Why do hit songs remind us of their era? On 'Nada Soso' and the sense of loss in the Heisei period

Hello, this is Nagasaka Research Institute.
On my recent days off, I've been playing long playlists on YouTube, chatting with AI, and brainstorming material for blog posts.
This article is a result of that process.
Chatting with AI becomes incredibly long because it's like hitting a ball against a wall—I type, read the response, and reply again.
Since I can't summarize it myself, I ask the AI to summarize it and create the article.

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Article Overview

In this article, I explore the relationship between hit songs and their historical context, based on a conversation with AI that started from a line in a song lyric.
Perhaps hit songs are not just songs that sold well, but songs that captured the emotions held by the people of that era.
Using 'Nada Soso' and the atmosphere of the Heisei period as clues, I will look at the relationship between music, memory, and even credit and debt.

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'When I hear this song, I remember those days.'

It's a common saying.

It's an expression I've heard many times on TV music programs, on the radio, and in nostalgic music specials.

But is this really just nostalgia?

When people listen to a song, they aren't just remembering the melody.
They are remembering themselves from the time when that song was playing.

The smell of the room.
The commute.
The radio in the car.
The person I liked.
Things I couldn't say well.
People I don't see anymore.

Those things come rushing back with an intro or a line of lyrics.

Songs don't store memories.
But they do become a door to memory.

I felt this strongly this time because I remembered 'Nada Soso'.

The trigger was a line from the lyrics.

'While still scraped'

From there, I went to Fujifabric's 'Wakamono no Subete', then to the topic of YouTube playlists, and then to stories about old radio shows.

CBC Radio in Aichi Prefecture had a slot where they would play the same song repeatedly, like a 'Song of the Month'.
There was a song I heard there many times and thought, 'This is a good song.'

That was Rimi Natsukawa's 'Nada Soso'.

At the time, I just listened to it thinking it was a good song.
But thinking about it again, I feel that the reason that song reached so many people wasn't just because it was a good song.

The lyrics contain thoughts for a deceased older brother.
Ryoko Moriyama wrote the lyrics, BEGIN composed the music, and Rimi Natsukawa sang it.
This process itself contains a structure where individual memories spread as a song.

However, if Ryoko Moriyama had sung it herself, the impression might have been slightly different.

If Ryoko Moriyama sang it, it would be a song about someone who has lived a full life looking back on a departed loved one.
That in itself is profound.

But when Rimi Natsukawa sings it, it is a little different.

It sounds as if a younger sister is remembering her deceased older brother.
She has grown up, but in her heart, she is still looking up at her brother's back.
There is that kind of atmosphere.

The vocal quality is also significant.
Rimi Natsukawa's voice does not force emotions upon the listener.
It does not try to make you cry.
Therefore, conversely, there is room for the listener's own memories to enter.

Furthermore, there is the atmosphere of Okinawa.

The sea, the wind, the humidity, the evening light, the feeling of thinking about someone far away.
Even though it does not depict a specific landscape, for some reason, nostalgia arises.

I believe 'Nada Soso' became a vessel that accepts the loss of each listener, while still being a song about missing a brother.

What is important here is that a hit song does not become a hit based on the song alone.

Good lyrics.
A good melody.
A good singing voice.

If it is just that, it might end up as just a 'good song'.

To become a hit, the background of the era that receives the song is necessary.

The reason 'Nada Soso' spread was that it was after Japanese society had gone through several losses from the beginning to the middle of the Heisei period.

The collapse of the bubble economy.
The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
The Aum Shinrikyo incident.
Financial instability.
The employment ice age.

The end of the Showa era and the beginning of the Heisei era were not just a change in the era name.

The door to the era closed with the passing of Emperor Showa.
However, the atmosphere of society did not change immediately.
There was residual heat from the bubble, and trust in corporate society still remained.

But after that, events occurred one after another.

'If you work, you will be rewarded.'
'If you join a company, you can feel secure.'
'Society will get better little by little.'

That kind of trust gradually crumbled away.

There was once a phrase: "Can you fight for 24 hours?"
During the bubble era, it might have still held up as a joke.
If you pushed yourself, there was a reward waiting at the end.
If you devoted yourself to the company, the company would support your life.

That kind of trade-off was still believed in.

However, if you heard that phrase during the employment ice age, the way you received it changed completely.

There is no place to fight.
The doors are closed.
Even if you work hard, it doesn't pay off.
And yet, you are still told to "do your best."

At that point, "Can you fight for 24 hours?" becomes a burden rather than encouragement.

That is why I think "healing" songs were sought after that.

Fight more.
Win more.
Step forward more.

Not songs like that,

You've been hurt enough.
It's okay to rest a little.
It's okay to remember what you've lost.
It's okay to cry.

Songs like that were needed by the era.

"Nada Soso" was a song that entered that space.

That is why this song is not just a beautiful song from Okinawa.
It is also a song that quietly accepted the sense of loss of the Heisei era.

Perhaps hit songs are things that sing the emotions of an era before anyone else.

Anxiety that people have not yet been able to put into words.
Anger.
Loneliness.
Loss.
The wish to move forward despite it all.

When things like that are carried by a certain voice and melody, the song spreads.

And when you listen to that song years later, the era comes back.

"What was I doing when this song was playing?"
"How is that person doing now?"
"What was the atmosphere of society like back then?"

Hit songs are individual memories, but at the same time, they are the memories of an era.

Here, I will insert the words credit and debt just a little.

In an era when society can believe in the future, songs that push forward resonate.
In an era when social trust is shaken, songs that offer healing or accept loss resonate.
And in an era when people try to stand up once more, songs that are bright but aware of past wounds resonate.

Songs reflect the state of social trust.

What did people lose?
What did they still want to believe in?
What were they tired of?
Where did they want to return to?

Tracing hit songs reveals the state of the heart during that era.

That is why the phrase 'listening to this song reminds me of those days' is deeper than one might think.

It is not merely nostalgia.

It means remembering what you believed in, what you lost, and what you carried with you while living during the time that song was playing.

Hit songs are symbols of an era.
However, they are not the symbols found in history books.

They are more personal, more ambiguous, and more sentimental memories.

Songs that played repeatedly on the radio.
Songs heard in the car.
Songs heard with someone else.
Songs heard alone.

The accumulation of those moments suddenly comes back one day.

And you think to yourself.

Those were the times back then.
I was in that place, too.
I can never go back, but I was certainly there.

That is likely why 'Nada Soso' still remains today.

That song is a tribute to a late brother, a song wrapped in the nostalgia of Okinawa, and a song that carries the sense of loss of the Heisei era.

And for each listener, I believe it is a song that recalls someone who will never return and a time that will never come back.

#NadaSoso
#RimiNatsukawa
#MusicAndMemory
#HitSongs
#Heisei
#EmploymentIceAge
#TrustAndDebt
#NagasakaResearchInstitute