Anzen Chitai -- Kanojo wa Nani ka Shitteiru （彼女は何かを知っている）

This is another one of the gems from my favourite Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）album, "IV" (1985). "Kanojo wa Nani ka wo Shitteiru" (She Knows Something) was also the B-side to the love-drenched ballad "Aoi Hitomi no Elise"（碧い瞳のエリス）, the band's 10th single and also a track on the album.

The Koji Tamaki/Goro Matsui（玉置浩二・松井五郎）collaboration here is one I remember not just for that classic Anzen Chitai sound but also for the dramatic intro featuring a crash of drums that sounds as if something big was falling right from the stratosphere. And then Tamaki goes into this mid-tempo beat about trying and failing to escape the clutches of a femme fatale. The music doesn't sound all that ominous, though; I wonder if the protagonist really wants to escape her clutches. But no doubt there is something insidious going on as Tamaki starts whispering out his lyrics in the refrain. My fantasy proposal for a music video? The singer as a doomed private detective out to capture the killer dame but losing all objectivity and falling for her. Sounds like the plot for many a film noir, but hey...

Some weeks ago, I lent my brother a whole bunch of Anzen Chitai CDs since his own sister-in-law had wanted to get some copies of the albums after attending her first Anzen Chitai (she has my envy) concert in Hong Kong recently. I'm getting the albums back...slowly in drips and drabs, and I noticed that "IV" isn't one of the albums back. Not that I'm surprised, however. It's indeed a keeper.