Mayumi Itsuwa -- Joker（ジョーカー）

 

As was the case with Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美） in my previous article, it's also been over a year since I posted anything regarding chanteuse and songwriter Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）, and that was a surprising one because it dealt with her creation "Omoide Sagashi"（思い出さがし）which was originally performed by Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）as an ending theme for his famous cop show "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察...West Police Division） in 1983. Not that I would ever accuse Itsuwa of being incapable of handling other genres other than the genteel Fashion Music and folky pop that I've known her for, but it was still revealing that she could provide a Mood Kayo for the Tough Guy. And she herself gave a cover version of "Omoide Sagashi" many years later.

Well, a few years earlier, Itsuwa had released her famous "Koibito yo"（恋人よ）in August 1980 as her 18th single. Basically, I see "Koibito yo" as the singer's trademark tune and for me, it's one of the examples of Fashion Music, that Japanese genre similar to what I've heard in Baroque Rock or Baroque Pop in the West. Therefore, it was once again with some surprise that I discovered that the B-side to this heartrending ballad was "Joker". 

Nope, it doesn't have anything to do with "Batman" but once again, there is that genre flip that I didn't expect from Itsuwa. It's undeniably the singer's baby since she wrote and composed the song with Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）arrangement, but this time, "Joker" has got that spritely City Pop beat down pat. It really feels like a commute on the Tokyo streets going into the 1980s. Lyrically though, "Joker" is about shock and betrayal as a lady suddenly gets told by her boyfriend that the relationship is over. As she sings it, the lady gets pulled with an Ace of Spades while the heel flips out a Joker card. The affair folds.🃏 Still, it's got a nice musical accompaniment and it does contrast with the very elegiac "Koibito yo".