Yuki Saito/Yuko Hara -- Shojo Jidai（少女時代）

 

I remember when Yosui Inoue's（井上陽水）classic "Shonen Jidai"（少年時代）first appeared on television. It was a ballad that was so infused with sigh worthy nostalgia that one's hands probably would have gone sepia-coloured on prolonged contact with the CD.

Then, I came across this song by 80s aidoru Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）titled "Shojo Jidai" (Girls' Generation) that was a track on her 6th studio album "PANT" from March 1988. It begins slowly as if I were going to get Saito's take on "Shonen Jidai" but then the tempo perks up quite a bit and the melody by Southern All Stars'（サザンオールスターズ）Yuko Hara（原由子）rolls onto a speedier and happier beat. The lyrics are also provided by Hara and the arrangement by Satoshi Takebe（武部聡志）is a mix of contemporary pop and synth classical pop for a court dance in a castle somewhere. "PANT" itself peaked at No. 4 on Oricon.

Hara herself would cover her own creation within her 1991 album "Mother". Instead of the languid intro on Saito's original, the keyboardist goes straight into the lyrics while the song, which retains its happy-go-lucky pace, has a slightly different arrangement which sounds more like Christmas toy store than palatial surroundings. Interestingly enough, this "Shojo Jidai" was used as an ending theme for the long-running NTV anime "YAWARA!". I must have stopped watching the series by that point because I don't remember ever hearing this song. As with Saito's "PANT", Hara's "Mother" would also score a No. 4 ranking, ending up as the 20th-ranked album for 1991.