All these years, whenever I've heard the title "Summertime Blues", I would always fondly remember Misato Watanabe's（渡辺美里）classic song from 1990. Well, now, it's got company.
Indeed, a decade before Misato's "Summertime Blues" came onto the scene, singer-songwriter Hirosuke（ヒロスケ）wrote and composed his own "Summertime Blues" as his 2nd single in 1980. As an aside, perhaps his "A-re-ka-ra"（あ・れ・か・ら）was his debut single from the same year.
Compared to the sunny and upbeat "Summertime Blues" by Misato, Hirosuke's "Summertime Blues" is a prowling nocturnal animal hitting the main streets and side streets of the city. Still plenty hot at night in Tokyo. "A-re-ka-ra" was a theme song for a cop show. Why not this one as well? Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）took care of the City Pop arrangement.
When I think of the “blues," I think of something more sad sounding, but this particular sound does not appear to be about sadness or depression. The idea of someone clapping their hands or stamping their feet to blues music seems a bit off to me. So perhaps blues is a code word for some other idea?
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that when it comes to English wording in Japanese titles, the meaning can be far looser in meaning.
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