Outside of an inclusion within my "Valentine's Choices" Author's Pick in 2019, I have to confess that the last time I wrote an article on the Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）aidoru Sayuri Kokusho（国生さゆり）was all the way back in the summer of 2015. And that was for a song, "Summer Blue", from her 1988 4th album, "Summer Snow".
"Summer Blue" was an aidoru tune that I thought was a cut above the usual Japanese teenybopper fare. I also think the same is true for this track which launches "Summer Snow", "Hidari Te ga Kirai" (I Hate the Left Hand). It's a really odd title for this song of romantic jealousy and impatience as a young lady is probably rapidly clacking her expensive heel while waiting for the target of her ardor to dump another lass and come to her. I tried to look for some different metaphorical meaning to hidari te outside of the literal meaning but I came up with bupkis.
Megumi Ogura（小倉めぐみ）, who has also written a lot for aidoru Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）, came up with the lyrics for "Hidari Te ga Kirai". But it's the basic melody by Keiichi Oku（奥慶一）of Spectrum（スペクトラム）fame as arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）that caught my ears. As the lone commenter thus far for the video has stated, I've never heard a song come off like this before. Beginning with some sparkly and jangly synths, despite the very green-eyed envy taking place in that stylish restaurant, it's undeniably Kokusho's cute-as-heck vocals but the surrounding music absorbs that champagne-and-caviar age of late 80s City Pop partially anchored by some very bluesy guitar and lightly seasoned with bossa. Plus, although I couldn't differentiate a G7 Major chord from a licorice cord, I can imagine that there are some insane levels of chord shifts and other manipulations happening that only a musician and a musicologist can pick out, and I am unfortunately neither.
"Hidari Te ga Kirai" is a fascinating song to be sure and the reason that my Vulcan ears pricked up here was that a friend of mine had sent me a link a few days ago to this amazing interview of former Megadeth guitarist and longtime Tokyo resident Marty Friedman by Rick Beato. When I read the opinion that Friedman feels that J-Pop is much more complex than current North American pop, I kinda went "What?!". Maybe this particular song by Kokusho isn't the finest example of what Friedman is claiming but I have to admit on reading the blurb and then listening to "Hidari Te ga Kirai", a light bulb did pop up over my head.
As a left-handed person, I strongly disagree with the song title, LOL! Song is good though.
ReplyDeleteI'm a right-handed person but I support the left-handed people! We must UNITE!
DeleteMarty Friedman's points of view are very interesting and Japanese music is one the main reasons he fell in love with Japan when he was touring with Megadeath in Japan way back in the day. I think he is right that Japanese have a great appreciation for the guitar.
ReplyDeleteMorning, Brian. Over the decades, I've been realizing how much the Japanese have had this enormous love affair with the electric guitar ranging from the first ereki boom in the 60s to "Bocchi the Rock".
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