#252 Marunouchi Sadistic

(#251) Ikebukuro no Yoru / Mina Aoe Connecting via "Tokyo place names" in the title→ (#252) Marunouchi Sadistic / Ringo Sheena

■ Preface――What is the "Melody Line" (project)?――――――

Well, to put it simply,
it is a project to introduce songs that you personally love and support.
(That explanation is a bit too simple(・_・)💦)

And, since just introducing them is a bit uninspired (lol), I thought, why not try to connect them to a song that one of the members has already written about using some kind of hook like "○○ connection" (￣∀￣)🎵

The image is,
at a karaoke session with several people,
when someone sings Ryokuoushoku Shakai's "Hana ni Natte-Be a flower",

then I'll sing "Mela!" by the same Ryokuoushoku Shakai (≧▽≦)
(👆connection by same artist)

Then, next I'll sing VANILLA's "Mera☆Mera"^m^ ←You're quite the connoisseur
(👆connection by "Mela" in the song title)

Whoa, then I'll go next with KinKi Kids' "Gira☆Gira"――
(👆connection by "repetitive onomatopoeia" in the song title)

――It's that kind of image, where we just do that spontaneous karaoke vibe in a note article (*´꒳`*)

For more details, click here👇👇👇

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The song connecting to this one is from hinawahina's article

"Ikebukuro no Yoru / Mina Aoe"

.

It's a wonderful song featuring Mina Aoe's unique, husky, and lustrous voice (⌒⌒)🎵

〽The night in... Ikebukuro...♪

The way she delivers that final phrase of the chorus with such grit is personally a bit of a favorite point for me (￣∀￣)

And above all, what's worth noting is the song introduction in the intro👆

Yeah, back in those days, music programs always had a song introduction before the performance, didn't they? (*´▽｀*)
……It makes me feel nostalgic (⌒⌒)🎵
(Come to think of it, is Analog Taro still active?)

It's almost the exact opposite vector to the "impatient" (lol) songwriting of today, where they say you "have to grab the listener in the first 3 seconds"^m^

Personally, I don't think it's a question of which is good or bad; I think both are fine, but I believe the role the intro plays is one of the important elements that can become the face of the song.

By the way, the person in charge of the song introduction in this track's intro is the heavyweight Takayuki Akutagawa, famous for his masterful narration (o^-')b♪

I can't help but be reminded of Daiei dramas, starting with 'School Wars' ^m^

For that reason,
here is the bridge song I've prepared for this time—

'Marunouchi Sadistic / Ringo Sheena'

The connection is, 'Place names in Tokyo in the title'

(3 minutes 55 seconds)

Continuing the 'Tokyo Metropolitan Tour' (≧▽≦)🎵

#247 Roppongi Rain / Naomi Chiaki
#248 Aoyama Rainy Night / SLAPSTICK with Fuyumi Shiraishi
#249 Daikanyama Refrain / Yuzu
#250 Kabukicho no Ousama / Tokyo Pudding
#251 Ikebukuro no Yoru / Mina Aoe

And for this time,
#252 Marunouchi Sadistic / Ringo Sheena

With that, we've reached a 6-song combo (⌒～⌒)♪

So, 'Marunouchi Sadistic'.
It is a track from the 1st album 'Muzai Moratorium' by the genius singer-songwriter Ringo Sheena.

Despite being an album track that wasn't released as a single, it's one of her most popular signature songs among all of Ringo-jo's tracks (*´▽｀*)

Given that station names from the Eidan Subway (now Tokyo Metro) Marunouchi Line appear here and there in the lyrics, this might be a fitting bridge song for this 'Place names in Tokyo in the title' connection—also known as the 'Tokyo Metropolitan Tour' ^m^

Also, listening to the intensity in the chorus of the previous song, 'Ikebukuro no Yoru', I couldn't help but think of Ringo-jo's unique rolled 'r' sounds—
that was actually one of the reasons I selected this song.

Her 'rolled r' sounds are, as expected, even more pronounced in the live versions where she puts more emotion into it—

I'll include a live version by Tokyo Jihen, the band she fronts, as a bonus (￣∀￣)

(4 minutes 02 seconds)

Wow, she's really rolling them (lol).
She's rolling them about 30% more than usual (≧▽≦)🎵

Her rolled 'r' is famous from the chorus of her hit song 'Honnou', but it's also nice to hear her casually 'roll' them in a slightly more laid-back song like this, as it adds that unique Ringo-jo allure (*´▽｀*)

Now, as an apology for choosing Tokyo Pudding of all things (lol) instead of 'that song' by Ringo-jo while featuring 'Kabukicho' in this 'Place names in Tokyo in the title' connection last time (￣∀￣),
I'll add one more song, a different version, as a bonus.

(3 minutes 00 seconds)

This is a bonus track included on Sheena Ringo's 4th album, "Sanmon Gossip", titled "
Marunouchi Sadistic (EXPO Ver.)".

The R&B-style arrangement is cool, and it is also notable that most of the lyrics are in English. "Marunouchi Sadistic" was actually originally written when Ringo-jo was on a homestay in the UK (before her debut), and naturally, the lyrics were entirely in English. In fact, the first version included on "Muzai Moratorium" was one where those temporary English lyrics were changed into Japanese—

When you think about it that way, perhaps this EXPO Ver. could be called the original (￣∀￣)🎵

Well then, the main "Melody Line" series is currently conducting a "Tokyo Metropolitan Tour" featuring "Tokyo place names in the title," but who knows how long this tour will continue (￣∀￣)

—This has been Matsudaira, who is having a hard time after getting high on the scent of Marshall, reporting.