Takao Kisugi -- Mahiru no Kurayami（真昼のくらやみ）

Ahhh, yes. When men wore a light-coloured wardrobe to be cool. Indeed, we were into the 1980s, weren't we?

Intriguing synthpoppy beginning and ending to a nighttime downtown City Pop tune, but that is "Mahiru no Kurayami" (High Noon Darkness) by singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. A track from his 5th studio album "At Random" from July 1980, this was another collaboration between him as composer and his sister, Etsuko（来生えつこ）, as the lyricist.

Not sure whether some of the instruments used here have dated all that well in Katsu Hoshi's（星勝）arrangements but I can't deny the attraction of this feeling of a tango across the metropolis. According to the J-Wiki article for "At Random", the setting for "Mahiru no Kurayami" is on a subway where the protagonist is trying to wrap his head around the weirdness of city life. Apparently, lyricist Kisugi was quite happy to provide words to something that wasn't a love song for a change. In addition, though I didn't notice until I read about it, singer-composer Kisugi had wanted to channel some Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）into his performance.

My advice for anyone who wants to muse life in Tokyo for a good long while as he or she is commuting? Try taking a spin on the Marunouchi Line between Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, or perhaps sit on the JR Yamanote Line, although the latter isn't technically a subway.