Kazuyoshi Saito’s masterpieces and popular songs

Midnight PoolSaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Midnight Pool [Music Video Short ver.]

This song evokes an incredibly nostalgic feeling.

The recorder-like tone and phrases in the intro, the vocal melody, and the lyrics—all of it.

It’s not normal for an elementary schooler to find themselves in a “pool at midnight” situation, but somehow you can imagine it.

And then you hear that the person of the opposite sex with whom you shared that unusual moment is getting married soon.

That would be a deeply nostalgic and sentimental thing.

I’ve always liked you.Saitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – I’ve Always Loved You [Music Video]

A lively rock ’n’ roll rhythm makes this an irresistibly pleasant number.

It’s also known as the song used in Shiseido’s “IN&ON” commercial.

The school’s Madonna from when you were sixteen—surely every man keeps that memory locked away like a treasure in his heart.

This is a song that makes you feel as if you’re peeking into that treasure chest for the first time in a long while.

Hey, heartless one.Saitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Hey, Heartless [Music Video Short ver.]

“Ah, Mujō” is the Japanese title for Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables.

This song—clearly an homage—evokes the lyrical world of a doppelgänger, that other self who occasionally appears in Kazuyoshi Saito’s music.

Setchan’s world feels like a parallel universe that shuttles between “myself,” “my other self,” and “you,” the one I love.

Move forward, you slacker.Saitō Kazuyoshi

Move forward, you slacker.

From the expansive slide guitar in the intro to the unexpected melody of the first verse, I’m immediately drawn in.

Maybe it’s because Tamio Okuda is also a Beatles follower, but I sense something that connects it to Unicorn’s “Subarashii Hibi.” The laid-back, nonchalant lyrics like “Let’s call it good around here” and “Let’s fudge it” also make me think of Okuda.

A Soft DaySaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Gentle Day [2008 ver].

It begins gently with layered choruses going “pa-pa-pa-pa,” and though the acoustic guitar’s soft strumming keeps the sound unfolding softly, the lyrics are anything but soft.

Kazuyoshi Saito often takes everyday conversation and day-to-day happenings and suddenly steers them toward a big theme; this song follows that progression too, with its big theme being “an incredible love.”

SignalSaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Signal (Full Length Ver.) [Music Video]

Although it sings of lingering attachment to a finished romance and a farewell, the piece somehow feels refreshingly light.

“Signal” is a track from the 21st album, “55 STONES,” released in 2021.

The easy-on-the-ears band sound meshes beautifully with the lyrical world.

You can feel the sadness and loneliness, yet by the end it leaves you with a dry, clear aftertaste.

This holds true for many of Saito’s other songs as well, but since there are almost no parts that require belting, it’s very easy to sing.

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The Ballad I Want to SingSaitō Kazuyoshi

Kazuyoshi Saito – Ballad of a Singer (2008 Ver.) [Music Video Short ver.]

Kazuyoshi Saito has a wide repertoire of songs, and among them this is my top recommended love song.

He’s popular across generations, and I think many university students know him as well.

There’s a theory that he wrote the lyrics for his wife; overflowing with love, this is a song I’d love to hear a man sing.