[Rhythmic & melodious]
No.219 "Niji ga kirai" by Eri Hiramatsu
Hi. The song we would like to introduce to you today is, "Niji ga kirai" (I cannot love rainbows anymore) by "Eri Hiramatsu".
A rhythmic & melodious pop song, "Niji ga kirai" was written, and performed by a popular singer-songwriter, "Eri Hiramatsu" in 1991.
"Eri Hiramatsu" has composed a few of nice pop songs which might also attract light & mellow fans. So, we suppose this song would be a good sample to grasp the feature of her light & mellow line.
Her good natural singing is charming, and actually quite relaxing too.
If you like, please listen to.
Links to the music shops, offering song samples, are located on the bottom of this page.
Some contents have been put away in tabs with "▶" mark in each section, so please click it to see.
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Cover art today
Song data
| Title | Niji ga kirai(I cannot love rainbows anymore) |
|---|---|
| Artist | Eri Hiramatsu |
| Album Title | redeem |
| Catalog Number | PCCA-00318 |
| Track No. | 6 |
| Duration | 4:03 |
| Released | 1991 |
| Publisher | Pony Canyon |
| Lyricist | Eri Hiramatsu |
| Composer | Eri Hiramatsu |
| Arranger | Nobuyuki Shimizu |
About the creators
Eri Hiramatsu Lyricist & composer
The lyricist & composer of this song is "Eri Hiramatsu". Actually, she has written the most of her songs by herself.
She is also the singer of this song. So, We would like to come back to her in "About the artist" section later.
Nobuyuki Shimizu Arranger
"Nobuyuki Shimizu" is a keyboardist, guitarist, composer, and one of the leading arrangers in the Japanese popular music sector.
And he is the ex-husband of "Eri Hiramatsu".
We have once introduced him just a little in some articles in the past.
So, if you would like to see some more information about him, and don't mind to see the part of our past article, please check the link below, and have a look at the article in the destination.
References
Just for your convenience, here are links for basic references on "Nobuyuki Shimizu".
For more details on "Nobuyuki Shimizu", please have a look at the article linked above.
Song image & Lyrics
Open
Link to the lyrics
Some notes on the lyrics link
Sound impression
Rhythmic & melodious
This song seems to be a light, rhythmic, and melodious pop song in moderated 8-beat.
Pleasant
The Conga drum, drums, bass, güiro, castanet, shaker brass (synth), keyboard, and Glockenspiel (or Celesta?) begin to play a rhythmic and breezy introduction, and the main melody starts.
In the main part, the acoustic guitar, cowbell, and sax (synth) also join and add accents to the sound.
The main vocal and backing chorus performed by "Eri Hiramatsu" is sweet and pleasant.
Electronic & acoustic
We were first intrigued by the very accurate rhythm and acoustic atmosphere of this song.
According to the album credit, the backing music of this song seems to be a one-man orchestra done by the arranger "Nobuyuki Shimizu".
"Nobuyuki Shimizu" is known as a talented arranger. But he is also an excellent keyboardist, and plays various instruments like the drums, bass, guitar, and percussions as well. And he is an expert of music programming too.
"Shimizu" is good at using programming for music creation. So, we imagine he applied it for some part of this song. But on the other hand, quite a few of instruments, like the keyboards, percussions, or guitar, he played them manually by himself.
Just a guess though...
That might be why this song has a unique electronic, but acoustic sound.
Reference
About Google translate
About the artist
Eri HiramatsuSlow room
"Eri Hiramatsu" is a singer-songwriter, composer, lyricist, and radio personality active since 1987.
"Hiramatsu" is known as a song creator good at singing delicate feeling of young women.
As a female singer-songwriter, "Hiramatsu" belongs to the same generation with the artists like, "Shōko Inoue", "Yūko Yamaguchi", "Midori Karashima", or "Yumi Tanimura"
Eri Hiramatsu debuted in 1989 with a single, "Seishun-no album" (A photo album of my youth). Since then, 28 singles, and 13 original, 1 live(DVD), and 8 best albums have been released until now.
