'Ikanaide' by Kōji Tamaki (plus versions by Jacky Cheung & Dimash)

Since my feature of "Wine Red no Kokoro" by 80's Japanese band Anzen Chitai, I knew this next track would definitely be needed to be in the spotlight: "Ikanaide" (1989), written by and oerformed by famed Japanese singer Kōji Tamaki (the lead singer/main vocalist of "Anzen Chitai").



The kanji for "Ikanaide" is "行かないで", which translates directly to "Do Not Go" ("Please Don't Go Away"), and I do not need to know the full (translated) lyrics to feel singer Kōji Tamaki's emotional plea and desperate-longing in his voice, that never fails to bring tears to my waking soul. Scroll thru to the bottom of this post, for amn explanation of the origin of this song (which I could not authenticate, but), which even makes the intent of the lyrics somewhat more heartbreaking, IMHO.

Featured below is the track with both Japanese and English lyrics on-screen, while you should head to this video on YouTube (which sadly has disallowed external embedding) to listen to Kōji Tamaki's live performance on stage (in Hong Kong 2016) with a Symphonic Concert in full play. OMFG I had to hold back my tears... But THIS is a track worth shedding tears over, regardless how long ago it was.





Written by Kōji Tamaki, "Ikanaide" has been covered since by numerous singers, one of whom is Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung with "李香蘭" (from his 1990 album "梦中的你") in Cantonese, and most recently "Autumn Strong" by Dimash Kudaibergen (Kazakh singer & songwriter), in Mandarin/Chinese (2019), first performed on "The Singer" talent variety show.





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