Sharam Q -- Single Bed（シングルベッド）

Rather amazing how long-standing assumptions can be torn asunder with a single blow. For the longest time, I had thought that Osaka rock band Sharam Q's（シャ乱Q）big hit "Single Bed" had been the lovelorn ballad/theme song for a typical J-Drama.

Well, it was a theme song but not for a live-action drama. It was actually the ending theme for an anime called "DNA²" back in the 1990s, and for the synopsis of the show, I will leave the above video to explain things rather succinctly.

"Single Bed" was Sharam Q's 6th single from October 1994 and I think it's been treated as the breakthrough song for the band. Written by vocalist Tsunku（つんく）and composed by guitarist Hatake（はたけ）, it's always going to be included in any video retrospective for the group, and considering the lyrics talking about a forlorn guy trying and failing to hold onto his girlfriend, I would have thought that "Single Bed" was the ideal ending theme for a drama instead of a sci-fi anime.

Finally finding out what Tsunku's lyrics were all about, "Single Bed" is quite the melancholy life's lesson on how changing oneself on the inside rather than impressing through material belongings would have been the right way to go for the now-alone fellow. The arrangement also reflects some of that melancholy feeling although there is the refrain which has the guy hopefully and finally seeing the light to redemption. The guitar solo also had me thinking of the band Queen. Perhaps this was a Queen-size single bed....cough, cough.

The single peaked at No. 9 on Oricon and became Sharam Q's first million-seller. In addition, it also ended up as the 24th-ranked song of the year. Pretty darn good for an anison. "Single Bed" was included in the band's 4th album "Rettoukan"（劣等感...Inferiority Complex） released in November 1994 (I think that was my arrival date in Japan) which got as high as No. 25 on the charts and ended up as the 60th-ranked album for 1995, going Platinum.