The Mystery of the Fine Song 'Aizenbashi'

Introduction: The Sense of Incongruity in 'Aizenbashi'

Momoe Yamaguchi is often remembered for a discography rich in variety across many genres, but in her later years, when she was active more as an artist than an idol, the mainstream of her work was defined by songs from the genius duo of Agi and Uzaki. From her 13th single, 'Yokosuka Story', through 'Pearl Color ni Yurete' and 'Akai Shogeki', and from her 16th single 'Hatsukoi Soshi' until her de facto final song, the 31st single 'Sayonara no Mukougawa', she released 16 singles, and a staggering 12 of them were the work of the genius duo Agi and Uzaki. The exceptions are 'Akai Kizuna (Red Sensation)', 'Cosmos', 'Ii Hi Tabidachi', and 'Aizenbashi'. 'Akai Kizuna (Red Sensation)' was a drama tie-in song; 'Cosmos' by Masashi Sada was an accidental release that happened at this time because it took him a year to create the work after being commissioned; and Shinji Tanimura's 'Ii Hi Tabidachi' was a campaign song for what we would now call a collaboration with Japanese National Railways, so they can be considered exceptions. In other words, it is fair to say that 'Aizenbashi' is the only regular single released by writers other than the Agi-Uzaki duo.

Of course, 'Aizenbashi' is a mellow and calm fine song by the reliable Takashi Matsumoto and Takao Horiuchi, and I even think that if the original singer had not been Momoe Yamaguchi, this song might have become a longer-lasting standard number. (For example, if it had been a signature song of Sayuri Ishikawa, who was also with HoriPro, I imagine it would have been performed on Kohaku Uta Gassen many times since then. As an aside, it might have become a trilogy of local songs for women, along with 'Aomori/Tsugaru Kaikyo' and 'Izu/Amagi-goe'. It can be said to be one of those hidden masterpieces whose opportunity to be sung was lost because the person herself retired. Although Akina Nakamori sings it on a Momoe tribute album, she will likely never perform this song on Kohaku.)

Now, the starting point of my sense of incongruity regarding 'Aizenbashi' was that it was released as a regular single by someone other than the genius duo Agi and Uzaki, as mentioned above. It was a hit as a mellow, calm, enka-style song that brought out a Japanese taste for the first time in a while following 'Cosmos', and I remember it being ranked on 'The Best Ten' and Momoe Yamaguchi performing it in the studio several times, but when I listened to it again, I was stunned by the content of the lyrics.
Yes. The 'mystery' mentioned in the title lies in the lyrics sung in 'Aizenbashi'.

1: 1979. At the time of release

When Momoe Yamaguchi heard the demo for this song, she must have thought, 'Blue Fruit', which launched the provocative 'Blue Sexuality' route, 'Am I really going to sing lyrics like this?'. What do I mean by this? Please imagine the situation of Momoe Yamaguchi at the time this song was created.
With her lover declaration in October of that same year (79), and the speedy engagement and retirement press conference with her partner Tomokazu Miura in March of the following year (80), Momoe Yamaguchi must have been busy from the end of the year to early the following spring, confiding her thoughts to those around her and running around explaining and persuading them. In other words, she must have been acting to ensure that everyone, including the management of HoriPro and the record company she was indebted to, and especially her close staff and industry contacts, knew and understood that she not only wanted to date Tomokazu Miura as a lover but also had a strong intention to marry him and retire between the autumn of 79 and the spring of the following year. Keeping this in mind, the meaning hidden in the lyrics of 'Aizenbashi' emerges.

Looking at the description in the memoir 'Playback' by Yasuo Kawase, the recording director at the time, it says, 'On October 30, 1979, Momoe announced her relationship with Tomokazu Miura at her recital at the Osaka Koseinenkin Hall. At this time, the staff was constantly worried about what kind of single song they should use to compete. Up until 'Ai no Arashi', released on June 1, 1979, a clear concept had been established, but the staff, who already knew about their relationship before the lover declaration, created various songs to make a candidate for the A-side of the next single.' And it says, 'The time of this song ('Aizenbashi') was the period when I was most worried about creating work'. 'The title of this song was thought up by Mr. Sakai. I conveyed that to Mr. Matsumoto and asked him to write the lyrics. (Omitted) Momoe's singing brilliantly expresses the anxiety and expectation of crossing the bridge of marriage. However, Momoe herself was not confused about marriage at that time. This was the part I was worried about when creating the work' (All quotes are from 'Playback').

