Yesterday, it was announced that this man—one of my favorite songwriters—has passed away.
I had been working on this interview about his most well-known single, “Ai wa Katsu,” and my intention had been to post it today. I’m going to go ahead and publish the interview as scheduled, but please allow me first to express a couple of thoughts.
I just want to say that I absolutely adored this guy. Everything about him. I loved his voice. I loved his singing. I loved his piano playing. I loved his sense of humor; how he had seemingly dedicated his entire adult life to never ever being serious when he spoke. Even his lyrics were silly and comical more often than not. Humor was his life philosophy, and deservedly so. After all, what point is there to life if you can’t even have a wink and a laugh about it?
Most of all, however, I loved his sense of melody.
We all have our “sweet spots” when it comes to music, and for me the things he did as a songwriter often hit those sweet spots exactly on the mark. Anyone could tell he was a real musician’s musician, always wearing his influences—Beatles, Billy, Stevie, et al—on his sleeve. I’m going to miss this guy so much, and I’m going to continue singing praises of his work forever.
I wish I had something more meaningful to say. I feel like there has to be a better set of words I could string together to express how I feel about him. But this is the best I can do for now.
I love you, KAN. Thank you for the music. ❤️
Is KAN‘s 1990 hit single “Ai wa Katsu” your favorite goddamn song of all time? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you see, is an entire 5000-word interview dedicated to that very tune.
This interview was originally published in the 1992 book Boketsu Bari Hori.
Text: Morita Kyoko
English translation: Henkka
KAN links: Website, Twitter, YouTube
Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.
Between the period spanning from late ’90 to ’91, KAN’s “Ai wa Katsu” was a major hit.
While it is incredible that it sold nearly two million copies, perhaps the most valuable thing about the song is how it is loved by so many people, from children who have only just learned to speak, to boys and girls with the ache of unrequited love in their hearts, to old men in karaoke bars seeking common ground with the younger generations. Everyone feels encouraged by the opening line of “Shinpai nai kara ne” (“No need to worry“), and everyone declares victory over their feelings with the closing line of “Saigo ni ai wa katsu” (“In the end, love will win“).
Featured as the opening track of album Yakyuu Senshu ga Yume Datta, released in June 1990, the song was then released as a single approximately a month and a half later. That is when “Ai wa Katsu” began to take on a life of its own. At a time when many were not yet familiar with this artist by the name of “KAN,” when it became a giant hit—in large part thanks to its TV airings—the song, without any prior warning, simultaneously entered the hearts of countless people.
The artist himself was somewhat taken aback. Not for the fact that his name ended up becoming secondary to the song, but because it was a feint to his pride; to his sense of values; to his creative drive. It was an unforeseen development. He was bewildered, even as he kept breaking one record after the other.
He gave a number of interviews at the time. “Well, I guess I’d say I’m just glad.” “I’m not sure what it all means.” “But really, I just…” Even as he was trying to answer the questions with sincerity, something was making him go round in circles. He was being played by “Ai wa Katsu“—his own creation. At least, that’s how it seemed.
A year has passed since then, his name having become imprinted in people’s memories. All over the country, he has been performing in concert halls bigger than ever before. Furthermore, he won the Grand Prix for the song at the Japan Record Awards.
Perhaps now is the time for KAN to talk about “Ai wa Katsu.”
Demo Tape
— So: “Ai wa Katsu.“
KAN: Yes.
— That’s what this interview is all about.
KAN: You know, that intro melody—the “♪ teerorii rorii rorii roririi ♪”—I’d actually written that way before.
— Just that bit?
KAN: Just that bit. The way I write my songs, it’s… Let’s say I come up with a melody, right? But then, if I’m unable to come up with a way to follow up on that melody, I just leave it. I always have bits and pieces of songs kicking around like that.
Then, when I have a deadline approaching and I know I have to have a song done by a certain date, I wrack my brain and think if maybe “that bit” and “that other bit” might make for a song. Like, I might have the opening and another bit, and that’s already 70% of the song done. Then I just have to write the remaining 30% and the song is finished. That’s how I write.
