Yosui Inoue -- Kokoro Moyo （心もよう）

Among my old Canadian Tire tapes, I managed to find this song in an episode of "Sounds of Japan". There was, unsurprisingly, a fair bit of hiss and scratch, so I was a little surprised to find out that it was a young Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）singing this ballad, "Kokoro Moyo", his 4th single. Depending on the DJ that Saturday night, he/she would wait until the end of the broadcast to announce who the singers were and what songs they sang. Perhaps it was the hiss and scratch but I think I was so accustomed to his more recent voice that I couldn't quite recognize Inoue when I first heard the song.

But perhaps I should have known "Kokoro Moyo" (State of the Heart) as an Inoue creation since even with the age of the song (released in September 1973), I could pick up the singer's familiar warble and the fact that it was such a tenderhearted ballad. In it, Inoue sings his heart about how much he misses that woman back in the ol' hometown and how dark his soul feels right now. By the refrain, he gives full vent to his frustrated emotions.

"Kokoro Moyo" got as high as No. 7 on Oricon and would eventually become the 39th-ranked song for 1974. It was also a track on his acclaimed 3rd album, "Koori no Sekai"（氷の世界...World of Ice）from December 1973 which would not only hit No. 1 on the weeklies but become the No. 1 album for both 1974 and 1975. Now that is lasting power!

I read that "Kokoro Moyo" has been covered by many an artist over the decades. Above you will find enka singer Aki Yashiro（八代亜紀）giving her take. And there is Hiroshi Itsuki （五木ひろし）and a whole bunch of others.