Went for my annual physical yesterday. Found out that I ingested a few too many calories over the past year and I'm admittedly understating this. Of course, having found out about this from my doctor, we all went to Burger King for lunch. I'm definitely a glutton for punishment!
There is quite a bit of weight that I would love to see off, but until that unlikely situation occurs, let us have singer-songwriter Yukio Sasaki（佐々木幸男）see off the summer instead.
I haven't written about one of his own songs since the classic "September Valentine" back in 2012. His "Koko de Natsu wo Miokuru" (I'll See Off the Summer Here and Now) is a track from his debut album in August 1977, "Houbou"（ほーぼー...Everywhere）, and it's a bit more of a cheerful and whimsical number. It starts off with a jazzy guitar before Sasaki provides his light and mellow vocals with some falsetto, and the song is ideal for some sipping of cocktails or perhaps something a little stronger while the sun is out.
Perhaps not exactly the right time of the year to feature this song since we've only just seen the winter off here, but heck, I'm never going to turn down this pleasant on a Tuesday afternoon.
Yukio-san seems to have a knack for these summery tunes. “Kimi wa kaze,” the lead-off single from this LP, makes it to my summer playlist every year.
ReplyDeleteHi, Mike.
DeleteJust only starting to discover some of Sasaki's output. Any other particular summery tunes that you like out there?
I don’t know that it’s suggestive of any season in particular, but I am very fond of his 1980 single “Refrain,” which has a falsetto part in the chorus to die for.
DeleteThere’s also “Ai no fukue,” his 1984 duet with Mio Honda, which is actually a cover version of “Time Goes By” (a.k.a. “Holnap hajnalig”) by the Hungarian group Newton Family/Neoton Familia.
Thanks, I will have to check both songs out, Mike. Could use with summer stuff right now. My area may still be in for some snow tonight.
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