‘Woman from Tokyo’ is a song by English rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1973 album Who Do We Think We Are, and later as a single in various territories. A UK-release was planned for February 1973, but was cancelled. The song was featured on the 2011 DVD Deep Purple with Orchestra – Live in Montreux where Deep Purple Mark VIII (Gillan, Paice, Glover, Morse, Airey) with a full symphony orchestra conducted by Stephen Bentley-Klein.
Deep Purple was one of the first rock bands to perform in Japan in the early 1970s. As a tribute, the band wrote the song ‘Woman from Tokyo.’ The band started recording their ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ album in Rome in July 1972. At this point, the band had yet to tour Japan, but they had three shows scheduled there for August: two in Osaka followed by one at the Budokan arena in Tokyo. Drawing on Japanese imagery ("the rising sun," "an Eastern dream"), they concocted a story of a lovely lady from that country who drives them wild.
It was one of the final songs to feature singer Ian Gillan, who departed in 1973 to pursue a solo career. The song features Japanese imagery such as "the rising sun" and "an Eastern dream," and its lyrics are about a Japanese woman whose charms fascinate the narrator. ‘Woman from Tokyo’ grew to be one of the band's most popular songs and received heavy radio airplay. Despite this, the band did not include the song into their live set at the time, and only began playing the song when they reformed in 1984.
The admiration of Deep Purple for progressive rock is reflected in the long dreamy break that occupies the middle of the track. This break appears only on the album version and is missing from the single, which explains the sharp difference in duration between the versions. Cash Box called the song "that super driving rocker that everyone will jump on immediately." Cash Box also described it as a "super charged rocker performed with great energy by the kings of electric rock." Record World called it a "cooker" and a "rock 'em sock 'em item."
Label – Purple
Songwriters – Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
Producers – Deep Purple
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Fly into the rising sun
Faces, smiling everyone
Yeah, she is a whole new tradition
I feel it in my heart
[Chorus]
My woman from Tokyo
She makes me see
My woman from Tokyo
She's so good to me
[Verse 2]
Talk about her like a queen
Dancing in a eastern dream
Yeah, she makes me feel like a river
That carries me away
[Chorus]
My woman from Tokyo
She makes me see
My woman from Tokyo
She's so good to me
But I'm at home and I just don't belong
[Bridge]
So far away from the garden we love
She is what moves in the soul of a dove
Soon I shall see just how black was my night
When we're alone in her city of light
[Verse 3]
Rising from the neon gloom
Shining like a crazy moon
Yeah, she turns me on like a fire
I get high
[Chorus]
My woman from Tokyo
She makes me see
My woman from Tokyo
She's so good to me
My woman from Tokyo
She makes me see
My woman from Tokyo
She's so good to me
[Outro]
(My woman from Tokyo)
(My woman from Tokyo)
(My woman from Tokyo)
(My woman from Tokyo)
(My woman from Tokyo)