The second self-titled Happy End album's other Eiichi Ohtaki song is a burst of joy and energy in direct contrast with How Nice the Weather Is, which follows it. Musically, Country Road is mid-'60s rock and roll speared through with the brightness of 1972 Japan: in the hands of all those tremendous Japanese artists, western music influences came out transformed, usually for the better.
There's a wonderful Shigeru Suzuki solo in the middle, and another at the end. Each is answered by a weird Ohtaki riff. I love the piano. But as in the next song, it's Ohtaki's singing that elevates this from "pleasant filler" to "wait, what! this is great!"
My favorite lyrical detail is the last line in the last verse: a sign of how fierce the country sunshine is. When the narrator lies down in the field and looks upward to where his lover is standing, he can see the sunlight through the skin of her earlobes.
:::
The heavens are the color of marmalade.
I'm laughing, out of breath,
throwing my straw hat to the wind.
I want to run down it!
This country road!
You are so cute and oh so moody.
Come have a swim inside the light!
Frown if you will, but laugh as well.
I want to run down it!
This country road!
The sunflowers burn brightly
in gardens spread under thatched roofs.
The proprietress greets us, smiling.
I want to run down it!
This country road!
The sun descends on us like rain.
I lie down in a rapeseed field
and now your earlobes look transparent.
I want to run down it!
This country road!
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