Kazuyoshi Saito’s masterpieces and popular songs

Kazuyoshi Saito – Ballad of a Singer – Live ver.Saitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Ballad of a Singer [Live ver.]

Kazuyoshi Saito is a singer-songwriter born in 1966 in Mibu, Shimotsuga District, Tochigi Prefecture.

In 1992, he won an audition program for five consecutive weeks and debuted the following year with “Boku no Mita Beatles wa TV no Naka” (The Beatles I Saw Were on TV).

In 1994, his song “Aruite Kaerou” was featured on the Fuji TV children’s program Ponkikkies.

From 2007 onward, more of his songs were used in TV commercials, rapidly boosting his name recognition and popularity.

“Utautai no Ballad,” his 15th single released in 1997, is a classic that has been covered by many artists.

Sunset of BeginningsSaitō Kazuyoshi

Sunset of Beginnings

Saito Kazuyoshi’s signature style explodes here—an exquisite rock ballad.

There’s no music video; it’s a pharmaceutical company’s commercial, but that actually adds realism and makes it feel like a lovely MV.

The Beatles-esque melody and the strings are incredibly soothing.

It’s a supreme masterpiece that makes you want to watch the sunset and think, “I’ll do my best again tomorrow!”

baby’s breathSaitō Kazuyoshi

baby's breath

It’s a song where Kazuyoshi Saito’s voice and lively guitar sound feel wonderfully pleasant.

The lyrics unfold a somewhat otherworldly, slightly surreal world.

Still, I love this breezy flow and his voice, and I listen to it often.

When I play this song while cleaning, the good tempo really helps me get things done.

I find the idea of “a world without love for a lone person” very intriguing.

Man, that’s normal.Saitō Kazuyoshi

The fierce riffs are incredibly cool, and the instrumentation feels almost like Western rock.

Its intensity rages as if it were the very sound of male desire.

Saito Kazuyoshi has many different colors, but this song overflows with spirit to the point that it seems to showcase his rock side more than any other.

Muddy WaterSaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Muddy Water [Music Video Short ver.]

This is a 2016 single that became the theme song for TV Asahi’s Friday Night Drama “Fukigen na Kajitsu” (Unhappy Fruit).

It was reportedly written specifically for the drama, which portrays mature romance.

With a simple arrangement of guitar and bass and a dry drum sound, it’s a thrilling and stylish number for grown-ups.

Dramatic momentSaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Dramatic Moment [Music Video Short ver.]

Judging from the title, it’s dramatic, and the tone of the song is dramatic and serious as well.

From the lyrics, it seems the “dramatic moment” might be when the singer thinks, “I realized I’m not alone.” But in the latter half, there’s the line, “Don’t let this feeling change; don’t let it change again so soon.” It makes me wonder whether the “moment when this feeling changes again so soon” is, in fact, the dramatic moment.

A red flower in the desertSaitō Kazuyoshi

Red Flowers in the Desert / Kazuyoshi Saito Acoustic Cover

Perhaps because of the gritty, high-tension electric guitar, or maybe the rockabilly vibe, this song somehow evokes Benji.

In Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, he wakes to find himself turned into an insect, but in this song a mysterious world unfolds where “one day I suddenly realize there are two of me.”