<figure id="attachment_212624" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 1676px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-212624"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b1ff12d5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/11/10000000000000080428_20211101101741060121_P120306645413.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-212624" class="wp-caption-text">Princess Princess talking about her aspirations for her nationwide concert tour in 1990 (Sankei Visual)</figcaption></figure>
This is a series of articles introducing hit songs from just 30 years ago. This time, I&#8217;ll be focusing on Princess Princess&#8217;s &#8220;Seven Years After&#8221;. I consider this song to be one of their best.
It was two years earlier, in 1989, when they took the world by storm. Diamonds&#8221; sold 1,097,000 copies and &#8220;Sekai de ichiban ichiban hotai natsu&#8221; sold 865,000 copies, achieving explosive sales (sales figures are from the &#8220;1968-1997 Oricon Chart Book&#8221;. The Heisei era began with Pri Pri. The Heisei era started with Pri Pri.
The following year, &#8220;OH YEAH!&#8221; sold 575,000 copies, followed by &#8220;Julian&#8221; with 588,000 copies, and then &#8220;KISS&#8221; in 1991 with 401,000 copies. And after &#8220;KISS&#8221; came &#8220;SEVEN YEARS AFTER,&#8221; which sold 281,000 copies. So, for many people, this song may be relegated to a corner of their memory.
Still, a good one is a good one.
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The first thing that makes this song a classic is the sound. It is dramatic, gorgeous, and destructive at 4 minutes and 43 seconds.
At first glance, it sounds like hard rock, but if you listen carefully, you will find that the melody with chemical symbol-like chords such as &#8220;maj7&#8221;, &#8220;dim&#8221;, and &#8220;m7-5&#8221; is really skillful, and you can feel the musical ability of the composer, Mika Okui (now Mika Kishitani).
However, the core of this song&#8217;s value lies in the words. The lyrics were written by Kyoko Tomita, the drummer of Pri Pri Pri (who also wrote the lyrics for the masterpiece &#8220;M&#8221;). Her lyrics and the title make this song a masterpiece.
SEVEN YEARS AFTER&#8221;.
The setting of &#8220;Seven Years After&#8221; is exquisite: seven years before 1991, which means 1984. As I will explain later, the song is about a girl who tries to live her life without her past love, but the specific setting of 1984 gives the listener a sense of reality.
&#8220;The setting of the song is 1984, which gives the listener a sense of reality. &#8220;Oh, what kind of love did I have in 1984? I&#8217;m sure many young people of that time listened to this song thinking, &#8220;Oh, what kind of love did I have in 1984?
And the lyrics. &#8220;I can&#8217;t have a love that hurts each other like that anymore,&#8221; and &#8220;The silver ring I threw to the sky by myself at that time,&#8221; looking back on the love of seven years ago.
While looking back on her past love, she doesn&#8217;t become overly sentimental, and in the end, she is able to shake it off, which is very Puripuri, and also fits the lively mood of the time, giving me a refreshing feeling after reading it.
<h2>Just before the Great East Japan Earthquake Charity Live</h2>
In 2011, 20 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Pri Pri, who broke up in 1996, reunited.
&#8211;Atsuko Watanabe, the leader and bass player of the band, said, &#8220;What can I do? When I asked myself, &#8220;What can I do? If that&#8217;s the case, then it&#8217;s Puri Puri. I felt as if I heard a voice from God. The five members, who had gone their separate ways after the breakup and rarely saw each other anymore, got back in touch, discussed what they could do to help the earthquake recovery efforts, and decided to reunite. (Bunshun Online, &#8220;Princess Princess, Reunited for the First Time in 16 Years, Shows Their Surprisingly Natural Faces&#8221;)
However, the time lag since the breakup of the band made it difficult for the members, especially the dynamic drummer Kyoko Tomita, when it came time to perform. In her own words.
I never thought I&#8217;d be scolded so much at my age, but I&#8217;m over 40 and it&#8217;s not often that I get scolded. &#8220;Not good at all! &#8220;Redo!&#8221; I thought, &#8220;Damn! I thought to myself, &#8220;Damn! (Makoto Hasegawa, &#8220;DIAMONDS PRINCESS PRINCESS&#8221; &#8211; Shinko Music Entertainment)
According to Makoto Hasegawa&#8217;s book, just before the final performance at Tokyo Dome, Tomoko Konno, the keyboardist, said to Kyoko Tomita According to Makoto Hasegawa&#8217;s book, just before the final performance at Tokyo Dome, Tomoko Konno, the keyboardist, said to Kyoko Tomita: &#8220;Kyon-chan, thank you.
According to the book by Makoto Hasegawa, just before the final performance at Tokyo Dome, Tomoko Konno, the keyboardist, said to Kyoko Tomita, &#8220;Thank you, Kyon-chan. I&#8217;m glad you told me to reconsider.
In fact, it was Kyoko Tomita who pushed Tomoko Konno, who was unsure about joining the reunion, to do so. When Tomita heard Tomoko&#8217;s words, she suddenly burst into tears. When Tomita heard Tomoko Konno&#8217;s words, she suddenly cried out loud, and when Konno, Atsuko Watanabe and Kanako Nakayama saw this, they also cried out loud.
&#8220;I&#8217;m glad I met you. 
&#8220;I want to hold on to you, all of that day, strongly.
The opening number of the Tokyo Dome concert was &#8220;Seven Years After&#8221; &#8211; 30 years have passed since this song and 10 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

 Music critic, born in Higashi Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture in 1966, currently appearing on bayfm's "9 Noon Iki" on Mondays. His major publications include "80's Music Kaitai Shinsho" (Sairyusha), "Checkers no Ongaku to Sono Jidai" (Bookman Publishing), "Intro no Horitsu 80's" (Bungeishunju), "Southern All Stars 1978-1985" (Shincho Shinsho), and "Koisuru Radio" (Bookman Publishing). He is a regular contributor to Toyo Keizai Online, Tokyo Sports, Weekly Baseball, etc.

 Suzy Suzuki

 Sankei Visual

 This is a series of articles introducing hit songs from just 30 years ago. This time, I'm going to focus on Princess Princess' "Seven Years After". I consider this song to be one of their best. Pre-Princess Sweeps the Times

PRINCESS PRINCESS “masterpiece” and the epic drama of the Great East Japan Earthquake and reunion

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