Moon Baby is the closer of the first installment in Shigeru Suzuki's late-'70s Soft Rock Trilogy (henceforth the SSSRT, Shigeru Suzuki Soft Rock Trilogy). After I'd learned to love Band Wagon (Suzuki's 1975 solo debut), having realized I needed to take it song by song, and after loving Lagoon (Suzuki's Hosono-produced second, 1976) right away, I was really curious how things would develop. So I sampled the shortest song on 1977's Caution! — this one — and thought to myself, "Uh......."
I'm allergic to string arrangements, for one thing (though in recent years the allergy seems to be growing milder). For another, where were Shigeru's wonderful vocal melodies? And his trademark guitar?
What in the world was this soft-rock pap?
But then I got a high fever and decided, in the midst of my feverish confusions, that it'd be a good idea to put this song on repeat for a couple of hours.
And yes it was. Two hours of unrelenting exposure to the syrupy strings unlocked the gates of the SSSRT unto this stalwart seeker. Because, look, the thing is, some people thrive in soft rock. Eric Clapton, for instance. Christine McVie. And so why not also Shigeru Suzuki, founding member of the coolest folk-rock band to have graced the planet... these things don't compute, you see. Sometimes it just works out that way.
Plus, it helps to have Takashi Matsumoto on your side. This song isn't even a shining example of Takashi's artistry. It's just a simple, fanciful love song. But set to Shigeru's sappy tune, with those "watching the sunset from your yacht" horns and strings doing their mid-'70s thing, the lyrics feel almost transcendent. "Almost" because the narrator wants his moon-like lover to come meet him on the soil of earth, rather than dreaming of (or, like in Haruomi Hosono's Exotica Lullaby, figuring out how to) leave earth and float up to meet her. Actually, he does dream of that too, but he doesn't want to stay up there. He wants them both to wind up with their feet on the ground.
:::
With one stroke, the moon's paintbrush
wets your eyes.
Your hair gleams
like it's sowing stardust.
The color of your skin in the night wind
is too dazzling to look at.
Take off your gown of darkness, now,
and come
to my outstretched hands.
I want to lie down in the spaces
between the waves of time!
I want to ride the little boat
of your sighs...
It seems that I've been alive this long
just so that I could get to know you.
But then I got a high fever and decided, in the midst of my feverish confusions, that it'd be a good idea to put this song on repeat for a couple of hours.
And yes it was. Two hours of unrelenting exposure to the syrupy strings unlocked the gates of the SSSRT unto this stalwart seeker. Because, look, the thing is, some people thrive in soft rock. Eric Clapton, for instance. Christine McVie. And so why not also Shigeru Suzuki, founding member of the coolest folk-rock band to have graced the planet... these things don't compute, you see. Sometimes it just works out that way.
Plus, it helps to have Takashi Matsumoto on your side. This song isn't even a shining example of Takashi's artistry. It's just a simple, fanciful love song. But set to Shigeru's sappy tune, with those "watching the sunset from your yacht" horns and strings doing their mid-'70s thing, the lyrics feel almost transcendent. "Almost" because the narrator wants his moon-like lover to come meet him on the soil of earth, rather than dreaming of (or, like in Haruomi Hosono's Exotica Lullaby, figuring out how to) leave earth and float up to meet her. Actually, he does dream of that too, but he doesn't want to stay up there. He wants them both to wind up with their feet on the ground.
:::
With one stroke, the moon's paintbrush
wets your eyes.
Your hair gleams
like it's sowing stardust.
The color of your skin in the night wind
is too dazzling to look at.
Take off your gown of darkness, now,
and come
to my outstretched hands.
I want to lie down in the spaces
between the waves of time!
I want to ride the little boat
of your sighs...
It seems that I've been alive this long
just so that I could get to know you.
Tie your hair up at the nape of your neck
and come
to my outstretched hands.
and come
to my outstretched hands.
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