Hibari Misora -- Aru Onna no Uta（ある女の詩）

 

On the eve of what would have been Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）87th birthday, NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）continued the annual tradition of celebrating the life and career of the Queen of Kayo Kyoku through a display of covers by the show's guests and videotape coverage. I knew that with the tribute that Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）, arguably the closest person in style and ability to Misora, was on the program.

It really does say something when basically retired Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）, who I've always thought as the Grand Old Man of Enka, appeared on the program to relate his thoughts about Misora because he had always seen her as his teacher, perhaps not in singing but in showmanship. NHK then revealed Misora's appearance at the very end of the 1972 edition of the year-end Kohaku Utagassen in its entirety as she sang her 259th single from that same year, "Aru Onna no Uta" (A Song by One Woman), and absolutely wowed the audience and all on stage. 

The impression from the J-Wiki write-up on "Aru Onna no Uta" was that her performance on December 31st 1972 not only sealed the deal for the Red (women's) team to win the battle but it garnered the 2nd-highest ratings for a performance in Kohaku history with 80.6%. The footage that was shown was the first time for me to see it (and it was the first time for me to even hear the song) and it had Misora in very flamboyant dress as she sang at how emotionally crushed she was on losing or being betrayed by a lover and there were points where she seemed to be on the cusp of losing it all in front of the audience. At the end, though, she gave off a beaming smile to everyone, letting all know that she was the master entertainer.

Written by Masato Fujita（藤田まさと）and composed by Katsuo Inoue（井上かつお）, "Aru Onna no Uta" is a fascinating number because at its core, it sounds like an enka number but the arrangement, at least in its original recorded version, feels like the then-popular kayo soul with rollicking percussion, bluesy guitar and strings. Perhaps, "Aru Onna no Uta" could be considered as one early version of New Adult Music with its mix of enka and pop that was first coined going into the 1980s. Even Misora's vocals took on a deeper hue and the finish of each chorus had her fairly screaming out the words in pain and frustration.

There was more poignancy in Misora's 1972 Kohaku performance than even the singer had been aware of at the time. The following year, the legend would end up mired in the scandal involving her brother's organized crime dealings which would lead to her non-invitation status for the Kohaku going forward. After a long run of regular appearances on the NHK special, 1972 was her penultimate appearance. In fact, it was seen as her final appearance as a regular performer since her return to the NHK stage in 1979 on that Kohaku Utagassen was as a special guest to perform a medley of her hits, after which she never came back to the Kohaku.