Viva Lovers

Made by Katsuhiko Akiyama near the end of the first P-Model lineup, part of a songwriting spree spurred by his desire to have more influence over the band's direction. Akiyama used many elements common among that era's material to craft it; he was proud of it at the time and still is to this day. The lyrics contain the title of Mieko Kanai's 1968 debut novel Life of Love (愛の生活): Akiyama borrowed it regardless of any thematic connections; he's been a fan since high school and has read all her works to date.

It was the last and only song from that bunch that was accepted. Despite his growing animosity towards Akiyama's stylistic inclinations, Susumu Hirasawa sang lead vocals for this song. It was seldom played live and did not have a final title; studio recordings do not exist as Akiyama was fired from P-Model shortly before Potpourri sessions began. Bootleg recordings of shows where it was played circulated among fans, but knowledge of its origins didn't: When he heard it before the advent of the internet, Yoshikazu Takahashi could tell it wasn't a Hirasawa creation, but had no idea who wrote it. Akiyama himself did not hear the song again until a bootleg was uploaded to YouTube in 2020.

Connections

 * "Bloody Mary" and two songs with no details known were the other fruits of Akiyama's late-day songwriting flurry.
 * Akiyama borrowed a title from a Kanai book again, as one of three influences on the title of Here is Eden's 1990 debut album Keep Playing Even When The Night Falls (夜になっても遊び続けろ).