(Ref: ja-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog, Eri Hiramatsu)
Early times
According to the references, (listed in the bottom of this section), "Eri Hiramatsu" first took an interest in music when she was three years old, after seeing an older girl in the neighbourhood was playing the electronic organ.
Because of her elder brother who was an ardent fan of "The Carpenters", "Hiramatsu" often duetted the songs of "The Carpenters" with her brother when she was a school child.
In the session, "Hiramatsu" sang, and played the piano, and her brother played the guitar.
"Hiramatsu" developed a love for singing. (and The Carpenters...)
In middle school (Girls' School), she joined the school choir as a club activity.
And around that time, she began to write original songs by herself.
As an amateur
In high school (Girls' School again), she joined a light music circle as an after-school club.
Soon, perhaps in around 1980, "Hiramatsu" teamed up an amateur band with four other members.
An all girl amateur pop group "Wipe out", which "Hiramatsu" and her peers formed, seemed to be a far better band than average groups.
Already in 1981, they released their single record as a prize for an amateur band contest, hosted by a radio music program.
(They say the single record of the amateur band "Wipe out", titled "Revage-no hibiki" (The echo of Revage) & 500 disks pressed, became sold out! Amazing.)
And surprisingly, "Wipe out" also competed at a high level amateur music contest "Yamaha Light Music Contest" in 1983, and became one of the 14 finalists.
"Yamaha Light Music Contest" was an amateur music contest, which the later top groups like, "Checkers", "Show-Ya", "Kangaroo" or "Super slump" (a precursor band to Bakufū-slump) sprung up.
So, it is telling that "Wipe out" was one of the considerable high level amateur groups at that time.
After went up to college, "Hiramatsu" formed a new Pop group "Eri & Wanderlast" in 1982 with three other members, namely "Masayoshi Furukawa", "Toshiyuki Mori", and "Masato Yamashita" who all became professional musicians later.
"Hiramatsu" performed mainly in Kansai area as a vocalist of a semi-professional group.
But in 1986, "Hiramatsu" decided to move to Tokyo to seek for the chance of debuting, after promised with the members a future reunion in Tokyo.
Pre-debut
After settled in Tokyo, "Hiramatsu" started an active self promotion by producing dozens of demo tape, while working as a part-timer.
As a part of her promotion activity, she auditioned to be a member of a special promotion band for a rock singer "Kazuhito Murata", and passed by chance.
Just for your information, "Kazuhito Murata" was very popular with his Pop-rock songs with apparent summer & coast image at that time.
And, this gave her an opportunity to release a first album as a professional musician.
"Kazuhito Murata"'s campaign band, later named "Honey & B-boys" (or Bee-boys) had four members, namely "Kazuhito Murata", "Eri Hiramatsu", "Keisuke Yamamoto" (ex:Piper) and "Tsukasa Nishi".
"Honey & B-boys" released their only album "BACK TO FRISCO" in March 1987.
The album was once in a discontinued status, but it has been reissued in 2019, because of its quality and historic value particularly for Pops fans.
The album is available at the moment in CD format.
Solo Debut
Back on topic, but "Hiramatsu" was continuing her effort to make a debut, through presenting her original songs to the staff at the recording labels.
In 1988, a major label "Pony Canyon" recognized her potential, and offered "Hiramatsu" a debuting.
And finally in Feb. 1989, "Eri Hiramatsu" made her solo debut by releasing her first single "Seishun-no album" (A photo album of my youth), and the first album "Treasure" on the same day. (21.02.1989)
Sleeper hit
"Hiramatsu" constantly released new singles since debut, and gained popularity step by step.
In 1990, "Hiramatsu" and creative staff had a a small argument about the selection of songs for "Hiramatsu"'s 3rd album "My Dear" which was set to be released in December 1990.
To be more specific, there was a difference in opinion between "Hiramatsu" and creative staff on one of her song "Heya-to Y-shirt-to watashi" (Room, dress shirt, and me) whether it should have been included in new album or not.
"Hiramatsu" wrote this song for newly engaged her friend. She liked this song, and was confident of its finish. So, she had no doubt that the song will be included in new album.
