Now, before all of you kayo veterans see the title and assume that this is a cover of the old Jerry Fujio（ジェリー藤尾）classic, nope this isn't a cover. Same title yes, but this is a wholly different song.
"Tooku e Ikitai" (I Want To Go Far Away) by the alternative rock band POLTA was written and composed by band bassist Suguru Fukuda（ふくだ傑）and is sung by his partner and guitarist Ai Onae（尾苗愛）. Furthermore, unlike Fujio's desire to flee from heartbreak or some other similar disaster, POLTA's "Tooke e Ikitai" seems to be more about getting out there in the world or at least some of the other areas within Metropolitan Tokyo such as Koenji and Ebisu for a bit of fun exploration. I can totally understand that.
Apparently, the music video of the song was put out there in 2012 but the actual song didn't get any representation for audio enjoyment until it was included in POLTA's first album "Sad Communication" in July 2015. The band itself has been around since 2008 and although a couple of albums came out in 2015 and 2018, it's been pretty much singles since then up to 2025.
Jerry Fujio（ジェリー藤尾)'s Tooku e Ikitai (1962) tends to be classified as 歌謡曲 (Kayōkyoku), but I think it may be 'Mood- Kayō.' But POLTA's "Tooke e Ikitai" is clearly a very different genre and, as you mention, a very different and unrelated song as well. Both songs are beautiful, but Jerry Fujio's song is legendary as it has been used for multiple tv shows, commercials, and is even included in music textbooks for high school students. I hope POLTA's "Tooke e Ikitai" will get as much success.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Not sure what POLTA's fortunes are like at present but they're still around apparently.
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