrics from an old kayo kyoku chestnut, Hiromi Ota's(太田裕美) "Momen no Handkerchief"(木綿のハンカチーフ). The phrase was "Iie, anata"(いいえ、あなた...No, darling). It's probably one of the more interesting lyrical examples of botanical grafting I've ever read about.
I have to say its one of their best songs and one of the first C&A songs that I've come to know and love of as a kid like 'On Your Mark' or 'Say Yes' or 'Hitori Zaki' (Their debut song)
ReplyDeleteThe MV for this song's a little corny but I've seen another version of this song's MV; can't seem to find it now on YouTube though; with a normal C&A singing in front of a normal band.
Love this No No Darling by Change & Aska, can't find in Spotify or anywhere, can somebody help? Where can I download?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Apple Music? https://music.apple.com/jp/album/guys/1295657934
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