Aming (Takako Okamura) -- Shio no Kaori no Naka de（潮の香りの中で）

 

When I think of singer-songwriter Takako Okamura（岡村孝子）, soft and fluffy and tenderhearted love songs come to mind. The following is no exception.

Mind you, this particular ballad is of the crying variety. Her "Shio no Kaori no Naka de" (In the Fragrance of the Tides) is not a celebration of love but the mourning of it. Specifically, her lyrics talk of a lost opportunity as she has to say goodbye to a good friend who's going away for some reason without ever knowing her feelings for him since, gosh darn it, she just couldn't pucker up the courage to say them. Her melody is also very poignant, too.

The above version comes from her November 1986 album of self-covers "Andantino". But the original as shown below was performed under her time with partner Haruko Kato（加藤晴子）in the duo Aming（あみん）. "Shio no Kaori no Naka de" was a track in their April 1983 debut album "P.S. Anata e..."（P.S. あなたへ…P.S. To You）, and it was actually a solo performance by Okamura. There isn't much of a difference in the arrangements for the 1983 and 1986 versions but the original was arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, the same person who took care of Aming's most famous hit, "Matsu wa"（待つわ）. "P.S. Anata e..." managed to peak at No. 2 on Oricon and eventually become the 42nd-ranked album of the year.