Japan

Rina Sawayama | This Hell

” … Japanese-British pop superstar Rina Sawayama … was born in Japan and raised in North London. (She) ascended to pop stardom via an unusual trajectory at Cambridge University studying politics, psychology and sociology, and funding her early music with modeling before signing a record deal,” (IMDB). “At the beginning of her song “This Hell,” Rina Sawayama recalls seeing a religious poster condemning so-called sinners for their identities,” (Pitchfork). “She rebukes the hateful messaging with an eye roll—’Don’t know what I did but they seem pretty mad about it’—pulls her chosen family closer, and offers affirmation: ‘This hell is better with you.’

The first track off the SAWAYAMA-follow up Hold the Girl (2022) was inspired by country pop, and that influence is most evident at the track’s intro, which features a neighing horse and a winking tribute to country pop queen Shania Twain (‘let’s go, girls’). From there, she fans these flames into a turbocharged pop banger complete with a glam, unapologetically over-the-top hair metal riff. Not one to pass up a good pop culture reference, Sawayama quotes Paris Hilton’s famous catchphrase and chastises the paparazzi for their cruelty towards Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, and Princess Diana. ‘Got my invitation to eternal damnation,’ she chants. ‘Get in line, pass the wine, bitch.’ With Sawayama, hell is the hottest party in town.”

After an intro in A minor, the verse enters in E major (0:31), then shifts to a pre-chorus and chorus in C major at 0:48. More changes follow from there.

Off Course | Yes-No

“Off Course … enjoyed a 25-year career run … but its influence is still felt in later acts such as Yuzu or Kobukuro. The group was formed in 1964 by a bunch of high schoolers … who teamed up to play at a local festival,” (AllMusic). They continued playing on the festival circuit during their college years, debuted live as headliners in 1972, and released their first LP in 1973. They released several Japanese top ten singles in 1980 and 1981; “We Are (1980), their eighth album, was the band’s first full-length to top the Oricon charts, followed by three more in the next two years. The group played in Los Angeles and Japanese TV featured them in documentaries.” The band played at Live Aid in 1986 and broke up in 1989.

A track from We Are, “Yes-No,” is now considered something of a classic within the distinctive Japanese “City Pop” genre. Beginning in Ab minor, the track makes an early shift to A minor before the vocal makes its appearance (0:34).

Many thanks to our Brazilian listener/reader Julianna A. for suggesting this track — her sixth submission to MotD!

Mrs. Green Apple | Love Me, Love You

Mrs. Green Apple is a Japanese rock band, based in Tokyo. In 2016 they released their first full record, Twelve, on the Japanese label EMI records; they have also written music for popular anime series.

“Love Me, Love You” was the sixth single released by the group, and peaked at #19 on the Oricon chart in 2018. The tune modulates from F up to Ab at 3:36.

Superfly | 愛をこめて花束を (A Bouquet with Love)

Rock/Pop artist Superfly, also known as Shiho Ochi, has cranked out several dozen hits in Japan since the late 2000s. But despite being raised on a diet of Japanese pop, she’s intrigued by soulful American rock hits of the 1970s. The Japan Times recounts that “…in 2008, Ochi’s love for Janis Joplin paid off big-time when Japanese TV station Music On! had her front a travelogue show called Following the Steps of Janis, in which she visited the blues-rock queen’s old San Francisco haunts and interviewed Sam Andrew of Joplin’s one-time band Big Brother and the Holding Company.

‘Since he knew I was a singer, he suggested I play a song for him, so I did. And then he told me that there would be a festival called Heroes of Woodstock in 12 months’ time and asked if I would like to perform (with Big Brother). I thought he was joking, but sure enough, a year later the invitation came.'” Although she speaks no English and learned Joplin’s tune by ear only, she “sang two Joplin covers (‘Down on Me’ and ‘Piece of My Heart’) with Big Brother on the New York State site of the original 1969 event, for an appreciative if unacquainted audience of mostly older Americans.”

Superfly’s “A Bouquet With Love” (a rough translation of the Japanese title), released in 2011, features a mammoth instrumentation, easily matched by some sturdy belting by Ochi. The tune builds to a whole-step key change at 3:56 before closing with a punchy, syncopated vamp built around I major -> v minor — the same one we first heard whispered in the intro.

Shishamo | Ashita Mo (明日も)

Guest contributor Alejandro Espinosa (@wolfman1405) has submitted a song called “Ashita Mo (明日も)” by the Japanese indie rock band Shishamo. The band’s members met during high school and made their debut in 2011.

Alejandro reports that the tune “begins in Db major. At 1:15, the chord progression goes V7/vi -> vi (also related ii) -> V7/V -> IV -> bVI -> V7). The V7 (Ab) resolves deceptively as a sub V into G major. The transition back happens at 2:09; it’s just kind of sudden and unprepared and it feels great. G into F, and now we’re on a Db again.”