We're bringing back Kayo Grace Kyoku in the environs of a Japanese inn during winter. I've been hearing about the snow and ice that has been blanketing much of Japan. Temps over here in Toronto have been hovering around the freezing point this week with a mix of rain and snow.
It's been a while since I posted anything by the boomer-voiced Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）so I was doing a search and I came across this coupling song to her February 1993 25th single "Itsuka Kitto" (いつかきっと). "Winter Melody" is somewhat more of the bittersweet tune compared to the A-side with Watanabe taking care of the lyrics while frequent collaborator Hiromasa Ijichi（伊秩弘将）, who has also worked with the 90s girl group SPEED, took care of this winter melody.
About a woman coming to grips with her new life following a romantic breakup, the intro sounds like something from the Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）handbook at that time. Watanabe's vocals once again take on the form of a reassuring shoulder to cry upon while the arrangement goes into a contemporary pop mode although I wouldn't place it as a City Pop song. Surprisingly, the music gets increasingly epic...perhaps to signify the woman's rise out of despair but I think the synth brass and strings get a little overwrought by the end. Images of the lady suddenly getting into the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat and flying off to challenge Tom Cruise have come to mind. And I'm kinda left wondering what happened to the winter.
"Tell me how you really feel about Top Gun"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZAu4myjA-3k
Never saw the original movie in its entirety, but I did catch "Maverick" last year. The flying scenes were great!
DeleteThanks for doing this post on Misato Watanabe's "Winter Melody"! I think more than a few people only know her for singing "My Revolution" even though she has done so much more!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty confident that Misato has been known more for stuff other than "My Revolution", although I agree that the Komuro-penned hit is her signature song.
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