Tessei Miyoshi -- Sugoi Otoko no Uta （すごい男の唄）

If there is one thing that I've learned about Japan, it's that beer is considered to be an all-year drink (just like in Canada). Those thirsty folks in the commercials may bellow out that "AHHHHHHHH!" after swallowing a big gulp of suds during those hot summers, but the golden brew is still much appreciated in the winter months as well.

See?

Of course, there had to be a kayo which involved the joys of drinking beer. And I found it as Tessei Miyoshi's（三好鉄生）"Sugoi Otoko no Uta" (The Song of an Amazing Man), his 7th single from July 1987. Strangely enough, it is a song that I did hear often at my old karaoke haunt of Kuri since I distinctly remember that chorus of "Don, don!" whenever some fellow decided to give it a shot.

Written by copyrighter Takashi Nakahata（仲畑貴志）and composed by Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）, Miyoshi has come up with another manly and genki singalong ditty to join his other famous tune, "Namida wo Fuite"（涙をふいて）from 1982. But "Sugoi Otoko no Uta" is not only a melodic excuse to drink beer but also the equivalent of the exaggerated fish tales that the fishermen loved to troll each other with around the campfire. As quickly as anyone says "I caught a fish that was THIS BIG!", Miyoshi happily trills about a man who is so amazing that bears flee from him and alligators beg to become his servants.

Of course, all this is happening while one of Miyoshi's hands is firmly gripping the handle of his dai jokkii of beer while the other is beckoning the server to come over to take another order for a round of brewskis. All those suds are needed to further fuel further rounds of bulls**t, after all. Plus although I cannot remember it exactly, I'm fairly sure that there were indeed more demands for the good stuff once the song was over.

In the same year, the late guitarist George Yanagi（柳ジョージ）also gave his gruffer version of "Sugoi Otoko no Uta" as the commercial jingle for Suntory Draft Beer (which probably explains a copyrighter coming up with the lyrics for the song). Yanagi frankly sounds like that bear who fled from that amazing man.