For the management of the agency and the record company, especially the record company producer (Mr. Sakai), Momoe Yamaguchi's retirement meant the loss of a huge cash cow. Was there not a possibility that she would change her mind? Of course, they could not directly ask the person who wanted to marry and retire to reconsider. It would be an interference with her privacy, and there was even a danger of worsening the relationship with her, which had gone well until now. I imagine that the producer and the surrounding staff felt that way about her determination. It is imagined that a delicate situation was casting a troublesome shadow on the production site. Now, there are the lyrics of 'Aizenbashi'.

2: Main Subject - The Lyrics of 'Aizenbashi'

(Omitted)
There doesn't seem to be anyone
kinder than you
but I don't want to be bound bythe old word of marriage

Marriage is an old custom, and it seems to be the protagonist's thought in this song that she does not want to be bound by such traditions, but as the values of a protagonist who lives in an ancient capital and speaks Kyoto dialect, it feels a bit too progressive. By the way, from the content and expressions of the writing that permeate 'Aoi Toki', it can be seen that Momoe Yamaguchi herself sympathizes with Japan's very traditional views on marriage and family (the husband earns money outside, and the wife protects the home). The protagonist of this song seems to have contrasting values to Momoe Yamaguchi herself. And the lyrics sung in the second verse, in particular, seem like a
series of forbidden words for a girl who is thinking about marriage from now on.

It's not impossible that a day will come
when you get tired of me to the core of my hair

A day will come when you get tired of me to the core of my hair, is this something a girl about to get married would imagine? To be frank, I cannot help but have a rather bizarre impression. I looked for an idiom with 'core of hair' but couldn't find one, so it must be an expression the lyricist used to be eccentric. Since there is an idiom that 'hair is a woman's life', I can imagine that getting tired of her to the core means an extreme implication that the husband no longer shows interest in his wife as a woman.

If that happens, the courage to break up immediately
seems like I have it, seems like I don't

If you wonder what she is worried about, it is not anxiety about married life, but she is worried about whether she will have the courage to break up when her husband gets tired of her. Isn't the worry getting a bit too ahead of itself? This level of worry is, to put it clearly, bizarre. Isn't she feeling some unspeakable flaw in the man she is dating? If so, it is hard to imagine dating with the premise of marriage in the first place.

The name of the bridge is Aizenbashi
Once you cross it, you can never go back
If you look back, it's a bridge of memories from there

I'm a foolish woman, you see
I don't know much about life
But beckoned by you
I want to cross, I cannot cross

To summarize the whole thing roughly:
The protagonist, who lives in Kyoto and speaks the Kyoto dialect, expects to be proposed to by her kind boyfriend.
However, she is anxious about whether she would have the courage to break up with him if she accepted, got married, and then he grew tired of her.
In the first place,she is a foolish woman who still does not understand life (presumably the reality of living with a husband after marriage).
The image of a progressive woman who considers marriage an old custom and the image of a person who belittles herself as a foolish woman who "doesn't know anything about life" do not mesh at all. She is an enigmatic character.
And, in the end,although she has the desire to accept his proposal, she concludes that she probably cannot accept it as she is now.
This is the conclusion she reaches.

3: What kind of message is actually embedded in it?

If one imagines the thoughts of the people involved in the Momoe Yamaguchi project at the time—the management of the agency and record company, the producers, and the surrounding staff—while they were outwardly offering their blessings, their true feelings were that they did not want to accept the fact. One can imagine that they entrusted their desire—that even if she were to marry, she should at least refrain from retiring—to the song 'Aizenbashi' and presented it to Momoe Yamaguchi.
At best, a love at twenty is a momentary infatuation. Life is very long from here on out. Moreover, she is currently at the pinnacle of her career as a singer and actress. Is it possible that she would step down from the stage here?
In the Heian period, when Kyoto was the capital, there was a custom of entrusting one's feelings to a poem (waka) and conveying them to the other person. Perhaps this was an attempt by the people around Momoe Yamaguchi—the producers and staff—to entrust their feelings to a song (a popular song) and convey them to the other party (Momoe Yamaguchi). Perhaps that is why, in reference to the Heian era, they had the protagonist, who lives in Kyoto and speaks the Kyoto dialect, speak to Momoe Yamaguchi.
There is no other way to interpret the mystery of 'Aizenbashi' (the meaning of having a girl on the verge of marriage sing a song with such lyrics) in a convincing way.
Also, conversely, if a work with such lyrics had been submitted as a candidate for the next single without any intention at all, how would the people involved have taken it? The people involved had already been informed by Momoe Yamaguchi herself that she was getting married. If they were Japanese people with common sense, it would be natural to think that a song with so many lyrics that would be considered taboo at a wedding is "bad luck." It would be natural to think that such a song should not be sung by the person who is about to get married.

