Hiroko Taniyama Popular Song Rankings [2026]

COTTON COLORTaniyama Hiroko1rank/position

"COTTON COLOR" (Cotton Color) Hiroko Taniyama with lyrics

Hiroko Taniyama’s “COTTON COLOR,” which became a hot topic online as “scary.” The song was originally written for singer-songwriter Yoko Ueno and was self-covered on the 1991 album “Boku wa, Kimi ga, Suki.” If you just listen normally, most people will think it’s a cute song, even though the lyrics are sung in mysterious words.

However, if you read the English-sounding part of the lyrics backwards, a murderer’s mother appears.

A mother who took the lives of many boys—and even her own child.

The deliberate reversal and obfuscation of the lyrics itself evokes a certain fear.

The horror movie–like development hidden behind the cute melody almost makes you want to scream.

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SAKI

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I can’t go back to the Cat ForestTaniyama Hiroko2rank/position

"I Can't Return to the Cat Forest" by Hiroko Taniyama, with lyrics

This is a song by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama, known for her cheerful singing voice.

It is the title track of her second album, “I Can’t Return to the Cat Forest,” released in 1977.

The lyrics are written from the perspective of a cat reading a letter from its hometown.

It’s a song that many people living alone in the city may find relatable.

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Araki Jakkan

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someone else’s childTaniyama Hiroko3rank/position

someone else's child

A song by Hiroko Taniyama, famous for works like “The Song of the Pitch-Dark Forest.” The beginning can feel somewhat wistful and sad, but the ending is deeply moving.

It’s a recommended song for those who dislike the part of themselves that envies others for having what they themselves cannot obtain.

Even if you find yourself feeling envious, this song may still stir your heart and move you deeply.

Song of the Pitch-Black ForestTaniyama Hiroko4rank/position

[Minna no Uta] The Song of the Pitch-Black Forest [Hiroko Taniyama]

This is a song that was broadcast with animation on NHK’s “Minna no Uta.” Its melody evokes sadness, and the lyrics are mysterious, elusive, and difficult to interpret.

It’s said that many children who were very young at the time of the broadcast found the song frightening.

Suzukake Street, 3-chomeTaniyama Hiroko5rank/position

Hiroko Taniyama “Suzu-kake Street 3-chome”

Hiroko Taniyama, a singer-songwriter known for her fantastical worldbuilding.

“Suzukake-dori 3-chome,” included on her 1977 album I Can’t Return to the Cats’ Forest, appears to have been inspired by Kimiko Aman’s children’s story The Color of the Car Is the Color of the Sky.

It’s a gently seeping song whose melody accompanies a parent’s thoughts of a deceased child, as memories vividly revive in a place of remembrance and are wrapped in a bittersweet ache.

Though never stated outright, the inclusion of wartime radio audio evokes an antiwar message.

Precisely because the scars carved by war can never be erased, the song also prompts us to reflect on the importance of caution.

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KEI

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A Doll’s HouseTaniyama Hiroko6rank/position

Hiroko Taniyama – Dollhouse

Hiroko Taniyama is a singer-songwriter with many hit songs, including Country Girl.

She has a cute voice and a talent for creating songs with a fantastical atmosphere, but her piece Doll’s House is a mysterious song that, for some reason, makes you feel uneasy and even scared as you listen to it.

You broke.Taniyama Hiroko7rank/position

You Broke Down - Hiroko Taniyama

The way it’s sung in a calm, almost monotonous tone over an eerie, addictive rhythm and melody conveys a deep sense of sickness and fear.

It focuses on you—someone who, because you loved too much, ended up hurt, and now even the hatred lurking beneath has begun to spill out—expressing a heavy, profound love.

The Feelings of a TailTaniyama Hiroko8rank/position

Hiroko Taniyama - The Feelings of a Tail

This is a song that was broadcast on Minna no Uta in 1988.

It’s a love song told from the charming perspective of a cat by Hiroko Taniyama—also known for Ohayō Crayon and Makkura Mori no Uta—and the cat character that appears in the music video is overflowing with cuteness.

Song of the TengusaTaniyama Hiroko9rank/position

JR Iwashiro Station — Song of Tengusa

Wakayama’s Minabe Town is a place I visited on a school trip back when I was in high school.

It’s a very peaceful and lovely town.

The nature is abundant, but the fact that there’s hardly anyone around gives it a laid-back feel—and the song about it is so charmingly relaxed that I remember laughing when I first heard it.

It celebrates the good things about the countryside.

Come to the forestTaniyama Hiroko10rank/position

Hiroko Taniyama - Come to the Forest

I live in the forest—“I”—and you, “you,” used to come there every morning.

But from one morning on, “you” stopped coming and started going to see “him” in the city.

This is a song about my feelings, but when it was released, there were a series of abductions of young girls, and because the lyrics evoked that, they were rewritten.