June Moon Song -Murakami radio-

　　　　For a while after the Beatles broke up and the members began their solo careers, Paul McCartney was on a roll. He released album after album, many of which topped the charts. In comparison, John Lennon's activities were rather subdued. At the very least, he was not a great commercial success. This is just a feature of his character. Paul's songs have an easygoing cheerfulness that anyone can understand, while John's music always has a kind of carefree quality. But for John, it's still not funny. Around that time, when John was complaining about Paul's songs on the radio, his wife Yoko said, "Don't worry about it, John, it's just a June Moon Song. It's just a June Moon song". I wasn't listening to the conversation next to him, so I can't confirm the authenticity of the story, but that's what I've read. A 'June Moon Song' is, in essence, a song made up in a carefree, ho-hum way, easily rhymed with the words 'June' and 'moon'. I think Yoko was trying to say that it's no good to be accepted by the world with such conventional music. Personally, I like Paul's easygoing style of music, but even so, there was something peculiarly tense about his music during the Beatles' era. I think that by teaming up with John, they stimulated and checked each other, and such tension was born. But Paul's music in later years had a little less of that kind of depth. John's music may also have lost some of the 'freshness of letting go' that it once had. Of course, there is a certain openness and maturity that has replaced them, but the Beatles were such a miraculous unit. It's too late for me to say that now.
June reminds me of the song 'How About You' by Burton Lane. I love June in New York. How about you? I also love the Gershwin tune. How about you?" Here, 'June' and 'tune' rhyme. This is also, well, quite casual. Or Yoko might scold me. But it's a very stylish, charming song. Whenever June arrives, I always want to hear Frank Sinatra sing this song in a light-hearted way.

When I first started living in the USA, I used to unconsciously hum an old Sam Cooke song while changing clothes in the changing room of the university gym, as no one was around. I sang 'Don't know much about history', and someone in the locker about three rows over sang the rest of the song, 'Don't know much about biology', with excellent timing. That's when I realised once again, "Oh, yeah, I've been to America". It's another pretty easy rhyme, but it's a lovely song. The title is 'Wonderful World'. Listening to it and singing it makes me want to fall in love all over again.

Murakami this week.

I once wrote a lyric that rhymed with 'hammer' and 'menma'. I wonder if this is handy too?