Yumi Matsutoya -- Yuming Banzai!（ユーミン万歳!） (Disc 3)

 

Welcome to the third and final entry covering Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由実）50th anniversary bonanza of a CD compilation, "Yuming Banzai!" (All Hail Yuming!) from October 2022. The writeup on Disc 2 can be found here. Unlike last weekend, though, it looks like almost everything here has already been covered.

1. Valentine's RADIO (04:59)

2. Shinju no Pierce 真珠のピアス (05:43)

3. Kageriyuku Heya 翳りゆく部屋 (4:48)

4. SWEET DREAMS (04:04)

5. Shiokaze ni Chigirete 潮風にちぎれて (04:10)

6. Forgiveness (04:39)

7. Fuyu no Owari 冬の終り (04:33)

8. Ano Hi ni Kaeritai あの日にかえりたい (03:42)

9. Rouge no Dengon ルージュの伝言 (03:03)

10. Futou wo Wataru Kaze 埠頭を渡る風 (04:41)

11. Velvet Easter ベルベット・イースター (03:44)

12. Hizuke no nai Bohyou VOYAGER〜日付のない墓標〜 (04:05)

13. Mamotte Agetai 守ってあげたい (04:28)

14. Uchuu Toshokan 宇宙図書館 (04:05)

15. ANNIVERSARY (04:53)

16. Aoi Air Mail 青いエアメイル (04:23)

17. Call me back / 松任谷由実 with 荒井由実 (03:45)

To be honest, I was surprised that I hadn't covered "SWEET DREAMS" yet. I've been hearing this punchy 22nd single from November 1987 through a concert tape and the source album "Diamond Dust wo Kienuma ni"（ダイアモンドダストが消えぬまに...Before the Diamond Dust Fades） that was released a month later. A bittersweet song about a woman trying to save a relationship as it seems to hurtle toward its crash, the video has Yuming（ユーミン）acting as a film editor. The song was another hit for her as it peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.

I did buy the singer-songwriter's 2006 album "A Girl in Summer" but it hasn't been a heavy rotation disc on my player. Still, I've enjoyed a couple of the tracks including the wistful "Forgiveness" which is as the title plainly states, a ballad about giving and accepting apologies. 

As has been my wont from time to time, there will be the occasional crossover of my own pop cultural interests and the intersection at this juncture is through the final song here, "Uchuu Toshokan" (Space Library). Listening to this title track from Yuming's 38th album (another No. 1 hit for her) from November 2016 and watching its music video as she is portrayed as some sci-fi librarian, I couldn't help but be reminded of a "Doctor Who" episode from 2008 with David Tennant, "Silence in the Library". It's one of his very best.

What's rather intriguing is how the stories from both "Uchuu Toshokan" and "Silence in the Library" line up quite nicely as they talk about the inevitable departures of beloved ones from this mortal coil and how it's OK to mourn openly. According to the liner notes in "Yuming Banzai!", "Uchuu Toshokan" was quite the healing creation for the singer. Perhaps its poignancy has even increased in the aftermath of COVID and the deaths of many famous people in the last year including those from Japan.

Well, I pulled off a major BEST compilation. It's Miller Time!🍻 Maybe the producers and Yuming were also clinking glasses last year since as I may have mentioned before, "Yuming Banzai!" hit No. 1 for a couple of weeks and ended up as the 8th-ranked album of the year, going Double Platinum. In any case, for anyone who has just discovered Ms. Matsutoya for the first time recently, "Yuming Banzai!" can be the guide to take you down the rabbit hole.