1. Kaeritakunatta yo
2. Nokori Kaze
Kaeritakunatta yo is Ikimono Gakari’s ninth single, released on April 16th, 2008. It reached #7 on Oricon and has sold 19 015 copies.
Kaeritakunatta yo (I’ve begun to want to go back home) is a beautiful ballad making fantastic use of strings. It begins with a piano and then come the swooshing violins and drums, a combination which I have and always will find beautiful. This is the kind of song Ikimono Gakari (which apparently is a task given at elementary schools consisting in taking care of any animals (“ikimono”) that the class has “adopted” and is raising as part of a project) excells at. The voice, the guitars, the strings, the drums… just everything about Kaeritakunatta yo makes it a charming ballad about, well, wanting to return to one’s land (or any other way you wish to interpret the song).
The B-Side, Nokori Kaze (remaining wind) drifts away from the ballad, and in a traditional B-Side manner, is the opposite of Kaeritakunatta yo. It begins with rapid acoustic guitars, introducing drums and finally a wonderful piano. Wow. Not as good, obviously, as the single, but another really good B-Side. I thought the verses were good, and then came the really great chorus. Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi was good; Kaeritakunatta yo and Nokori Kaze were twice as good.
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