Yukiko Okada -- PRIVATE RED

 

Over half a decade ago, I put my thoughts down on a few Yukiko Okada（岡田有希子）songs via a BEST article titled "All Songs Request". One of those songs which was covered was her 4th single from January 1985, "Futari Dake no Ceremony"（二人だけのセレモニー）. Starting out rather ceremoniously, it quickly turned into a happy-go-lucky bouncy aidoru tune of love.

The B-side, "PRIVATE RED", is also quite bouncy but it has a more sinister turn by my impression. Written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, the song was also composed by Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）, someone who will always get my attention on anything she's whipped up. Meanwhile, Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）handled the arrangement which has a touch of West Coast rock-side AOR; I'd say that this fits Urino's story of a young lady possibly involved in some dangerous love affair, and the vehicle of convenience can range from a sports car to a gritty motorcycle...something that has quite the speed for a getaway perhaps. From what I could also figure out from the lyrics is that the title refers to the lady leading a double life with the sub rosa one having her slap on quite a bit more red on the face for her bad beau.

Yeah, maybe I've gone on a little florid on the description, but "PRIVATE RED" is sure a flip side to the sweet and innocent "Futari Dake no Ceremony". However, it's never a bad thing to have two different sides on a single.