Listening to my 30-year-old compilation tape of Japanese 80s hits earlier this week, I re-acquainted myself with Yosui Inoue's（井上陽水）"My House" and went "Ahh...he did make this song, didn't he?" The tape was pretty worn after 3 decades so the song was pitched fairly high. But even at the right levels, "My House" is a frenetic ride on the highway.
Over the years, I've heard about the veteran singer-songwriter being an amiable if slightly oddball character in the music industry. Well, I've usually just seen him on TV giving these wonderful comradely performances, so I guess "My House" is him showing a bit of that oddball side. He was responsible for both the music and the lyrics. As for the former, it sounds like Jim Carrey going through a bad but hilarious day heading to work (oversleeps, burns toast, car radiator blows), and as for the latter...well, it's about as Dadaist as Japanese lyrics can get (Love is a mashed potato, love is electronic caramel...).
In the first minute of the video above, Inoue gives a straight-faced but slightly bizarre description about how the song came about...about how it had been whipped up while the guy was dressed like a slouch and how he had initially needed to get dressed up for the recording, only to give up and get back to the loungewear. The actual video has Inoue and his band perform on stage while the lyrics of the song take on a life of their own. Not sure whether he wanted to relate his view on the music industry as a whole or just his thinking/executing processes for his songs. It must be something to behold.
"My House" was a track on his 9th album from November 1981, "Ayashii Yoru wo Matte"（あやしい夜をまって...Wait for the Suspicious Night）which got as high as No. 11 on the album charts.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.