Spring here in Japan is in full force as my allergies are acting up. I never had terrible attacks before, especially in the United States, but this year has been awful. Maybe because there hasn’t been a lot of rain are hotter than average? I don’t know exactly but I want tree pollen season to be over.
Today’s theme for the Song Lyrics Sunday challenge is “Seasons/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter”, thanks to our hospitable host Jim at A Unique Title For Me.
There are a number of great songs that have seasons in their title, like Expose’s “Seasons Change”, BTS’s “Spring Day”, CoCo’s “Haru Milkyway”, Yumi Matsutoya’s “Haru, Koi yo”, and others. But, today’s song choice is for my readers as many love oldies. Today’s song has that oldie rock vibe.
Minimoni. was a subgroup of Hello! Project, which Morning Musume is apart of, from 2000-2004. Three of Morning Musume’s member joined as first generation members (Nozomi Tsuji, Ai Kago, and Mari Yaguchi), and a member from Hawaii-based sister group Coconuts Musume. (Mika Todd). The only rule was that the members’ heights had to be under 150cm, hence being called Minimoni.
Minimoni. was geared more towards for the kids as they had cartoon shows about them, an animated movie, tie-ins with Hamtaro, and had songs about topics that kids would like. However, in 2003, Mari Yaguchi decided to leave the group and was replaced with Ai Takahashi. The group also decided to shed their “kid-friendly” image for something more adult and urban.
The group disbanded in 2004 when Mika Todd decided to go back the States to study at university while Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago went on to make their own group. Minimoni. was revived with different members from 2009-2011 with the same kid-friendly feel.
“Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Daisukki!” ( 春夏秋冬だいすっき!, I Love Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter) was the second a-side on Minimoni.’s debut single “Minimoni. Jankenpyon!”. As this is a Hello! Project song, the lyrics were composed Tsunku. The song reflects on the group’s energetic kid-friendly nature. It also features a cute little exchange between the members about how to say certain words in English and vice versa. The lyrics just reflects on the small diversity in the group as Mika was from Hawaii.
(Also, Tsunku provided the goofy background vocals in the song. I cry every time I hear his vocals as he lost her vocals cords to cancer treatment about 4 years ago and cannot sing..)
What I love about the song is arrangement as it is reminds me of something from the Beatles. The arranger, Rui Nagai, and Tsunku are big fans of oldie rock bands like The Beatles (Tsunku is a huge fan and made a cover album), Queen, Bay City Rollers, Kiss, Yes, and etc. You can clearly hear the influences of this genre in “Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Daisukki!” , especially during the electronic guitar solo during the interlude.
(A lot of anime and music fans think Rui Nagai rip off Queen’s “Flash Gordon” when he released “Big-O!” for the anime of the same name. You can be the judge of that.)
