Mayonaka no Door

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"Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)"
Mayonaka no Door cover.jpeg
Single by Miki Matsubara
from the album Pocket Park
ReleasedNovember 5, 1979 (1979-11-05)[1]
GenreCity pop[2]
Length5:13
LabelPony Canyon
Composer(s)Tetsuji Hayashi
Lyricist(s)Tokuko Miura
Miki Matsubara singles chronology
"Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)"
(1979) 		"Ai wa Energy"
(1979)
Audio sample
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"Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)" (Japanese: 真夜中のドア〜Stay with Me) is the debut single by Japanese singer Miki Matsubara, released on November 5, 1979. The song saw a resurgence in popularity in 2020, 41 years after its original release.

Composition and release[]

Matsubara recorded "Mayonaka no Door" when she was 19 years old; two years prior to her debut, she had moved from her hometown of Osaka to Tokyo and performed in clubs in the city. Tetsuji Hayashi, the composer of the song, created a track that followed the emerging "new music" style that drew influences from Western music, a genre that would come to be known as city pop.[3] In an interview with The Japan Times, Hayashi praised the upcoming singer's voice, saying: "I didn’t expect her to have a very mature voice, much more than her actual age, but it was jazzy... even sexy."[3]

The song was commercially successful: it peaked at 28th on the Oricon Singles Chart and boosted the popularity of both Matsubara and Hayashi.[4] While Matsubara would release a lot more music in her career, "Mayonaka no Door" is widely considered her greatest work.[3][4]

Resurgence[]

In late 2020, "Mayonaka no Door" saw a surge in popularity among international audiences. Billboard attributes this wave to Indonesian singer Rainych, who regularly covers Japanese songs. In October, Rainych uploaded a cover of "Mayonaka no Door" to her YouTube channel, resulting in the song gaining popularity in Indonesia, where it then spread to the rest of the world. The song appeared on the popularity charts of music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.[2] Around the same time, the song was used in a Internet trend on the video-sharing platform TikTok, where people played the song for their Japanese mothers and recorded their reaction as they recognized the melody.[3][5]

Charts[]

Chart Peak
position
Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)[4] 28

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Matsubara Miki (7-inch single Vinyl) "Mayonaka no Door / Stay With Me" Release in March 31st 2021". Pony Canyon Shop. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Matsunaga, Ryohei (December 21, 2020). "Global Popularity of 1979 City Pop Track 'Mayonaka no Door - Stay With Me' Explained". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d St. Michel, Patrick (March 11, 2021). "How TikTok resurrected a Japanese pop star's defining hit". The Japan Times. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Chan, Justin (January 8, 2021). "A Japanese song has unpredictably become a massive hit among TikTokers — and their parents". In The Know. Yahoo News. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Zhang, Cat (February 24, 2021). "The Endless Life Cycle of Japanese City Pop". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
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