We are approaching the 45th anniversary of this Chage & Aska tune "TABIBITO" (Traveler) which was released on May 25th 1981 as the duo's 4th single. Compared to the slicker and older Chage & Aska that I got to know best when I was living in Japan (as you can see in the top photo), according to the cover of the single for "TABIBITO", the fellows were looking quite rugged back then.
Goro Matsui（松井五郎）was behind the lyrics while Chage took care of the music as Aska sang about heading to wherever to forget about a romance gone sour. Under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement, there is something quite Queen-ly or maybe even ALFEE-ish in parts of "TABIBITO" but then hearing Chage and Aska doing their harmonizing, I went, yeah, it's Chage & Aska!
The song peaked at No. 30 on Oricon. "TABIBITO" didn't get onto an original album initially but it was finally placed as a bonus track on the 1986 CD version of Chage & Aska's 3rd album from February 1982, "Tasogare no Kishi"（黄昏の騎士...Twilight Knights）.
What I love about “TABIBITO” is how unfinished it feels in the best way — like watching the landscape pass from a train window at dusk without really knowing where you’re headed.
ReplyDeletePeople usually talk about Chage & Aska through the lens of their huge ’90s hits, but this song comes from that earlier, quieter period where everything felt more intimate and uncertain. The melody has this weary, reflective movement to it, and the harmonies somehow make the loneliness feel warm instead of empty.
What really stays with me is that sense of emotional wandering — not adventure, but the feeling of outgrowing one version of your life before the next one arrives. It’s subtle, dusty, nocturnal, very early-1980s “new music” in atmosphere.
Not flashy. Just deeply alive.