Chiharu Matsuyama -- Machi（街）

 

The last time I wrote on singer-songwriter Chiharu Matsuyama（松山千春）was back in mid-July when I posted my thoughts on his 7th single from August 1979, "Yoake"（夜明け）. I noted that perhaps it inhabited that gray area between enka and kayo kyoku or pop known unofficially as New Adult Music back in the day. The genre was never fully accepted by the media or other institutions but I'm starting to think just for KKP purposes, I really ought to adopt it and so I'm plugging the label for the first two times on "Yoake" and this Matsuyama ballad.

"Machi" (The City) was a track on Matsuyama's May 1979 5th album with the very long title of "Sora wo Tobu Tori no You ni, No wo Kakeru Kaze no You ni"（空を飛ぶ鳥のように 野を駈ける風のように...Just Like the Bird Flying in the Sky, Just Like the Wind Running Through the Fields）. As I just stated, I think "Machi" fulfills that feeling that it belongs in the amorphous New Adult Music area because it not only has that lyrical theme of an opportunity lost regarding love in the cold cold city which is very much enka, but the music by Matsuyama additionally has that enka languidness though filtered through Western instruments and arrangements.

I even came across an Ameba blog whose author pointed out that "Machi" gives off that enka aroma in the lyrics and that enka singers in their fifties right now would probably be tackling this one, despite the fact that the singer first recorded "Machi" in his early twenties. Knowing how opinionated Matsuyama can be on most things, I'm uncertain whether he would be thrilled about at least some of his creations being labeled anything close to enka, but still from my own personal view, I'm perfectly fine with these bittersweet sigh worthy New Adult Music ballads. Anyways, I'll be heading into some back labeling for the next little while on behalf of this new Label.