Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Thursday, March 10, 2022

TOMOO -- Ginger

 

Our family cat, Mako, has been in feline heaven for over a decade now but my path and Mako's crossed whenever I came home to visit. Let's say that we tolerated each other at best, but to be fair, the cat at least didn't go haywire on the furniture or the dishes.

Apparently, that may not have been the case with TOMOO's kitty. To go off on a slight tangent, TOMOO is a Tokyo singer-songwriter who made her debut in the mid-2010s and has released five singles and three mini-albums up to late 2021. There is no J-Wiki file on her but her website mentions that she began piano at the age of 6 and started learning chords from her father before providing melodies to lyrics of songs that she had yet to hear. Entering junior high school, she entered the drama club and got into writing her own tunes. After making it to the finals of Yamaha's The 6th Music Revolution while in high school, she would attend university and then start her music career in earnest.

Her 5th download single from August 2021 is "Ginger" which talks about a fellow's adorably aggravating cat; quite refreshing to hear those lyrics...just like real ginger. My observations on the piano pop song and the performance is that TOMOO's voice is pretty distinct in its lower tones, and it seems as if for "Ginger" at least, there are influences from Latin and Motown. Plus, the whole aura surrounding her reminds me of singer-songwriter aiko.

2 comments:

  1. Hi, This was a lovely read...
    I don't speak a word of Japanese but I am in love with this song, you mentioned what the song was about but could you possibly go into more detail? or Link me to somewhere with a translation of the lyrics? I've tried my best to find a translation but I have failed to find one so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I guess the music video producers couldn't get a cat for filming with TOMOO. Basically, the plot of the song entails a guy and his cat who just gets him into trouble through events such as making a mess of the table at a café or probably even at home. Ginger is simply the quintessential capricious feline.

      And yet, the guy wouldn't know what to do without freewheeling Ginger as she curls up in the crook of his arm. At this point, no girl can get in between him and his cat.

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