Wednesday July 12th is the date today here in Toronto as I type this but it's already Thursday July 13th in Japan in the wee hours, and of course, for Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）fans everywhere around the globe, July 13th is indeed her birthday. Specifically, it is her 58th birthday so wherever she is, allow me to extend my good wishes to her. My fellow fan on Twitter, City Pop One, had already provided his tribute to the early 80s aidoru with a 90-minute show at the strike of the midnight hour Japan time, and I see that others have also given their felicitations.
One of the phrases that I've used over the history of the blog has been "Never ignore those B-sides!". Maybe the A-sides for those old 45" singles are the star songs but those B-sides can be pretty decent works, too. I've discovered that this is also true for Nakamori's 3rd single, "Second Love"（セカンド・ラブ）, which was released in November 1982 (incidentally, you can also look at Larry Chan's own analysis of the song right here).
In the past, I've observed that in Akina's early years as an aidoru, the producers and other powers-that-be for her career enjoyed switching her singing style from the high-pitched balladry to her deep and sultrier tones for the pop-rock tunes. "Second Love" is definitely one example of the former but the other side of the coin is definitely the other side of the coin on all levels.
"Kagami no Naka no J" (The J in the Mirror) is a much darker but fun song to listen to (heck, I fantasized that it was me in that mirror, but then I realized that would be horrifying for sighted people😎). Right from Note One, Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）weaves Ken Sato's（佐藤健）melody into a web of suspense that centres things to a core of a slasher flick with the theme consisting of that infamous saying "Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned". Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）wrote the lyrics of a woman finding some cosmetics that are not her own in her boyfriend's bathroom among other ominous clues, and suddenly that seething emotion known as jealousy raises its ugly head. The wonderful thing is that Akina really does give credence in her vocals that she was rightly compared to the now-retired Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）, the 1970s aidoru who had taken on the persona of the jaded seen-this done-that woman.
My only question is the lyric of "Oh...J Boy" in "Kagami no Naka no J". Miura and Nakamori made it clear in another lyric that "J" stood for jealousy but it just seems a bit odd to describe the cause of the protagonist's jealousy that way. I know that there was another "J.Boy" by rocker Shogo Hamada（浜田省吾） but that meant "Japanese Boy". Regardless, to paraphrase one of the X-Men's most powerful mutants, I have a great swell of pity for the lad who has just stirred up trouble for his two girlfriends.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking up this year’s Akina birthday special article. This is the first time I listened to the song and of course I didn’t know what’s on the B side of Second Love either.
The 2nd half of the lyrics is interesting. It’s a love making scene. I suspect her record company’s executives made Akina sing such a song so that they can fantasize…you know what I mean 😁
Hi, Larry. Well, you were kind enough to take care of last year's birthday article so it was my turn. That final verse was rather intriguing and disturbing considering that she was only 17 at the time, but then again, Momoe was singing similarly salacious songs at an even younger age a decade previously.
DeleteI love this song. As for "J-boy" I think the song implies that both Akina and the boyfriend are jealous in their own ways. As when Akina says "別にあなただけが男の人じゃない" (You aren't the only man out there) it implies she may be also doing things to make him jealous too. To me I see it as what they call a "situationship" where neither are entirely committed, but looks like Akina may have gotten a little too comfortable in his home (like looking through his fridge), implying she's stayed at his home for long periods of time.
ReplyDeleteAlso for the last part, I don't think they are "making love" so to say, I think he came up behind her and slid his hands inside her shirt. That's why she got startled. Still a little "spicy" but not explicit.
I was kinda wondering about the "J-Boy" part, so thanks very much for clearing that up. In any case, it looks like the two involved here are approaching a showdown of sorts.
DeleteInteresting interpretation. I thought upon seeing the deep purple lipstick in the bathroom, she was trying to hypnotize herself that “her boyfriend is not a man.” In other words the lipstick belongs to her boyfriend and not another woman. This shows that she’s still in love with him very much.
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