Yesterday for Nobuo Ariga's（有賀啓雄）"Pocket ni Tsumete Jingle Bell"（ポケットにつめてジングルベル）, I started off by putting up an AI art generator's creation of my request for a "Japanese City Pop Christmas" done in anime style, and indeed it looked quite seasonal. Before that though, I'd put in the same request but didn't add the anime part and the above is what resulted. Not that it's a bad result but it's a bit weird and apparently accurate spelling was more of a friendly guideline than a hard-and-fast rule.
Well, getting onto things here, when I was about to post the article for Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Saigo no Merry Christmas"（最後のメリー・クリスマス）back in November, I discovered that he wasn't the only musical act that liked that title. The Sugi song was recorded back in 1986 but then a few decades down the line, the eclectic band Quruli（くるり）decided to create their own song with that same title.
In fact, it was Quruli's 27th single released in December 2013 so we're almost on the 10th anniversary since the band's "Saigo no Merry Christmas" first got to ears. Now, the KKP file on Quruli has shown us that they've given us a lot of different styles of music since their beginnings in the mid-1990s. And even Shigeru Kishida（岸田繁）and his merry group have denoted their long career in terms of phases or stages. However, I'm always going to see them first in their 8th and current stage of their brand of quirky pop (now continuing for ten years) thanks to nikala's introduction of Quruli through their "Liberty & Gravity" along with their prize-winning music video.
Actually, "Saigo no Merry Christmas" was released right before "Liberty & Gravity". Kishida wrote and composed his description of a Xmas in the band's hometown of Kyoto where the snow has been non-stop. It's an elegantly jaunty tune with a Latin beat and perhaps a few whispery references to other famous Xmas songs. I've always wondered what the Yuletide is like in Japan's former capital city and the adjective elegant did come to mind. The single managed to reach No. 15 on Oricon, and it's also available on Quruli's September 2014 album "The Pier" that made it up to No. 4 on the album charts. By the way, the actual music video below begins at about 50 seconds in.
With a title like 最後のメリー・クリスマス I was expecting a bitter sweat sad sounding song, but it is a slightly latin jazzy easy listening song. I really like it!
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Yes, melodically I'm perfectly fine with both the Sugi and Quruli songs, but in terms of lyrics, the Quruli one wins out since the Sugi song is a bit depressing.
DeleteHmm, I guess that make Quruli bit more of a moody Holiday song. Wham's last Christmas (I know a totally different meaning than 最後) is kind of an English moody song, although it is a pop song!
DeleteI guess then that might explain Wham's Xmas popularity. Sad lyrics but lovely seasonal melody.
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