Poems In The Midnight: Till The Candle Goes Out (Carmen Maki, 1969)

Carmen Maki [カルメン・マキ] (1951), original name Maki Annette Lovelace, is an essential name when talking about Japanese counterculture and the musical scene during which it erupted. As many of the prominent musical icons of those years, she was hāfu [ハーフ], that is, her parents were both of Japanese and foreign origins; while the record industry prefered them due to their generally being able of singing English lyrics, they were also deemed to be very attractive by popular standars, even when they usually faced a great deal of discriminatory treatment on their personal life (particularly growing up). In Maki's case, her father was an American with Jewish-Irish roots, and her mother a Japanese woman from Kamakura. Apparently both of them parted ways and Maki grew as a child without Japanese nationality, which she would only get as of 1993. Feeling disjointed from her surroundings, she developed an artistic and melancholic personality interested in illustration and acting. This latter interest prompted her to attend Tenjo Sajiki's staging of Bluebeard [Aoihige-ko No Shiro or Bluebleard's Castle] in 1968. Tenjo Sajiki [天井桟敷] happened to be the shocking theatrical troupe of poet and playwright Shuji Terayama [寺山修司] who therefore also attended. After witnessing the display of creativity, energy and transgression on the stage, she joined without a doubt; this no doubt changed her life forever, as she has acknowledged in multiple occasions.

Thus she left everything behind and joined the poetical band of misfit wanderers and futen, the Japanese take on the drop-outs who also began to plague the western countries at the time. She performed as an actress and also became increasingly interested in the musical aspects of the show; in August of that same year she actively participated in the poetry improvisations of Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets [書を捨てよ町へ出よう], designed by Terayama himself. Appartently she adopted her pseudonym on that ocassion. Also, she befriended many actors and singers among Tenjo Sajiki members, such as the incredible Yoko Ran [蘭妖子], who later also recorded albums singing Terayama's poems. Barely 17 years old at the time, her performances in Shinjuku earned her a record label contract with Sony, which would probe to be very fruitful: the very next year (1969) she recorded three albums. The first of them all included her most famous song, 時には母のない子のように [Sometimes, Like A Motherless Child]; this track alone would catapult her like a rising meteor, surpassing all expectations. It sold so much that she attended that very year the NHK's New Year Song Contest, almost a tradition of contemporary Japanese culture where two teams (white and red, inspired by the attire of both sides of the Genpei Wars) duke it out using the popular hits of that same year. Considered a televised high-standing gathering, her futen attire of simple jeans and no makeup apparently raised some eyebrows.

While these first albums are serene and contemplative, built upon folk-ish musical inspiration, listening to Patty Smith and the new vertients of both psychedelic rock and blues opened her to musical genres in which she was also to excel. Her memorable album ''Carmen Maki & Blues Creation'' (1971) cimented her recognition as a brilliant blues singer, both adapting popular themes and also creating new ones. In fact, her low, sweet and melancholic voice suited blues very much. Yet she is probably most remembered among the stronger icons of Japan's hard rock scene, leading her band ''Carmen Maki and OZ'' [カルメン・マキ＆Oz] from 1972 onwards. They got quite popular with their own material, and their shows raised a devoted fanbase among early rock & roll and heavy-metal heads. From the romantic and carnavalesque approach inherited from Tenji Sajiki's experimental nature, she now took on a rough and jaded approach, more in line with both the music and the times. It is noteworthy that she provided a track for Ryu Murakami's film adaptation of his own novel, the iconic ''Almost Transparent Blue'' [限りなく透明に近いブル`], a fully nihilist depiction of a drug-driven gang of youngsters prostituting themselves to American troops stationed in a Japanese base. A cornerstone of those times, Ryu Murakami still rings prophetic today book after book, that is for sure. Maki herself had drug related problems in at least two ocassions, forcing her to abandon many projects. These, along with some nude photography sessions (not a big deal, since nudity was everyday's bread in Tenjo Sajiki plays), further drove Carmen Maki to a very niche audience in the conservative Japanese society, where anything drug-related usually ends any mainstream career path whatsoever. Yet she did overcome all these problems and, as of 2019, she and her band OZ (all of them well over 60!) are reunited and scoring tours which reunite again those among the public who still remember those years in which a revolution of the mind was to transform the world. Maki has also recorded many solo albums since the 2000's, and in these, surprisingly enough, she returns to her first themes and style. Albums of poetry and contemplation. Perhaps that is the lesson of a lifetime.