— And that includes “Ai wa Katsu“?
KAN: Yeah. So the “♪ teerorii rorii rorii roririi ♪”… That would’ve been… I think I wrote it in around ’88. Yeah. But you know that one Kudo Shizuka song? The one that goes like, “♪ Iitai koto nara tarararara… ♪”
— Ah, that one.
KAN: “♪ Ato kara ato kara teerorirori… ♪” That bit? I don’t remember now which song came first, but one day I realized that the melodies of the two songs sound similar. But I just thought, “Ah well, so what?”
— This was when you only had the opening phrase, right?
KAN: Right. So then when I was making my fifth album, I suddenly came up with a way for it to continue. Whoosh! Just like that, you know?
The one thing I struggled with a bit was the modulation when it comes back at the end. Considering how high the “♪ rirurorarooo… ♪” is, with this chord progression I needed to raise it by three semitones to successfully get back to where it starts. The problem was, the melody in that point of the song didn’t want to go up by more than two. But if I only went up by two, then the key of the song would’ve just kept going lower and lower. And that wasn’t good.
I was talking about it with Shimada one day during a rehearsal at MID Theater, but ultimately even he couldn’t solve the problem for me. He went, “So you want to go from this chord to this one, right?,” and he came up with an entirely different modulation. And I said, “No no, not like that! That makes it into a totally different song!” I said, “I’ll just figure it out on my own!” (laughs) But Shimada went, “I’m telling you, it’s just weird if you go up by three.” I replied, “But I have to go up by three to get back!”
Ultimately, the “♪ woo-oo-oo-oo… ♪” is where I go up three semitones. (laughs)
— I see.
KAN: Shimada was astonished when he heard it. He was like, “Man, as far as this song goes? I admit defeat. I genuinely thought it wouldn’t work, but this is actually really good.” He was all, “This is seriously some Beethoven-level stuff.” I said, “Oh yeah?,” and then we went right into recording.
— How did you personally feel about the song once it was done?
KAN: Great. Once just the music was done, I mean. This is probably something that only songwriters will understand, but that’s an “endless melody” right there. Of my own works, I’d say my “endless melodies” are “REGRETS,” “Ai wa Katsu,” and “Tokidoki Kumo to Hanashi wo Shiyou.” With the melodies in all those songs, they’re written in a way where they all… They go like this, and like this, and like this, and like this, and then they come back like this.
— Sort of like a Möbius loop?
KAN: Right. That’s kind of the nuance those songs have, in the way their melodies are constructed. There’s no waste in the melodies. No cracks. Writing melodies like that isn’t easy. They’re not the kind of thing you can make just like that, even if you tried. It only happens by accident. Like, “Oh hey, it connects!”
— By chance.
KAN: Yeah. And that happened with this song. I was just as happy when it happened again with “Kumo.” I was so glad.
But also… Throughout the process of making Yakyuu Senshu, I was just really afraid.
— Afraid?
KAN: I felt like if I didn’t get that album right, it might be my last one.
— Really?
KAN: Yes. I was also coming up with way fewer songs than I had before. So I was scared. But then as I was writing “Keyakidoori ga Irozuku Koro,” I suddenly felt like, “I can do this!” And then the songs just started flowing.
— You were saying it was your first ever “water phase.” (Author’s Note: “water phase,” as the name implies, means that the melodies flow like water.)
KAN: I couldn’t keep up with how fast they were coming to me. That’s when I wrote “Ai wa Katsu.” Although even then I ended up missing my deadline, as I always do.
So then we had a meeting at Polydor, and before I played “Ai wa Katsu” for everyone, I told them, “I’m scared of myself. I’m actually scared.” They were all just looking at me like, “What’s he going on about? Is he nervous? Or just trying to make a joke?” (laughs) Because I’m standing there, going, “I’m actually afraid of my own talent.”
— What was their reaction when you played them the demo tape?
