Not to accuse of the street in the above photo as being a sad one, but I put it up there for the atmosphere. It happens to be an area in Asakusa, by the way.
Indeed, the topic of this article is "Kanashimi Doori" (Street of Sadness) by singer-songwriter Naomi Nomoto（野本直美）. I had introduced Nomoto to the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" last year, thanks to Scott's recommendation around the Xmas period since he has his own podcast based on J-Xmas tunes, and I first found out about her "Eve no Yoru"（イブの夜）.
As I also mentioned in that article, Nomoto's presence on the Internet is rather sparse in terms of historical information, but from one website, I did find out that she hails from Ishikawa Prefecture, and "Kanashimi Doori" happens to be her debut single from October 1981. Writing and composing this jaunty folksy tune, she actually had created "Kanashimi Doori" back in 1978 when she appeared at the 15th annual Yamaha Popular Song Contest to perform this very number.
Just from the bouncy melody, "Kanashimi Doori" is obviously not a love-done-me-wrong ballad. Looking at the lyrics by Nomoto, she plays what I think is a pretty crusty proprietress of a local watering hole (must be a Kansai lady) who practically berates a sad sack off the street of sadness where she works to lend an ear and make him forget the woes of the world which probably includes romantic troubles. Do love those guitars plucking away.
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