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Akai Sweet Pea(赤いスイートピー)

Overview:

Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー) is the 8th single album by Seiko Matsuda (松田聖子), released on January 21, 1982. It is the most popular song by Seiko Matsuda in Japan. It is the first song that Yumi Matsutoya (松任谷 由実) participated in. When she was first asked by Takashi Matsumoto (松本隆) to write a song, Yumi Matsutoya refused, saying, “I don’t want to write songs for my rivals,” but after Takashi’s continued persuasion, she eventually wrote the lyrics on the condition that the song be written under the pen name of Kureta Karuho. There was a controversy over Yumi Matsutoya’s abusive language in relation to the song she wrote, but Yumi Matsutoya herself has recently become more mature and has been reflecting on her past abusive language, and in 2015, she composed a new song for Seiko Matsuda, and on September 22, 2020, she appeared on NHK’s 40th anniversary broadcast to congratulate her, showing that their relationship has improved compared to the past.
She cut her hair short along with this song. As you can see from the jacket cover, she had maintained the Seiko Matsuda cut until the beginning of her career, but cut her hair in the middle.
It debuted at 3rd place on the Oricon chart two weeks after its release. The following week, she beat Masahiko Kondō (近藤 真彦) and regained the top spot. The graduation song Seifuku (制服) included on the B-side also became one of Seiko Matsuda’s representative songs during this period. In 2009, she appeared with Miyuki Nakajima (中島 みゆき) in a cosmetics commercial, and this song was used as background music.
At the time of release, Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー) did not exist, but it was recently created through breeding.
The 15th original album ‘Citron’ released in 1988 included a sequel to this song, Zoku・Akai Sweet Pea (続・赤いスイートピー). The lyrics are about breaking up with a person who glanced at her watch, and reminiscing about him sitting on a bench at a station where he was already married to someone else.
The A-side is Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー), and the B-side is Seifuku (制服).

Album information:

○ Release date: January 21, 1982

○ Label: CBS/Sony

○ Sales: 500,000 copies

Track list:

A.Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー)

B.Seifuku (制服)