Chisato Moritaka -- Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo （私がオバさんになっても）

It's just one of those songs that you want to hug....it's so cute. Chisato Moritaka's（森高千里） 16th single, released in June 1992, is a half-teasing, half-joking joust that a steady girlfriend/fiancee would throw out at her beau. "Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo" (Even If I Become Middle-Aged) was written by Moritaka and composed by Hideo Saito（斉藤英夫）, and was initially a track on her March 1992 6th album "Rock Alive" before getting its own release.

The lyrics go as so:

The winter comes as soon as autumn ends, time really flew by
We went together to Saipan during summer vacation
I still got that tan, it was an enjoyable memory
I wanna go to Saipan again next year and go swimming

You're a kind guy, hold me
When we were like this, you kissed me

Even if I become middle-aged, will you take me swimming?
The bright swimwear will be impossible, I'd lose out to the young girls
Even if I become middle-aged, will you really not change?
I'm really worried since you like the young girls

You said such talk is ridiculous
But you said that women go downhill from 19

But you looked at me with an innocent face
and said that was a joke and kissed me

Even if I become middle-aged, will you take me to a disco?
A mini-skirt will be impossible, I'd lose out to the young girls
Even if I become middle-aged, will you take me on drives?
Take the top down from that convertible and drive like a cool guy

When I become middle-aged, so will you
You can keep on saying just the cool things but you are gonna get a paunch
Even if I become middle-aged, will you really not change?
I'm really worried since you like the young girls

Not surprisingly, this song has become a popular one to play at the wedding receptions...just that little love jab from the bride saying that youth is not gonna be around forever. Ah, c'est la vie! And especially now that the average age of marriage has slowly gone up, perhaps Moritaka's ode to matrimony has taken on an even deeper meaning. According to J-Wiki, as the years have gone by, the singer has made one tiny change to one line; she changed the age that women go downhill at from 19 to 29. I'm not sure if she's made further upgrades since that time. And I'm not sure if that song even made it onto the playlist at her own wedding.

"Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo" peaked at No. 15 on the Oricon weeklies, but I think it has become one of the big Chisato favourites at the concerts and just overall. And it still got her a place at that year's Kohaku.

Thanks to www.kasi-time.com for the original Japanese lyrics.