This is just a 2 minute demo!!
The full 10 minute version is now available at
https://soundcloud.com/takerums/yaponesia-instrumental-version
A version with lyrics is coming soon too......

Yaponesia (Demo version) *FULL VERSION UPDATED SEE LINK*

Instrumental Version.
Sorry about the delay :(
Don't worry if you've already voted for the demo version; this has the same melody - it's just extended and complete :)
Next step: upload the version with me singing........

Yaponesia (Instrumental version)

This is the version without the vocal track.

The story behind this entry:
To celebrate Yaponesia's 100th song in the Nation Song Contest, I wrote a song referencing all our past 100 entries, and composed a melody with motifs from some of them too.
Even though it doesn't make sense at times, the song as a whole reflects our history in NSC as well. Some explanation might be helpful to newer members:

We joined NSC in 2007, shortly after the ESC final. I was new to the whole ESC-fandom thing, and also kept it somewhat secret at first :P But then, I soon realised I loved NSC even more, and it became my main hobby, as well as a place where I met lots of new friends.

'Over two pint beers in a cardboard city', or, more accurately, on MSN one Saturday night in 2008, the self-proclaimed "oddballs" (also a group of friends who bonded over their preference for alternative songs a.k.a. Pot 3) all agreed to send banana songs for a period in the 20s. This perceived cliquey-ness annoyed some members, who at one point went on to accuse them of being "anselm and his fucking friends". Of course, we never fucked, but frequently failed instead ^^

For Yaponesia itself, NSC was an opportunity to explore and expand musical horizons, and we did just this in the 30s, sending a diverse selection of all sorts of genres. Unfortunately, we never did very well (our highest place reached in this decade was 11th in NSC 38).

So, for NSC in the 40s, we changed tack, and decided to go for international diversity as well as musical diversity. Inspired by the upcoming 'Our Sound: Asiavision Song Contest', we showcased (again, to little success) songs from those countries. The end result wasof course that we managed to get further in showing off Asian music than Our Sound itself.

The 50s brought us our 50th anniversary in NSC 56. We earned our highest positions of 7th and 8th, but still had yet to achieve the elusive top6 despite being among the oldest nations. We completed out Asian cycle, and then concentrated throughout the 60s on reviving old NF artists from our history. This year (2011) was our gap year between school and university, where we went travelling, and who better to visit than the great friends we made throughout Europe?

We first went to Estonia, then Sweden (from north to south), Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, back round through Hungary and then homeward bound. I had an amazing time meeting so many NSCers, and I'm still indebted to all of you for your hospitality; come visit me in England - you'll be welcome any time!

The end of that summer also finally brought us our first top 5 in NSC 70, and on that high note, we grew up and moved into a new life in a new city at university. Of course, life was busy, and the time we had for NSC grew less and less... And despite the decade beginning with our highest ever finish (4th), we didn't qualify between NSC 75 and NSC 80.

One random qualification aside in NSC 81, the 80s and early 90s were indeed a bit shit for Yaponesia. Interest was at an all-time low, and several vote failures coupled with the business of real life meant NSC took a back seat (we even missed only our second ever edition in NSC 93). Still, we found ourself top6ing and prequalifying in NSC 88, so it was all destined to perk up soon...

NSC's own anniversary celebrations came at a good time for Yaponesia, hot off the back of our own successes. We celebrated by sending our long-awaited eponymous entry, and then waited a few more editions before getting our best ever placing with a silver medal in NSC 105, our 100th year!

9th place in NSC 106 was another pleasant surprise (thank you!). And now, here we are, the 100th entry, an effortful attempt to give this singer-songwriter thing a go :P I hope you enjoy it, despite the delays, and I hope you've enjoyed the times with Yaponesia up until now too. To the next 100 years; kampai!!

takeru, Nati, Nathan Somers,
Nation Summary Compilation