This very album was her second one, and was also released during this first formative year of 1969. Probably as a result of her first success, it perfected the same concept as 時には母のない子のように; that is, Maki would then again take some among Terayama's short poems (which most yongsters knew at that point, and were ones she had been delivering during her acting in Tenjo Sajiki), and added to them her own compositions in spoken voice. The beautiful and nostalgic music arrangements create an intimate, heartfelt portrait of every poem, making of every track a unique work of art. With the original title 真夜中詩集 ーろうそくの消えるまで, the album starts with her signature track, 時には母のない子のように. If someone were to know Maki through her metal albums he would be surprised by the soothing nature of this song. Maki exploits her low, dreamy singing voice in a sad, nostalgic track which opens and ends with the sound of the sea and its seagulls as background. Its kind of ''pastoral'' tempo and instrumentation are set-ups for the whole album, which in fact reminds of some tragic and intimate Arcadia of the imagination. Next song, 家なき子 [A child without home] opens with an original text by Maki, as she recites her own life story, the separation of her fathers and how lonely she felt at age ten. The sincere and passionate delivery, coupled with a beautiful flute arrangement serves as introduction to the track itself, featuring a sung adaptation of a Terayama poem by the same title. Way more lively than the first one, it features a distinctive drum work and explores Maki's high vocal register.

二人のことば [The words of two persons] also features Maki's spoken introduction, before switching to an almost medieval tune, slow and rich in instrumentation. Lutes and clarinets support a sad, meandering voice in an almost theatrical-stage delivery (which in fact was Maki's musical background at the time). 戦争は知らない [I don't know about the war] is shortly preceded by another intro, but instantly turns into a beautiful arrangement of one among my favourite Terayama poems. Pastoral and idealistic, Maki's voice could be coming from a The Sound of Music-esque or Heidi-like Alp fairytale. Accordion adds itself to the album's repertoire, with great success I may add. Despite its atmospheric naiveté, the poem refers how a newlywed remembers her deceased father (a WWII soldier) and cries everytime someone goes picking flowers, killing them. The next one, マキの子守唄 [Maki's lullaby] starts with a spoken prelude, this time backed by music box instrumentals. The song is apparently based on a Spanish lullaby I don't know, hence its subtitle【スペイン民謡】. I'm guessing the tune is sephardi Jew based on the sound of it (and, now that I think of it, her father's roots). It might be my favourite song in this beautiful album. The characteristic circular tune of the Jewish sang music tradition is complimented very much by Maki's tragic and poetic performance. The lyrics are also memorable:

On the days my heart feels so lonely, I go out and drink some sake

And I want to travel and watch the sea, and go out dancing go-go barefoot

Until I find love, until I can forget my father

I will sleep holding a red rose, sleep till my very death

山羊にひかれて [To travel with a goat] is also based on a Terayama poem, and was also a great hit for Maki at the time, becoming its own single. It may be the closest resembling 時には母のない子のように on many levels, from singing pitch to instrumentals, tempo and structure. Lute and flute are essential to the track. It also provided some footage and pictures of Maki holding a white goat; this only reinforcers one's perception of the album as something straight out of Virgil. だいせんじがけだらなよさ uses various of Terayama's writings as lyrical material, and it is a short song acting as bridge between the previous and following track, さよならだけが人生ならば [If life turns into a constant farewell], also very beautiful as a poem. Dreamy and shooting, Maki's version attempts to capture the romanticism of
Terayama's original mood may seem to edulcorate it a bit. But from the musical standpoint, it does not strike as out of the album's geist and it is quite pleasant.  ロバと小父さん [The old man and the donkey] is a sweet sung vaudeville-like performance also based on a poem. Its title differs from the original, but it also depicts a girl who enters a used-goods store which sells anything under the sun. She asks the old storeman about the prices of things such as poem compilations, tears, a piano, the seasons of the year and love. The mini-theater script and its atmosphere fully reminds of Terayama's book ''The Crimson Thread of Abandon'' to the trained eye. This delicious version adapts the whole thing in only 1:38 minutes.

かもめ [Seagull] was also widely known at the time, and other singers such as Maki Asakawa also produced their versions. Maki's version is also preceded by a spoken prelude, this time simply talking about what she prefers in life. It is simple, humble, powerful: ''I prefer to walk without shoes, I prefer long hair to a short one; I prefer summer to winter, I prefer yesterday to tomorrow, I prefer Sei Shonagon over Murasaki Shikibu''. The musical background is as poignant and intimate as it has along the whole album. This one might also be my favourite in the whole album, and the song itself picks Maki's lowest register. Almost operatic, the string work is also commendable. Properly speaking, this is also the last song of the album, since the last one consist on an iteration of 時には母のない子のように, this time incomplete and fading out to the sound of the sea, which remains for some time until the album comes to its end. As I wrote a lot here, I'm going out leaving this live version of the song, since I mentioned it quite a bit. Also, this full version was not easy to find!