Yumi Matsutoya -- Voyager, Part 2

Back last Thursday a few days ago, I put up the first part of a 2-parter on Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由実）"Voyager" album which was released in December 1983. Allow me, then, to complete the cycle with Part 2.

Let's start with something a bit ominous and amazing at the same time. "Fushigi na Taiken"（不思議な体験...Mysterious Experience）. Like this article on "Voyager" itself, this Yuming（ユーミン）track is also split into two parts...or melodies. The first melody is the mystery within the everyday while the second melody is the entry into some sort of wonderland...perhaps something along the lines of "The Wizard of Oz". The song was used in commercials for Nikka Whiskey (which I guess can take imbibers into their own wonderland), and also several years later as the theme song for a live performance commemorating the 15th anniversary for the Sanrio Puroland theme park between 2005 and 2006.

https://music.apple.com/jp/album/voyager/1436012984

(excerpt only)

"Heartbreak"（ハートブレイク）is about as close to City Pop as a "Voyager" track gets, and despite the crisp and happy-go-lucky melody by the singer, her lyrics relate the realization of a woman that a romantic breakup can often be a good deal more bitter than sweet. Yes, I can feel her pain.

(cover version)

"Typhoon" is a languid track about a woman who's hoping her boyfriend will hang around considerably longer at her place, especially with that typhoon coming in. After all, why would anyone let their beloved go out in that sort of weather? The song was covered by both Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）and the duo of Port of Notes which includes singer Miyuki Hatakeyama（畠山美由紀）. I will have to provide their covers shortly.

(cover version)

My final contribution to wrap up "Voyager"  is the sophisticated pop of "Watashi wo Wasureru koro"（私を忘れる頃...When You Won't Think of Me） which has a slightly techno kayo feel to it. Admittedly I'm reaching a bit far here, but perhaps this tune is what the woman from the above "Heartbreak" had been hoping for when it came to the end to a romance. The last supper would be a sumptuous dinner within exquisite surroundings including passionate dancing and a sweeter and less bitter goodbye.

One other reason that I wanted to get this Part 2 to "Voyager" up is that I also wanted to include this 20th single by Yuming "VOYAGER ~ Hizuke no nai Bohyou"（日付のない墓標）. Strangely enough, this song despite the title never got put onto "Voyager" (it was released in February 1984) but I think it would have fit quite nicely.

"VOYAGER" was the theme song for a Toho movie called "Sayonara Jupiter"（さよならジュピター）starring Tomokazu Miura（三浦友和）which involved a desperate space mission to use the solar system's largest planet as the biggest Hail Mary in human history. Looking at the trailer, the movie appears as some sort of mix between "Space:1999" and "Ultraman", and the reviews weren't apparently too kind.

Movie aside, the song itself struck me as being the type of Yuming ballad that came from the first half of the 1980s with the sedate yet proud arrangement and the type of keyboards that was being used by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）. "VOYAGER" was also used for those Nikka Whiskey ads, and it would have been put onto "Voyager" the album, except for the fact that "Sayonara Jupiter" delayed its release by several months. I also put up another description of this song on Yuming's "Neue Musik: Yumi Matsutoya Complete Best Vol. 1" which I think was the first time that "VOYAGER" got placed onto any of her albums. As mentioned there, the song peaked at No. 9 on Oricon after its release in February 1984. Incidentally "Aoi Fune de"（青い船で）, a track from "Voyager" the album that I wrote about in Part 1, was the B-side to the single.

As for Yuming's 15th album, it hit No. 1 and was the No. 5 album for 1984. It also won Best Album at the 1984 Japan Record Awards.

P.S. Since it looks like videos of the original recorded versions keep getting taken down, you can also check out the samples of the album on iTunes.