＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
There are some songs in the world that are not the singer’s “original song” but a “cover” of a song sung by someone else that unexpectedly become huge hits and are thought of as the singer’s “original signature song.”
１．Ｕ.Ｓ.Ａ.
DA PUMP’s hit song “U.S.A.” was nominated for Best Picture at the 60th Japan Record Awards on November 15, 2018.
On November 7, the 2018 You-Can New Words and Trendy Words Awards were announced, and DA PUMP’s “「ダサかっこいい/Ｕ.Ｓ.Ａ.」：Dorky Cool/U.S.A.” was nominated.
This year was a huge breakthrough for DA PUMP, who was selected to perform at the 69th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen on November 14th, their first appearance in 16 years.
The official music video has been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube, and it seems to have become a “national pop song” that has captivated not only children but also babies, and has spread to all generations. This kind of phenomenon has not been seen for a long time by any other singer, has it?
Last year, Yoko Oginome’s “Dancing Hero” became popular again thanks to the dance by Tomioka High School Dance Club, and her “Bubble Dance” with Nora Hirano became a hit. In this “Nori Nori Kirekkire Dance”, the dance part of the “Good Pose（「『いいねポーズ』」）” is easy for anyone to remember and imitate, and along with ISSA’s singing voice, it must have touched the hearts and bodies of many people. “Simple is best.”
At the Honorary Citizen of Tokyo Award ceremony on November 21st, Mao Asada and Ryoma Takeuchi were shown on television performing the “USA Dance” together with DA PUMP, although only the ““Good Pose（「『いいねポーズ』」）” part was shown.
Many people may not know that this song “U.S.A.” is actually a cover song.
The original song was released in 1992 by a unit called “Joe Yellow” (a musical unit created by Italian artist Domenico Ricchini, born in 1958).
There’s a rumor that’s a little concerning when it comes to “cover songs.” Rumor has it that there is a rule that “cover songs are not eligible for the Record Awards.” However, U.S.A. was “nominated”. According to the rumor, it seems that some people concerned have come out to say that “cover songs can be nominated, but not given the grand prize.
It seems that there are many unclear aspects to the selection of these “awards,” not just the Record Awards, involving money and “bribery” of the selection committee members. I hope that the selection will be fair.
Nevertheless, I am sure that many people will be doing this dance as entertainment at year-end and New Year’s parties and other banquets, as well as at sports festivals.
2. “Nagori Yuki”（snowfall at the end of the winter）
Although the song “Nagori Yuki” is considered to be one of Iruka’s original masterpieces, it was originally composed by Shozo Ise, who wrote the lyrics and music for “Kaguya hime”(a Japanese folk/pop/rock band formed in 1970).
The song was released in 1974 as part of Kaguyahime’s album “Sankaidate no Uta” (Three Storey Poem).The album also reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts.
In 1975, Iruka released a single covering this song, which immediately became a big hit. Since then, it has become one of the most popular songs representing early spring in Japan and is often played on TV and sung at karaoke bars. It has also been covered by various artists.
３．YOUNG MAN（Ｙ.Ｍ.Ｃ.Ａ.）
The song “YOUNG MAN (Y.M.C.A.)” is now one of Hideki Saijo’s most popular songs, but the original disco song was released in 1978 by the Village People, an American disco group.
However, the lyrics of “YOUNG MAN (Y.M.C.A.)” covered by Hideki Saijo in Japan in 1979 are completely unrelated to the original song, and are a “cheer song to cheer up (dispirited) young people.” I often saw the choreography or dance (?) on TV, where the dancer uses his whole body to sing “Y,” “M,” “C,” and “A.”
The original sold 300,000 copies on Oricon, but Hideki Saijo’s cover song sold 800,000 copies on Oricon.
４．”Machibuse”(waylay)
The song “Machibuse” is now considered to be an original song by Hitomi Ishikawa, but it was written and composed by Yumi Arai (now Yumi Matsutoya) and originally provided to singer Seiko Miki.
So in 1981, Hitomi Ishikawa released a cover single of the song, which became her biggest hit. The song is synonymous with Hitomi Ishikawa.
However, she had been struggling for three years since her debut in 1978, and when she was given this cover song, she thought, “If this is the song, I won’t have any regrets even if this is the end of my singing career.” It was exactly four years into her career, when she had been thinking, “I’ll try my best for at least four years,” and it was her tenth single.
For her, the song was a massive hit, like a pinch hitter hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning, and it thrust her back into the spotlight.