We Three Dissident Musicians" - 1971: The Era of Song, Drunkenness, and Satire

We Three Dissident Musicians" - 1971: The Era of Song, Drunkenness, and Satire

In the early 1970s, Japan was in the midst of its rapid economic growth, but the political season was over, and the youth of the country were filled with a sense of emptiness and frustration. In these times, song once again had power. In these times, song once again had power. But not in the fist-pumping protest songs of the past, but in a more intoxicated, more lived-in form.

The three artists who appear on the stage are Wataru Takada, Kenichi Nagira, and Kiyoji Hasegawa. All of them are singers who are at the forefront of the folk scene. Wataru Takada says, "Lyrics are a spell. They do not speak of meaning, but live by repetition. Politics and society appear in his songs, but they are not words of accusation, but mumbled resistance. Wooden apartments, bars, a bit of despair and resignation were the landscape of his songs.

Kiyoshi Hasegawa speaks of improvisation and the resonance of space, with an acute sense of hearing and sensitivity due to his lack of sight. He said that every moment on stage is life. In his narration, one can sense a hint of "freedom made possible by invisibility. As a blind singer, his sensitivity in transforming urban noises into music was unique among folk songs of the time.

Kenichi Nagira, on the other hand, is a brilliant artist who combines art and downtown humor. He laughs as he recounts his memories of trouble in local business, fights with drunken customers, and nights spent singing while getting tangled up with drunks. His tone of voice, "This is culture, too," has the tact to reveal the essence of folk music while intentionally blurring the boundary between the vulgar and the artistic.

What they had in common was the aesthetic of "taking no position. Even if they were anti-establishment, they were not part of any organization or ideology. They only engage with society by singing, and they only speak of themselves by speaking. That is why their songs and narratives became mirrors reflecting the depths of the times. They suppressed their anger, swallowed their sorrow, and feigned laughter, but they always "still had to sing.

This narrative slowly makes visible the accumulation of emotions such as "popularization of culture," "retreat from politics," and "loneliness of city dwellers" that existed during the transitional period of the 70's. And it also makes visible the songs, drinks, and streets. The words of the three artists quietly but surely convey that singing, drinking, and drifting through the streets were a way of "survival. Anti-establishment has its true outline not in anger but in gentle resignation. Their words are still close to the hearts of those of us living in the midst of chaos.