I somehow managed to stumble upon this one video of "WALK" (I'm pretty sure it's the same as the live performance above), not knowing it was the song I was hunting for, and I remembered thinking, "What in the world is this?! This definitely can't be it!" during the first few seconds because unlike the snippet I had heard, this began at a snail's pace with such a heavy atmosphere, coupled with Aska's echoing vocals and the dim lighting and grey surrounding, it seemed almost dreamlike and actually felt quite stifling, for want of a better word. But as the "WALK" progressed, it began to speed up to an appropriate, comfortable walking pace - I know it's a pun, but the drum's beat do make it sound like someone's footsteps on the ground - where it stayed throughout, and eventually I had finally found what I was looking for. Listening to it intently many years later (now), I'd compare this change of pace to trying to run in a dream, where you're really sluggish and struggling to even move quickly, then waking up to reality with a start, and from there, you're strolling around the streets normally.
The lyrics the had been penned by Aska as well (yes, he composed "WALK") basically talks about our protagonist not being able to continue... walking... okay I'll stop... won't be able to continue living without that special one by his side. Yep, that's your typical Aska-written song right there. Finding out its meaning through its Chinese translation had actually made me appreciate and enjoy the song more than I already do, making another of my favourite C&A tunes.
"WALK" was first released on 8th March 1989 and did fairly well, peaking at 20th place on the Oricon weeklies, and it was then re-released on 25th March a few years later in 1992, doing a lot better that time and peaking at 3rd place. I'm guessing it's due to their resurgence in popularity after "SAY YES" a year before. Just as mentioned earlier, "WALK" is one of the tracks in their 12th album "PRIDE" (released in 1989), which peaked at 1st place, as well as in their 1992 compilation album "SUPER BEST II", which became best selling album of the year and sold about 3 million copies, allowing the duo to win the grand prize at the 7th Japan Golden Disk Awards. It was also used as the commercial song for the Subaru "Vivio" car.
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| Got "PRIDE" online, and "SUPER BEST II" while on the latest trip to Japan about 5 years ago... Boy, was I happy when I got that! |
Hi Noelle,
ReplyDeleteIt's also one of my favorite C&A songs and I agree with your analogy about it sounding like a transition from a dream to reality. I firmly remember how around 8 years back I would listen to this piece during an early morning commute to work. That was summer so those were really early hours and I was half asleep on the bus. Hearing Aska drag his voice through the first part and then picking up the pace kind of went with my mood then. The melody also matched the sunrise view. You can say I was feeling poetic. In any case, I couldn't forget the song since then and I'm glad it became a bit of a classic for the duo.
Hello, Noelle.
ReplyDeleteI remember this directly from that car commercial. It was good to finally hear the whole song. There's a quality of finally reaching that light at the end of a long dark tunnel and emerging into sunshine with this ballad; I think it probably would have made for the ideal tune for the final episode of a drama or one of the more serious anime. Quite inspirational and reassuring.
I love the creativity n complexity of the arrangement n vocals. However when I read the translation of the lyrics I agree with your summation of its meaning but there are too many unrelated metaphors to decipher, making it quite incohesive for me.
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