Last week, I noted about the passing of lyricist Makoto Kitajo（喜多條忠）late last year at the age of 74 through one of his songs for actor/singer Hiroyuki Sanada（真田広之）. Well, I've found an earlier creation by him and folk singer/composer Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）which received some more appreciation and fame.
"Itsuka Machi de Atta nara" (If We Meet In Town Someday) is wistful with a capital "W" as originally recorded by actor/singer Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）. Released as his 3rd single in May 1975, it tells of a man's encounter, affair and breakup with a woman who still has an effect on him. I believe that the protagonist realizes that the relationship is over and done with but in his mind, he still would like to meet her again if only to go over old times. The arrangement just screams for an observation point overlooking the ocean at sunset.
The song peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and became the 16th-ranked single for 1975. It was also used as an insert tune within Nakamura's own detective series "Ore-tachi no Kunshou"（俺たちの勲章...Our Medals）, a show that I've already noted in a TRANZAM article.
"Itsuka Machi de Atta nara" has gotten its share of covers. I've read that Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）tackled it as well so I tried searching for his cover, but alas, it's not up on YouTube. However, I did find one cover by Judy Ongg（ジュディ・オング）, a few years before she recorded her most famous hit, "Miserarete" （魅せられて）. Her take on the Nakamura original as arranged by Yusuke Hoguchi（穂口雄介）is a little more uptempo and was a track on her 1975 album "Ai wa Seimei"（愛は生命...Love Is Life）.
Composer Yoshida also provided his own cover of "Itsuka Machi de Atta nara" in his April 1977 album "Private"（ぷらいべえと）which focused on covers of various kayo. His version of the song has a bit more of a gallant country feel. The album hit No. 1 and ended up as the 23rd-ranked album of the year.
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