Up until this year, I hadn't written anything about the works of the late and great folk and pop singer-songwriter Kozo Murashita（村下孝蔵）for about 3 years. In 2021, though, I'm glad to say that this will be a third article regarding one of his songs after "Chiisana Yane no Shita"（小さな屋根の下）and "Hokuto Shichisei"（北斗七星）back in the 1980s.
And it's usually been that decade in which I have found his songs but for this one, "Kono Kuni ni Umarete Yokatta" (I'm Glad That I Was Born In This Nation) was his 16th original single from November 1991. However, the melody and the lyrics by Murashita feel just like his past efforts: velvety vocals and relaxing countryside rhythms...all arranged by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）. "Kono Kuni ni Umarete Yokatta" was also a commemorative one for the singer because it was celebrating his 12th year in the music industry.
From what I've read on the article for this very song on J-Wiki, Murashita had wanted to create a tune showing a love for his native Japan that could be sung by others including children. It's not all that often to come across a J-Pop song celebrating its source country so it's definitely nice to find out about "Kono Kuni ni Umarete Yokatta" which was also a track on his 12th original album, "Na mo nai Hoshi"（名もない星...A Star with No Name）, from November 1992.
The song was also used in a House Foods commercial for its wasabi. Hey, can't get more Japanese than green horseradish!
My mother in particular’s a big fan of Kozo Murashita. Even saw him live a few times in the early 90s.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, to me it’s always kinda funny seeing songs you know pop up in a commercial. Reminds of me of Momoe Yamaguchi singing about glico chocolate. For some inexplicable reason that one had me laughing hysterically for a solid minute when I first saw it.
Hello there. Yeah, it can be humourous to listen to these otherwise very heartfelt songs on the stereo or radio only to realize that they were used to promote something like yogurt or wasabi. Kinda wonder when Yamaguchi was singing about chocolate, that was the point where she said internally "OK, that's it! I'm retiring!". :)
Delete