New generations may not be familiar with City Pop. However, City Pop was very popular in the 1980s. When you listen to City Pop songs for the first time, you may be struck by the attractive accompaniment of these City Pop songs. This article will select the best 6 City Pop tracks for you. Let’s discover the unique charm of City Pop while listening to these songs!
What Is City Pop?
Strictly speaking, City Pop cannot be considered as a music genre. City Pop originated in Japan, which emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in popularity in the 1980s. In that period, Japan was influenced a lot by Western music culture. Japanese added various music genres such as funk, disco, R&B, AOR, soft rock, and boogie to their music. This gave rise to City Pop.
A few years ago, the “Vaporwave” that was popular on YouTube was a variation of City Pop. The theme of City Pop songs is usually about urban nightlife, love between man and woman, summer beach vacations, sunset scenes, and so on. Therefore, City Pop can give you infinite imagination when you listen to them.
List of Best City Pop Songs on YouTube
Here are some City Pop tracks on YouTube that you can add to your playlist.
1. Plastic Love – Mariya Takeuchi
Plastic Love is one of the typical City Pop songs on YouTube. This song was released in 1984. The accompaniment of Plastic Love is reminiscent of disco with electronic beats. Many instruments were included in the accompaniment such as guitar and occasional orchestra.
The theme of Plastic Love is fake love. Its background is a woman who experienced a breakup and doesn’t believe in love anymore. Listening to this song may recall the days when you endured your emotions and overcame all the negative emotions alone.
2. Telephone Number – Junko Ohashi
Telephone Number is a lively City Pop track that was released in 1981. The number “56709” appears repeatedly in the lyrics. According to the song title “Telephone Number”, we can guess that this string of numbers is a telephone number. But whose telephone number is this?
Actually, the lyrics of “Telephone Number” describe a woman who falls in love with a man but is unsure if he likes her. The woman does not have enough courage to confess her love to the man, so she repeats her telephone number in front of the man over and over again, hoping that he will remember to call her.
3. Midnight Pretenders – Tomoko Aran
Midnight Pretenders was released in 1983. The song has a slow tempo and the bass and flute in the background give a sense of loneliness to people. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who longs for love but cannot get it. She falls in love with a man but the relationship is doomed to be fruitless. Therefore, the woman expresses why it is so difficult to get love in the lyrics.
For other music on YouTube, you can check these:
4. Say Goodbye – Hiroshi Sato
“I can’t say I’m sorry one more time. Let me make my break from this state of mind…”
The song begins with a synthesized human voice that sounds like a robot. This synthesized human voice is also interspersed in the following lyrics. After special processing, the human voice sounds wonderful and hazy. The lyrics are repeated over and over again which makes the song more emotional.
5. Jellyfish – Sunset Rollercoaster/ Micheal Seyer
Jellyfish is a song created by Sunset Rollercoaster and sung by Michael Seyer. It is one of the City Pop songs on YouTube. Sunset Rollercoaster is a 5-piece jazz-influenced synth-pop band from Taipei, Taiwan. Michael Seyer is a singer and music producer.
Jellyfish is a perfect collaboration of Sunset Rollercoaster and Michael Seyer. Michael Seyer’s lazy and psychedelic vocals often give the listener the feeling of being in a certain atmosphere, creating a magical and immersive listening experience.
Jellyfish sounds romantic and retro. With the gentle voice of Michael Seyer, different people will have different feelings when listening to this City Pop song. Some people think Jellyfish sounds very romantic like wandering on the beach at sunset. However, some people think it sounds a little sad, probably because the song has a bit of Blues.
6. 4:00 A.M. – Taeko Onuki
4:00 A.M. is a famous City Pop song released in 1978. The song is accompanied by many instruments such as trumpet, trombone, guitar, and flute. According to the lyrics “Lord give me one more chance” and the title of the song, it can be guessed that the woman in the lyrics may have insomnia at 4:00 a.m. because of her relationship problems.
The woman in the lyrics of 4:00 A.M. was praying to God to give her one more chance to get her lover back. The whole song has an active and happy tune, which contrasts with the emotion expressed in the lyrics. This contrast exacerbates the loneliness of the song.
If you have insomnia, you can try this: Relaxing YouTube Ocean Sounds for Sleep.
Bottom Line
This article recommends 6 classical City Pop songs. Most of them are from the last century. People usually say that fashion is a cycle and so is music. Nowadays, a lot of people start to like retro and last-century songs because these songs can bring them a different feeling. Try to download these songs to listen and experience the romance of the last century!
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Mia loves music and art, and likes to listen to music alone in her spare time. Now, Mia is the English editor of MiniTool. She is good at writing YouTube tips, video conversion, and video recording. She is committed to bringing more multimedia knowledge to readers.