After Fantom

I dedicate this song to all the frustrated, the losers, the prayer and despairing person.

Again, all production was done by one person. All instruments were recorded in my room, and vocals were recorded in a room of a small town factory in Nagata, Kobe, in a friend's parents' house, which is almost empty.

The melody had been in my head for 20 years, but the lyrics did not come to mind, and I left it without any memo-like recordings. I was short of music for the album production, so I wrote the lyrics at random and finished it right away as a desperate measure. After all the recording was done and mixing was left, I collapsed from an acute heart ailment, underwent emergency surgery, and somehow survived.
I lost half of my heart.

"So let's not blame and lament.
For sometimes people are strong and fragile creatures."

When I was quietly listening to the music in my hospital bed under the setting sun for sound check, I vividly remember that I was very troubled because I could not stop the tears from flowing on their own.
The lyrics were so close to my own situation that it sounded as if I was singing to myself.

The guitar is a 1968 Telecaster owned by Takuro Yoshida, who came to my place by chance. This guitar can be seen on the jacket and booklet of his album "Live '73". The body of the guitar shows signs of having been modified by Takuro Yoshida himself.

I hope you enjoy the beautiful sound of the vintage guitar, which, like me, was brought back from the brink of death, and the lilting gospel-style melodies.