Picasso -- Tsukiyo ni Dance（月夜にダンス）/Nash Music Library -- Tsukiyo no Dance（月夜のダンス）

 

In my high school, we had this rather eccentric English teacher, Mr. A., whose girth and reputation preceded him. He had a massive intellect, and it was often the case that he would go on flights of fancy (frequently insightful though they were) on certain authors and stories but these were also paired with episodes of him just staring at us and having us read through our novels for the entirety of the 45-minute class. When a teacher simply and laconically mumbles out at the beginning, "Ohhh...do you think that I should actually teach a class today?", well, let's say that it wouldn't be a run-of-the-mill afternoon. Because my desk was right in front of his, he asked me that very question directly and I responded, "Well, it would make for a nice change of pace, sir". I'm glad that he liked me.

One of my smart-alecky schoolmates also had Mr. A. in a separate class and sometimes his mouth would be a little too potently filled, sparking our English teacher to chase him around the classroom in rage. My schoolmate also told me that the teacher once had his entire class stand up and do a march around the room in what was labeled one of the teacher's special "tribal experiences". I always thought that Mr. A. and that class had been reenacting the march toward Dunsinane Hill in "MacBeth".

This particular song by the band Picasso（ピカソ）sparked my memories of Mr. A. and his tribal experiences. After all, with the title of "Tsukiyo ni Dance" (Dance on a Moonlit Night), I have treated dancing under the moon (perhaps clothing-optional) as a tribal experience by various small groups. Maybe it's something that happens now and then at Stonehenge, I don't know.

But getting to "Tsukiyo ni Dance" the song, Picasso really made their July 1990 single a really thumpy and catchy tune. I'm not sure if that is a sitar in the intro, but the beginning reminded me of a song that Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn once made back in the 1980s. And heck, that music by vocalist Tetsuji Tsujihara（辻畑鉄也）could really describe that tribal experience taking place under a full moon during harvest season (also love the way that he throws out the word "DANCE" in the chorus). The lyrics by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）are fairly fantastical with streaming stardust, strawberry fields everywhere, and dreams piling up in hearts galore. Goes to show that Picasso shouldn't just be known for their association with the anime, "Maison Ikkoku"（めぞん一刻）.

Well, just for whimsy's sake (perhaps Mr. A. is still influencing me here), I'm also including Nash Music Library's "Tsukiyo no Dance", which, one Japanese particle difference aside, basically has the same meaning as "Tsukiyo ni Dance". Compared to the quirky pop of Picasso's song, NML's "Tsukiyo no Dance" is an elegant orchestral number.

I did promise in my first article for NML, which I wrote because I've been enjoying the incidental music that he's been providing for Japan's Weathernews Live all these years, that I would most likely bring in other examples from him. I've never heard "Tsukiyo no Dance" aurally adorning a weather map thus far, but it's still a lovely atmospheric song, and to be honest, when I heard those opening strings, I'd assumed that I was listening to a particularly dramatic B'z number. However, the 2008 "Tsukiyo no Dance" comes across as something that I could potentially hear as background music in a swords-and-sorcery anime. Of course, such a show would also contain its fair share of tribal experiences.