It's been just about six years since I put up my most recent Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）song onto the blog, so allow me to rectify this situation.
Back in November 1991, singer-songwriter Mackey released his 4th single, the classic "Fuyu ga Hajimaru yo"（冬がはじまるよ）, a really jolly song for the Yuletide with that wonderful harmonica playing. Well, I've found out that the coupling song for that one is lovely in its own way, if quite wistful.
"Shouri no Egao" (The Smile of Victory) has nothing to do with Christmas and it tells of a romance that never got to be due to various circumstances such as the eddies of fate forcing a pair to drift apart. Starting with a riff that sounds like it was inspired by 1970s soul, Makihara sings about a man suddenly bumping into a woman he had feelings for way back in his high school years as a soccer player. They exchange pleasantries politely but it seems like the woman never really reciprocated those feelings and after she even gives him her contact information, he ends up tearing the memo later on. He has moved on and if there's not even an ember of romantic hope and it was more about lip service, then why bother? They'll probably see each other at a distant school reunion.
The title of this song made me assume it would be a more happy, upbeat song. To be sure, it does have a decent beat; however, the story the song conveys is rather off-putting, unless of course the guy in the song realized that he dodged a bullet by escaping a relationship that might not have been ideal for him or her.
ReplyDelete*Noriyuki Makihara – “Victory Smile”*
「With my bag still in my right hand,
I clung to the tall fence.
Half making fun of you,
I was watching you.
Your uniform smelled of sun-warmed light,
and you had a dazzling smile.
Even if the dreams we talked about were out of sync,
we shared the same time.
I ran away from summer,
just changing trains again and again.
You chased after summer,
changing your shoes over and over.
But I believed that someday I’d be the one laughing,
that someday I’d be the one who won.
Sticking my tongue out at youth, getting lost on the road,
never knowing I’d end up crouching down in place…
Years passed after that,
and by chance I met you in town.
The broken-off contact
was surely my fault.
“I’m getting by somehow, having fun,”
you said, smiling—
the same as that boy
who kept running on that field.
After tearing up a memo,
you gave me your contact info.
Like the eleven heading onto the pitch,
you leapt out into the crowd.
As I saw you off, lightly waving my hand,
someday I’ll lower it and run too.
The smile of victory shone on you, but
I’ll turn the car horn into a whistle
and run.
The smile of victory shone on you, but
I’ll turn the car horn into a whistle
and run.｣