In the post-Snowmageddon days, the one thing that I've had to endure are the rocky and slippery unplowed sidewalks. My leg muscles have gotten quite sore from the workout they've been getting trying to navigate the streets. It may be the only time that I have something in common with professional speed skaters...and hey, we've got the Winter Olympics coming up, don't we?
Anyways, keeping up with the winter theme, let's take a listen to this B-side from the late singer-songwriter Kozo Murashita's（村下孝蔵）August 1983 single "Odoriko"（踊り子）, "Fuyu Monogatari" (Winter Story). In contrast to the fairly jaunty A-side, "Fuyu Monogatari" is a beautifully arranged piano ballad of still pining for a past love. The song sounds as if it had a setting of somewhere in Europe but there is mention of a clock tower at least a couple of times in Murashita's lyrics, so I'm wondering if he'd been walking through Sapporo in Hokkaido instead.
The protagonist in the song has apparently been without his now-ex-paramour for over a year so he's been through the emotional wringer. I can only ask him to find a stylish cafe somewhere close by and get some cocoa to alleviate his symptoms.
On the J-Wiki article for "Odoriko", I found out that "Fuyu Monogatari" had been covered in 1987 by Hong Kong singer Sandy Lamb. It's known as 「也許當時年紀少」.
Great songs!
ReplyDeleteOh, I think I also have a comment that can tie both Japanese and Chinese Hong Kong music together. My favorite song by 村下孝蔵 titled 「陽だまり」that was released in September of 1987 was actually a cover of one of 蔡楓華/Choi Fung-wah's songs released in 1985 in Hong Kong under the with the title 讓你自由.
Brian, thanks for the info. I grew up in Hong Kong but didn’t know about that. To be honest, I don’t like Choi Fung Wah’s voice so didn’t bother to listen to his songs when I was in Hong Kong, although the songs themselves were good. The song you mentioned is Mirashita’s “The moment white flower blossoms“ 白い花の咲く頃
DeleteBrian, I think the song was written by Murashita but Choi’s version was released first. So I guess it’s a self-cover by Murashita.
DeleteYeah, I think we have 「陽だまり」under the Murashita banner.
Delete「白い花の咲く頃」 doesn't sound anything like「陽だまり」Even though the latter is supposed to be a self-cover of the former that was written for Choi Fung Wah. Perhaps they share the same meaning at heart.
Delete村下孝蔵「白い花の咲く頃」https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3250040
From the wikipedia article on 「陽だまり」
"白い花の咲く頃 もともとは蔡楓華（香港）への提供曲として「讓你自由」（歌詞は広東語）のタイトルで、1985年発売のアルバム『愛不是遊戲』に収録された曲。本作はその日本語セルフカバーとなる。"
Maybe I misunderstood what you wrote. In any case, 陽だまり was released as a single in 1987, with 白い花の咲く頃 as its B side song. 陽だまり was the theme song of the anime Mezon Ikkoku めぞん一刻.
DeleteThis is the song 陽だまりhttps://youtu.be/LSn62IoG1J4?si=RV3vf1tVwCAky67E
I heard Sandy Lam’s cover version first. And I think I also heard Mirashita’s Japanese original when I was in Hong Kong. Love this song. Another Murashita song I really like is Renga Dori レンガ通り.
ReplyDeleteHi, Larry. I hope that you're doing well in 2026. Murashita was definitely one of Japanese pop music's treasures. Left us too soon.
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