Thursday, March 12, 2015

Chage and Aska -- Kyo wa... Konnani genki desu (今日は…こんなに元気です)


(karaoke version, but boy, does he sound like the real thing!)

With the name of the song simply meaning "I feel good/happy today", I usually save "Kyo wa... Konnani genki desu" for particularly spectacular, breezy sunny days with clear blue skies where I feel the most comfortable and know without a doubt that no problems will befall me for the rest of the day. Sounds like an awfully specific set of requirements, doesn't it? Well, yeah..., so as you can tell from that, I don't get many chances to listen to it. However, since it sounds really relaxing, I do occasionally find myself listening to this song during bad days to perk myself up.

Y'see, whenever I listen to "Kyo wa...", the soft tinkling of the piano at the start blocks out any possible distraction from the outside world. Then as Aska starts singing in a husky, gentle voice, the thought of strolling down a nice street - let's say, in Asakusa-bashi - in the late after afternoon during Fall comes to mind. The warm rays of the sun beating down, the chilly wind whisking by, the yellow trees that line the sidewalk billowing away, and you take in a deep breath that Autumn smell - dried leaves.


(karaoke version)

The soothing music was composed by Chage, and according to him, the initial title of the song was "SHIBUYA" since the score seemed to remind him of that buzzing district, but eventually it got changed to "Kyo wa...". The stage set for the events in the song is still in Shibuya though, more specifically that supremely crowded intersection near the train station. The lyrics, co-written by Seiko Aoki (青木せい子 ) and Aska, talk about our protagonist getting over his loved one. As he walks across/around the intersection, the place he spent the most time with her, with a deep breath he is finally able to rid her from his mind and I suppose lift a heavy burden off his shoulders as well, hence his current good mood.

"Kyo wa..." was released as the B-side to "no no darlin'" on 10th October 1992, then about a month later in November, it was released in their 15th album "GUYS". Listening to the songs from that album, I realised most of them have this similar comforting quality in them as well.

I've seen this picture - take out C&A and the words-
before... wonder what's it called?  

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