The video below is a cover of Yukihiro Takahashi’s 1991 single, X’mas Day in the Next Life, one of my favorite Xmas songs.

The original single was released in 1991, at which time I was still living in Tokyo. It’s one of those sad Xmas songs, this one from the perspective of one half of a couple who are no longer together—but for whom feelings are still clearly present.

The song actually reflected my own situation at the time all too accurately; my girlfriend and I had split one bizarre weekend two years earlier, in such a way that there really was no clear break beyond that of no longer seeing each other on a regular basis. The song’s protagonist looks forward to being with his lost love ‘in the next life’. To this day, I cannot help but think of her whenever I hear it.

Unfortunately, it is one of those records that cannot be found online in its original version. Fortunately, this particular cover version is quite good.

(22 December 2014)