Hiromi Iwasaki -- Yasashiku Shikatte（やさしく叱って）

 

I was actually conversing with someone a bit earlier today about how directly translating some of those Japanese lyrics in a song can lead to misunderstandings and unintended hilarity. And so, I come across this particular song by one of my favourites, Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）, titled "Yasashiku Shikatte" which, I gather, can be switched into English as "Kindly Chew Me Out". Sounds a tad odd to me. It would be like taking the inverse of that meaning and saying "Ferociously Caress Me". And remember, the safety word is apples!😜

But I think that I'll go with "Gently Scold Me". In any case, a commenter for "10th Anniversary Special: 10th Anniversary Songs" left this Iwasaki recommendation, and yep, "Yasashiku Shikatte" is a most enjoyable song especially since the arrangement had me reminiscing when I first discovered Hiromi-chan over 40 years ago. It seems to have that mix of styles combining a bit of that aidoru City Pop and disco that she had been dabbling in the late 1970s going into the 1980s a la "Cinderella Honeymoon"（シンデレラ・ハネムーン）, and then some of the gentle balladry through songs like her cover of "Sumire Iro no Namida" （すみれ色の涙）which often punctuated her time in the early 1980s. There's also a jigger of bossa nova thrown in there for good measure, I see.

I should not be surprised then that master composer/arranger Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）was behind the creation of the melody here. Prolific lyricist Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）was responsible for the words, and as much as I teased a bit about that title up above (and considering the context above in the first paragraph, don't think about "teased" too deeply), I was able to find out from an Ameba blog that the situation presented here involves a woman about to be taken away by a Lothario on a trip while another fellow (that she may actually like) who's not quite as confident and brave but is in love with the lass is on the precipice of losing her permanently. She's daring that second fellow to call her bluff and tell her to get back here right now. This probably would be a cliffhanger in any drama or anime.

As my mystery commenter said, "Yasashiku Shikatte" is an Iwasaki song that hadn't been released on any album or single before its revelation on her December 1981 BEST compilation "EXCEL ONE ~ Iwasaki Hiromi no Subete"（EXCEL ONE 岩崎宏美のすべて...The Complete Hiromi Iwasaki） as one of a handful of new songs among the past hits; that album ranked in at No. 57.  It is also included as a bonus track on the 2007 CD version of her cover album "Disney Girl" from October 1983 which peaked at No. 20.