On the other hand, the opinion of the staff was negative, since "Heya-to..." was a folky slow ballad, then it is a little old-fashioned and a backward step for "Hiramatsu".
However, "Hiramatsu" insisted the inclusion of this song. (We imagine that to insist on something to the production staff, was a big challenge for a novice singer like her.)
And her wish was accepted by the label.
There weren't any rapid development on this song. But in 1992, after a year from release, "Hiramatsu" and the staff were surprised at the news, that "Heya-to Y-shirt-to watashi" had been getting increasingly popular through word of mouth.
The label hastily released a single CD of this song. It continued to be sold well for more than a year, and achieved sales of near a million disks.
Thanks to this success, "Heya-to..." has been a signature hit for "Hiramatsu".
Singing the hearts of women
Thanks to the big hit of "Heya-to Y-shirt-to watashi", and continuous release of good songs by herself, "Hiramatsu" became, and had been one of the popular singer-songwriter before she was aware.
They say the songs of "Hiramatsu" phrase the hearts of women very well. (For our writer Satsuma, it maybe beyond his ability to understand her lyrics correctly, since they are so delicate...)
That might be the reason why she has been supported by a lot of women fans.
In the beginning of 1995, a major earthquake hit Keihanshin area in western Japan, and devastated the cities including "Hiramatsu"'s hometown "Kobe".
"Hiramatsu" soon wrote a cheering song for "Kobe", and began to sing to heal, inspire, and energize the affected people.
She continued this activity in the form of charity concert until quite recent.
And in 2020, the city of Kobe sent "Hiramatsu" a certificate of gratitude for her long time contribution.
Recent
"Hiramatsu" is still actively holding quite a few of live concerts in all over Japan, while having busy days as a radio personality in some radio stations.
Interestingly or deservingly, as a radio personality, "Hiramatsu" has been a main contributor to NHK Radio 1's special program "Discover Carpenters" since the April 2022.
"Discover Carpenters" is a 1 year long special program. planned to introduce the detailed stories of the Carpenters by inviting various experts know a lot about the duo.
"Hiramatsu" is also a genuine fan of the Carpenters, and participated in a tribute album of the Carpenters (Yesterday once more - Tribute to the Carpenters) once, in 2009.
That might be why she has been chosen as MC.
"Discover Carpenters" has been aired weekly on Sunday afternoon (15:05 JST) on NHK Radio 1. (Perhaps not on the international radio.)
You can also listen to it through NHK's internet radio "Rajiru★Rajiru". (You might need to find a smart proxy server if you are accessing from outside Japan though...)
If you like, please try.
References
For more details about "Eri Hiramatsu", please have a look at the references linked below.
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(Ref: ameblo.jp/slow-room-hiramatsu,
profile)🇯🇵
Video clip
Lastly, we would like to introduce some music clips of "Eri Hiramatsu".
Thanks to the generosity of "Ponycanyon", (the label released today's song initially in 1991, and the present copyright holder of today's song), an original promotion video of "Niji ga kirai" has been uploaded on Youtube.
You can listen full chorus of this song, and see the lovely face of "Hiramatsu" in the early '90s.
If you like, please have a look.
As No.2, an extra video for today, we also would like to refer to the music clip of her signature hit sing, "Heya-to Y-shirt-to watashi" (Room, dress shirt, and me), which was also provide by Ponycanyon.
This song does not really fall into Light & mellow category, but certainly is one of the best ballad song of her, and gradually becoming a classic.
If you like, please listen.
(The video is showing a typical life style of a young family in the '60s and '70s, the good old days which "Hiramatsu" (and our writer as well!) was grown up.)
You can check the showcase of other music videos of her on her Youtube Channel, "Eri Hiramatsu Channel *SLOWROOM*".
If you like, please have a look.
Music Samples
6
(試聴する)
AD: Listening samples (Free)
Amazon JP(en)
recochoku.jp
music.apple.com (Track No.6)
Japanese Letters
| Song Title | 虹がきらい(Niji ga kirai) |
|---|---|
| Artist | 平松愛理(Eri Hiramatsu) |
| Album Title | redeem |
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