Tokiko Kato is a veteran Japanese singer-songwriter and a talented student at the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo. In all aspects, her resume is quite brilliant.
This song "Hard to Break a Ship" is a song she released on her album in the 1970s.
For a certain period of time, Kato Tokiko and her husband had emotional differences. Fortunately, the ending was happy and the two of them overcame this difficult period together.
Perhaps it was because of such an experience that she gained inspiration from examining and thinking about relationships, which made Tokiko Kato write such a song full of sad atmosphere.
Of course, unless she makes a self-confession about the creator's mental journey, many things can only be guessed. This is also true of Kato Tokiko's state of mind when she wrote this song.
The opportunity to cover this song was taken by Tokiko Kato and gave the demo of this song to Akina Nakamori.
When any non-songwriter singer decides to release a single, he or she must start preparations at least six months or even a year in advance. Singer who pays attention to the integrity of the album must first determine the theme and style of the next album.
Then make a selection on this basis.
On the one hand, the record company checks its own music library, on the other hand it invites songwriters, and then selects from numerous song demos to decide on the final song to be sung.
This song "Hard to Break", as a song that has been released before, can still defeat many opponents under such strict censorship conditions. There are many great songwriters and songwriters in Nakamori Akina's regular team. And if you want to impress Nakamori Akina, there must be someone else.
Extraordinary charm.
"Kato-san sent me the demo of the song and said, 'You want me to sing this song.' After listening to the demo, I was very moved and decided to choose it as the title track of the next single." Akina Nakamori said.
"Very moved?" Shinichi Iwahashi paid attention to her description.
Nakamori Akina nodded lightly, "Yes. I don't know how to describe it, but the tears stayed..." She blinked her eyes, as if to hide something, and raised her voice, "Iwahashi-san, you have to listen.
Do you want to listen to that demo?”
"Why?"
"Me?" Iwahashi Shinichi was surprised, "Is this appropriate?"
Although he was producing new talent for Warner Pioneer, he was an outsider after all. He was in and out of Akina Nakamori's recording studio, and her manager was there. Shinichi Iwahashi acted cautiously and always avoided giving others a thumbs up.
"It's okay." Akina Nakamori said, "Are you coming?"
Speaking of this, Iwahashi Shinichi no longer hesitated, "Then please let me listen."
Akina Nakamori led him to her exclusive recording studio.
The assistant had already arrived, and the recording equipment had been adjusted by the recording assistant. She prepared tea and waited there. Seeing Shinichi Iwahashi coming with him, she quickly went to prepare tea for the guests.
"This is the sound engineer Nakata-san." Nakamori Akina introduced the short middle-aged man in front of the console to Iwahashi Shinichi, and in turn introduced Iwahashi Shinichi to the other person, "This is Iwahashi-san."
After a brief introduction, Nakamori Akina said to Nakata, "Are you still keeping the song demo sent by Kato-san here?"
Nakata said: "Still here."
"Can you take it out?" she said, "I want this Iwahashi-san to listen to it."
"Of course it's no problem." Nakata glanced at Shinichi Iwahashi, wondering where this person came from. They were both in the recording studio of Warner Pioneer, but the sound engineer and the sound engineer were not the kind of people who just get together and chat.
Most of the relationships are only responsible for their own areas and turn a deaf ear to the outside world, so they don’t know who this person is.
However, the people brought by Akina Nakamori cannot be taken lightly.
Nakata left the console, went to get the demos and playback equipment, and put them on the table. Shinichi Iwahashi asked Akina Nakamori for permission with his eyes, nodded with Nakata, and then put the demos in and put on the headphones.
"It's just a love affair, just forget about it."
"If you want to cry, just cry as much as you want. Maybe you will soon find a love that is different from the one in front of you."
"..."
"I am alone with no one here. I feel like a shipwrecked in love."
The song "Wrecked Ship" recorded as a demo is a version played and sung by Kato Tokiko on guitar.
The demo itself was recorded just to confirm the effect, so it is naturally rough, but even so, the melody and lyrics together still give people a deep sadness.
To be able to write such a piece of music, Kato Tokiko's skill is 100%.
Iwahashi Shinichi's lips pursed into a U-shape, and his expression looked a little serious. He didn't mean to be like this. In fact, there is nothing in this song that can make people happy. Not only that, it is also a top-notch hopeless love song.
Why did Tokiko Kato send such a song, a song she had sung and included in her album, to Akina Nakamori, and told her that she wanted her to sing this song?
After listening to the song, Shinichi Iwahashi took off his headphones. When he looked up, Akina Nakamori, who was sitting opposite, was staring at him intently. I don’t know how long she had been staring at him, but Shinichi Iwahashi felt a little uncomfortable and grinned, "
It’s a good song.”
Akina Nakamori was really amused by his standard fake smile and said, "Iwahashi-san's expression was really serious just now."
"Really?" Shinichi Iwahashi breathed a sigh of relief, as if he got the answer to the question from her words.
She withdrew her gaze that was staring at Shinichi Iwahashi, dropped it to the table, and then moved from the table to the wall behind Shinichi Iwahashi, appearing erratic.
"Why does Kato-san want me to sing this song?" She seemed to be talking to herself or asking Iwahashi Shinichi.
Iwahashi Shinichi replied: "The key of this song is very low, which is very difficult for ordinary female singers, but Nakamori-san's voice is very suitable for singing this song."
"Yeah?"
In terms of music alone, this song does seem to be tailor-made for her voice.
Although it was born more than ten years ago, there is no doubt about the quality of the lyrics and music. This song had no response before and has been quietly lying in Kato Tokiko's album, as if it has been waiting for more than ten years.
The same goes for this singer.
But maybe it's more than that.
Iwahashi Shinichi thought for a while and suddenly sang the first line of the song: "It's just a love affair, just forget about it."
The first lyric of this song may be the true meaning of the song.
Akina Nakamori was a little surprised because he suddenly sang this song.
Iwahashi Shinichi has a first-rate musical sense, and he can never get the tune wrong once he hears it once. Akina Nakamori heard him sing for the first time, and was shocked by his impeccably accurate but not pleasant singing voice.
Immediately, bursts of sadness surged in my heart, and I understood the meaning of the lyrics he sang.
