Sachiko Kobayashi -- Nakase yagatte Kono Yaro（泣かせやがってこのやろう）

 

It's been some years since enka singer, actress and TV personality Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）has appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen. She used to be a perennial participant on the New Year's Eve special with the last several years having her perform the tradition of appearing in increasingly larger dresses/mammoth sets on stage. Frankly, I think the producers let that ritual go on somewhat too long so when she first stopped getting onto the special, I actually breathed some relief.

That doesn't mean that I appreciate her enka abilities any less. She's a fine singer and I have to admit that my heart skipped a beat when her beaming face began the above video. Basically, when it comes to her discography, a lot of folks flock to her hits such as "Omoide Zake"（おもいで酒）, "Tomarigi"（とまり木）and her duet with Katsuhiko Miki（美樹克彦）, "Moshikashite Part 2" （もしかして・パート２）. However, that discography is still plenty long, going right up to her most recent and 99th single in 2020.

So I wanted to see what else she's had in her singing arsenal, and I found this one called "Nakase yagatte Kono Yaro" (Damn You For Making Me Cry). Posted as her 34th single from New Year's Day 1982, this was created by a couple of legends, lyricist Tetsuro Hoshino（星野哲郎）and composer Asei Kobayashi（小林亜星）. Those strings and sighing female chorus brought some instant enka nostalgia but I have to admit that reading Hoshino's lyrics left me a bit confused. However, if I'm not mistaken, the story seems to revolve perhaps a couple of brothers or bosom buddies and maybe one of the previously tight tandem is leaving the other for a woman. Of course, that other has been left bereft. It's an interesting combination of fairly rough male language against the sweet arrangement of the music.