Kaori Kozai -- Koimachi Shigure（恋街しぐれ）

 

After doing a series of pop and/or Xmas tunes over the last few days, I could do with a little tangent, so it's time for a bit of enka. The traditional always makes for a nice breather.

Kaori Kozai's（香西かおり）"Koimachi Shigure" (Late Autumn Rain on the Streets of Love) is her 50th single released earlier this year in March. Written by the late Ryuichi Satomura（里村龍一）and composed by Yuu Hijirikawa（聖川湧）, the enka ballad is one of reflection and regret on the one that got away when opportunities were perceived to be there to hold onto that significant other. The setting is a bar where the regretful protagonist is drowning their sorrows in drink. Yup, it's indeed an enka.

Hijirikawa's melody with Shigenobu Ishikura's（石倉重信）arrangement makes the song sound so elegant, though. There's none of that down-on-one's-luck feeling that I can sense in other enka or Mood Kayo tunes. It's much more of a wistful "Well, tomorrow's another day". One just reflects, sighs and moves on with life, and then asks for another drink from the bartender.