That is why it is a mystery.
To quote Mr. Kawase's words once more, that mystery...

"However, Momoe herself was not confused about marriage at that time. This was the part I struggled with when creating the work."

is thought to be connected to that sentiment.

4: Another mystery, 'Shinayaka ni Utatte'

Actually, I have noticed something new after thinking about the mystery of 'Aizenbashi' for a long time.
When looking at it again from the above perspective,'Shinayaka ni Utatte -80-nendai ni Mukatte-'also allows us to glimpse the same feelings of the surrounding people and staff.
The release of that song was before the "lover declaration," but as mentioned above,"The staff, who already knew about their relationship before the lover declaration, created various songs to make a candidate for the A-side of the next single."It is also said, "At this time, Mr. Sakai was the most particular about the single among the staff. As a result of Mr. Sakai's agonizing, he thought with his unique intuition and persistence that the word 'shinayaka' (supple/flexible) was important for Momoe now." (Ibid., 'Playback')

The single 'Shinayaka ni Utatte -80-nendai ni Mukatte-' has traditionally been difficult to read the intended meaning of its lyrics, and it gave the impression of having somewhat anxious and lonely lyrics added to a bouncy, cheerful melody. Perhaps due to this dissonance, it sold 270,000 copies, which was not a great performance for a Momoe Yamaguchi single.
However, if one imagines that this song also follows the same line of thought as the above perspective, a different interpretation becomes possible, and one can have the fresh realization of, 'Ah, so that's what it was.'
The main parts of the lyrics are as follows.

(Omitted)

The night is a revolving door of 33
Even though love is overflowing when you open it
The record just spins, you are no longer here

(Omitted)

The night opens the page of 33
Even though I am reading the book from yesterday's continuation
The story is over, you are no longer here

(Omitted)

In the lyrics of this song, many interpretations focus on the number 33 of the revolving door, which refers to the 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute of an LP record. Of course, that is correct, but"The record just spins, you are no longer here"what does that mean? And,"Even though I am reading the book from yesterday's continuation, the story is over, you are no longer here"what does that mean, and who is 'you'? These are the main mysteries.
Just like with 'Aizenbashi', if one considers that the feelings of the surrounding staff toward Momoe Yamaguchi—who had begun a tour of explanation to gain the understanding of those around her from around the time of the lover declaration toward the marriage and retirement press conference—were woven into the song, the mystery is solved instantly.
In other words, the "record" is a symbol of Momoe Yamaguchi's activities as a singer, and the "story of the book from yesterday's continuation" is a symbol of Momoe Yamaguchi's activities as an actress in dramas and movies, and both can be interpreted as"You are no longer here" (you will retire). (Even if you can listen to the record, you can no longer see her singing. You can no longer see her acting in the continuation of a drama or in her next movie.)

Time flows quietly
The night should always continue into the morning

might be expressing a faint hope for a future that might exist beyond that.

If so, regarding the subtitle"-Toward the 80s-", can we not also read the sentiment of the producers and staff hoping that the days they walked with Momoe Yamaguchi would continue into the 80s just as they had until now?

Conclusion: The surprise and emotion conveyed by the lyrics

Thus, when one thinks about the intentions behind the production of the singles released around the time of Momoe Yamaguchi's lover declaration (of course, each one is a masterpiece or a great work) and the days she spent rushing toward retirement and the conflicts of the staff, one cannot help but feel a tremendous, fresh surprise and emotion.

If you would like, please take a look at this as well.

👉 If there is even one part that makes you think "I see," I would be very happy if you could support me with a ♡ (like).