Nostalgia has a funny way of making us forget the past. Bring up the 90s and people reminisce about LA Gear, Trapper Keepers and Nickelodeon game shows, not the L.A. Riots, Waco massacre or Gulf War--Desert Storm trading cards notwithstanding. So I have to respect "Good bye, Good Girl," the debut music video from ex-BiS member Tentenko. The worn out visuals evoke warm fuzzy feelings from the VHS era while the lyrics keep it real with reference to one of Japan's most sensational unsolved murders.
(Original)
代々木八幡の駅を徒歩5分山手通りに面したマンションに住む
今年3年目のオフィスレディ
コンクリートの天井ベニヤ板でできた床
真っ赤に染まった部屋に一つ残された手がかり
隣人の証言彼女はいい子でも決まって毎週土曜日は朝帰り
グッバイラララさよなら夢いっぱいのダイヤリー
どこいっちゃったのNobody knows
(Translation)
She's the third OL this year to live here
An apartment on Yamate street five minutes from Yoyogi Hachiman Station
Concrete ceiling, plywood floor
One clue left in the room stained red
The neighbor stated: "She was a good girl but didn't come home Friday nights"
Good-bye, lalala diary filled with dreams
Where'd she go Nobody knows
The victim (Source, along with conspiracy theories)
On March 19, 1997 the body of 39-year-old office worker Watanabe Yasuko was discovered in an unfurnished Shibuya apartment. Nobody, not her family, coworkers or friends had any idea what could have happened. Nobody, that is, except her neighbor. According to their police statement Yasuko was a "good girl" except on Friday nights when she left dressed like a tramp to say out until morning. Yasuko's diary--more of a ledger, really--was the biggest clue. Names on one side, yen amounts on the other. The good girl had been moonlighting as a call girl.
But Yasuko was a graduate of the prestigious Keio University and held an envious position at energy conglomerate TEPCO. Why resort to prostitution? What did it mean for the common person if Tokyo made even the elite sick? Who was the killer? Like Tentenko sings, "Nobody knows."
The past still seems rad because the more we play back the tape in our head the more it picks up tracking errors that fuzz out the ugly truths. Be wary of the day we develop digital brains that retain every detail in perfect HD. Some things--mainly, pop music and memories--really are better on analog.
Front page image via Tumblr user Disasterbox.