Keiko Maruyama -- Anata ni Tsutsumarete（あなたにつつまれて）

 

Getting a little late in the evening and after having an arduous two-day session of proofing documents that still needed some more TLC than should have been the case, I think that I'm quite ready to head off for bed.

So, why not finish things off with something mellow and lullaby-like? I've got Keiko Maruyama's（丸山圭子） "Anata ni Tsutsumarete" (Wrapped In You) which was the singer-songwriter's 4th single released in April 1977. This particular single was the one right after her breakthrough hit "Douzo Kono Mama" (どうぞこのまま）from July 1976.

I mentioned for "Douzo Kono Mama" that there was some of that Henry Mancini-esque arrangement in there as if it should have been part of a Blake Edwards movie. "Anata ni Tsutsumarete" also has some of that Mancini DNA in those laidback rhythms via the percussion and shimmering strings (which almost take things into Muzak territory). I'd probably say that this time, this Maruyama song, which she wrote and composed, might work well in a 1960s Audrey Hepburn flick.

"Anata ni Tsutsumarete" kinda straddles that line between City Pop and New Music. It doesn't quite bludgeon me over the head with a beefy bass or the sounds of city life but I think that accompanying video of driving on one of the highways in Tokyo helps with the metropolitan mood. Plus, that slightly tipsy delivery by Maruyama and the echoing trumpet give off that feeling of heading back home in the taxi or the boyfriend's sports car after a night of happily painting the town red. Y'know, with a slightly different arrangement although with the same tempo, I think even someone like Akira Terao（寺尾聰）can do a cover of this one.