My Showa Kayou 18　Mona Lisa's Smile　1967

Japanese Title "Mona Lisa no Hohoemi"
In Mona Lisa's song,
Love dreams softly unfurl,
Julie’s voice whispers,
Hints of longing swirl.

The Brief Reign of “Waka-Daisho” and the Rise of Group Sounds

The era of Group Sounds emerged like a fleeting moment, even as I was aware of the Beatles’ popularity. For a grade schooler, Western music often lacked the emotional resonance found in Japanese pop songs that were infused with Western influences.

Take “Boku no Marie” and “Monna Lisa no Hohoemi,” for instance. The similarity between the two is striking.

🎵 I met Marie on a lonely, rainy morning,
Holding a French doll, a charming girl all alone. 🎵

When I hear it sung in Julie's sweet voice, the melody lingers in my mind. Now that I reflect on it at this age, I realize there's an unexpected undertone of a lolicon flavor! How inappropriate!

🎵 On a drizzly Sunday, I waited alone,
The Mona Lisa on the wall, forgetting her smile tonight. 🎵

Could this be a continuation? They are indeed remarkably similar. However, the refrain in “Monna Lisa” shifts from minor to major, conveying a powerful sentiment of not giving up, no matter how far apart they may be.

Yet this major chord is fleeting, quickly leading to 🎵 tears on a Sunday 🎵.

By the way, what about the “Mona Lisa on the wall”? I’ve seen the real one at the Louvre, where a crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the small painting. Armed with a paper opera glass, I even lent it to an Italian tourist beside me. Was that the Mona Lisa?

I couldn’t help but ask my husband, “Isn’t the Mona Lisa in this song just a replica? Why would a replica hang on the wall?”

His reply was, “It’s probably a calendar.” Laughter ensues.

A “masterpiece calendar,” indeed! It makes sense. The narrative requires that a guy in the Group Sounds scene be somewhat poor. He must live in a Parisian apartment. But does such a calendar even exist? Oh well.

After these two songs, the compositions by Koichi Sugiyama and Jun Hashimoto were predominantly in minor keys.

The exquisite interplay of 🎵 Oh please 🎵 with electric guitar kicks off “Kimi Dake ni Ai wo,”
While 🎵 Chokoreeto 🎵 tied to a commercial boasted an elegant obbligato in “Rakuyou no Monogatari.”
🎵 Sylvie My Love 🎵 recalls the movie with its lyrics in “Ginga no Romance.”
“Hanano Kubikazari” features a pure choir-like sound sung by Toppo.

All these songs carry a minor tone. Occasionally, there were upbeat major-key songs, but Sugiyama seemed to rigidly adhere to the notion that “minor keys sell.”

I once heard in an interview that he aimed for a choral vibe similar to the Beatles. Perhaps by using harmonies in a similar style, he aimed to ease the burden on the members? Or maybe not.

During the Group Sounds era, hits like “Nagai Kami no Shoujo” by the Golden Cups, “Emerald no Densetsu” by the Temptations, “Yuuhi ga Naiteiru” by the Spiders, “Girlfriend” by the Ox, “Barairo no Kumo” by the Village Singers, “Blue Chateau” by the Blue Comets, and “Aozora no Aru Kagiri” by the Wild Ones followed suit.

The continuation of minor-key songs evokes themes of sad love, separation, and fantasy, which were easy to craft with the simple chord progressions of the time.

Even now, I can sing these tunes fluently, as I remember the lyrics and melodies, despite not being able to sing contemporary Japanese pop from the Heisei era.

With lyrics reminiscent of nursery rhymes set to minor melodies, the harmonies were simple, and the choruses would build up just a little.

Many Group Sounds emerged, but instead of singer-songwriters like the Beatles, we had idols with professional lyricists and composers. Some groups fought valiantly on their own, and this style eventually passed into Japanese folk and rock music.

But it’s important to acknowledge that the Japanese of that era—those who popularized the Showa version of the Beatles—not merely imitated, but instead embraced the idol phenomenon.

Viva! Group Sounds! Cheers to a uniquely Japanese rock idol culture.

I cannot read or write in English.
This text has been translated by ChatGPT.
I haven't edited it, so there may be some strange parts.

【Reference Video】

【Japanese Version of the Article】