10/03/2023
'Big Wave' is the soundtrack to what sounds like a very mediocre surfing documentary. It's actually a Tatsuro Yamashita gem which is both my favourite Yamashita album and possibly one of the most important albums to me personally, ever. When it was released, it stayed on the Oricon Album charts for 19 weeks! I was insanely depressed in high school, and listening to Big Wave on loop was what got me through days I wish would end forever. It's warm and inviting, promising a world where love and having fun in the sun are guarantees, a sea-salt and hot sand vibe that washes over you like a - well. You know.
The album is in English and there are Japanese versions of some of the songs like Jody, but I prefer the English version because it's the one I found on Youtube when I was really going through it. My favourite track is the titular Big Wave. As a teenager I grew up in a seaside town, but it wasn't a pretty beach like the ones in the songs; it was a mangrove-filled ford. Far better for the animals, but not a relaxing location to visit unless you're an old person who likes staring out into the mudflats. Big Wave gave me an escape into the world I wanted, and in some ways it kept me alive. Thank you, Tatsuro Yamashita!