Angela Aki -- Kokoro no Senshi（心の戦士）

Continuing my re-discovery of the works of singer-songwriter Angela Aki（アンジェラ・アキ）. I knew of her and her success in the first decade of the 21st century but never really dug too far into her discography.

(cover version by Yasuko Tanaka)

Then I found her debut single "Home" which was quite heartwarming, and now I write about her second single from January 2006, "Kokoro no Senshi" (Warrior of the Heart). In that first Aki article, I remarked about her influences from folks such as Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and Sarah McLachlan. Listening to "Kokoro no Senshi", I was automatically drawn in by the piano arrangement, and indeed, I was thinking of Mitchell and maybe even Carole King. My impression is that there was something quite 1970s about the song that was quite reassuring to me.

Written and composed by Aki, the lyrics for "Kokoro no Senshi" relate someone's attempts to get out of their blues of a lost relationship, and the music does sound very encouraging and perhaps sends a well-intentioned kick to the ol' butt. The song went as high as No. 13 on Oricon. Strangely enough, "Kokoro no Senshi" was even used as the ending theme for a regional newscast in the Tokai region of Japan. The video above is of that newscast but for a much earlier episode in 1993. I guess after an episode of news, people may feel the need for some encouragement.