Some songs feel like sunshine. "Kimi wa Tennenshoku" (君は天然色), which means something like "You Are in Natural Color," is one of them.
The song
Eiichi Ohtaki released this song on March 21, 1981, together with his album "A Long Vacation." The lyrics were written by Takashi Matsumoto, and the music was composed by Ohtaki himself. The album sold over a million copies, and its bright cover art by Hiroshi Nagai is still loved today.
Behind the bright sound, there is a gentle story. Matsumoto has said that he wrote these words after a time of deep sadness, when the world looked colorless to him. The song asks for color to come back. Knowing this, I hear it a little differently now.
What I remember
What I remember most is the very beginning. The song opens with a word about lips, and that first line always caught my ear. The sound felt so urban and modern to me. In casual Japanese, we might say it is "osshare," which means stylish and cool.
Recently, I read the lyrics again carefully, and I laughed. Back then, I was humming along without really knowing the words at all. I simply loved the feeling of the song.
There is one word in the song I did not understand for many years: "dinghy," a small sailboat. To me, it just sounded like summer.
Listen
You can also watch the official music video on YouTube:
Eiichi Ohtaki on CD
“A Long Vacation”, the album with this song, is available from CDJapan, which ships worldwide (affiliate link):
Is there a song that brings color back to your day? I would love to hear about it.
Thank you for listening with me. I hope this song stays in your heart, too.
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