Agnes Chan(アグネス・チャン)will always be that one singer who I believe was born with long silky hair and an acoustic guitar attached to her hands. And she'll always be playing under a tree for any and all of the children in the neighbourhood. Her works as an aidoru in the 1970s have swung between touches of folk and country.
I read on one person's website that her November 1979 22nd single "Haru Tou Karaji" didn't become a major hit for Chan but it still resides solidly within his list of Top 5 Agnes Chan favourites. Indeed, it is a pleasant and wistful song that sides more into the folk side of things.
Written by Makoto Kitajo(喜多條忠), composed by Kisaburo Suzuki(鈴木キサブロー), who has a recent Creator article, and arranged by Masaaki Omura(大村雅朗), I was a bit stuck on how to translate that title since it came across as something akin to a typical Japanese four-kanji proverb (though I know that there are just three in the title). I actually had to find a page that had the Portuguese translation of "Haru Tou Karaji" and then translate the Portuguese title into English and it is "Spring Is Not So Far Away". Looking through Kitajo's lyrics, yep, I can see that working since a woman, recently losing her beau, is walking a park path all by her lonesome although the message is that spring will be back and so will opportunities for new love.
It has been a while since I have heard of Agnes Chan! While, "Haru Tou Karaji" may not have become a major hit, she still got to perform it on tv so someone must of like it back then and this was kind of a year after she graduated from University of Toronto with a B.A. in psychology (child). So she had been missing in action in regards to the music world. 1979 is also the year she released her first Cantonese album
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