Yasuhiro Kido -- Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba（君がそばにいれば）

 

Back at the end of May, I wrote about a track from singer-composer Yasuhiro Kido's（木戸やすひろ）lone 1978 album "Kid", "Love Magic". Up to that point, I'd only known Kido under his songwriter's cap but with "Love Magic", I enjoyed that whimsical pop that he put out...somewhat along the lines of fellow singer-songwriter Shinji Harada（原田真二）.

According to Discogs, "Love Magic" was in the middle of Side B of "Kid", but I also found the finale for the entire album in "Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba" (If You Can Be With Me), which is a tenderhearted way to end things. As with "Love Magic", it was Kido behind the music with Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）taking care of the lyrics. What sells the ballad is the singer's vocals and the comforting combination of strings and piano. Yep, there is something in the arrangement which yells 1970s love song but when I first heard it, I thought it was a number that Kido had created in the 1980s. In whichever decade its soul belongs, though, "Kimi ga Soba ni Ireba" is a lovely little sweet for a sunset sort of time.