KAN: Not amazing. Just like… “Yeah, it’s not bad.” I personally felt that it was a rather amazing song. So I just thought, “These people don’t know anything.” (laughs)
I was making my fifth album at the time, and I had kind of shut myself off mentally. Even when they’d praise me and say, “That’s a good song,” I’d just go, “Of course it is. I only bring you good songs.” But I thought this song was great. I mean, really great. I felt like no one but me could ever have written this song—no one but me or Billy Joel. (laughs)
Even as I was making the demo tape, I already thought it could still be better. I thought, “I’m gonna give it those Uptown Girl backing vocals.” I put in everything I could think of, and it just became this really cool thing.
— Right.
KAN: There were hardly any changes made to the arrangement after I’d finished my home demo. Even the rhythm pattern stayed the same. During recording though, someone told me to change up the rhythm pattern in the bridge, but I said no. They said it sounded a bit “sluggish.” I was like, “How rude! There’s nothing sluggish about this melody! The rhythm pattern stays the same!” I just wasn’t having any of it. (laughs)
The piano, too, is quarter notes all the way, and ultimately we did nothing tricky there with the arrangement either. No foreshadowing. I even told the arranger, Kobayashi Shingo, “It’s fine as-is. You don’t have to change anything at all. Any weird contrivances are only going to make it sound cheap, so just leave it be.”
The backing vocals were a challenge. Joey McCoy and Wornell Jones were going, “We’re still not done?!” The thing about it was… Were it just the same exact pattern over and over again, then you could just record it once and process it by machine to get what you want. But in this case, we had these subtle modulations. So even though it’s the same pattern, the last sounds were different.
— And they had to sing all variations.
KAN: Yes. That was the toughest part—the backing vocals.
— So then did you think even more highly of the song once the instrumental was done?
KAN: Yeah. I did. On that front, everything went as planned. Or actually I should say, with most songs they’re at their coolest when they’re at the demo tape stage. Why? Well, because of the momentum. I mean, they’re rough. But somewhere in there you can just feel this awesome energy. And also because it’s me playing everything—I know exactly what it is I’m going for. That’s why they have this great power. When you actually record a song it always becomes neatly organized, whether you like it or not.
Writing the Lyrics
— So the instrumental was done. What about the lyrics?
KAN: I always write the lyrics after. In this case, since it was such a grand-sounding melody, I didn’t want the lyrics to sound messy. Still, I felt like the lyrics would probably come to me just like that, no sweat.
So then, why “Ai wa Katsu” (“Love Will Win“)? There’s actually a separate reason—something unrelated that happened while I was writing the song.
I have this friend who loves to talk to me about his love troubles. Always asking me for advice, you know? I personally hate having to give advice about this stuff. I hate asking for advice, too. With guys, I mean—I love asking girls about my love troubles. (laughs)
Anyway, I just told him something totally ludicrous. “Hey man, love will win.” I was being totally halfhearted. (laughs) But I couldn’t just be mean to him either. We were drinking, I was exhausted—who knows what else I might’ve said! But that’s where those words came from.
— Kind of like saying to a child who’s just fallen and scraped his knee and telling him, “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.”
KAN: Right, exactly. I was saying, “Hey, don’t worry! It’s fine! You know what, I’ll write you a song saying just that!” (laughs)
That must’ve been at the end of the year, and I made my demo tape after that. My friend then told his girlfriend about what I’d said. “KAN’s gonna write this song!” So then we met for drinks by the three of us after the New Year.
I played them my home demos… I think at that point I only had “Keyaki,” “Ai wa Katsu,” and “834“, with me just singing “lalala” in place of the lyrics. They were like, “Sounds good! So which one’s going to be the one about how love wins?” I probably said like, “I’m thinking the second one. And I’ll end it with, “♪ in the end, love will win! ♪””
Once I had that bit, I thought I could probably work out the rest. Because it’s not like I wanted to say anything super complicated with a lyric accompanying a melody like that. I put off writing the lyrics, thinking, “I’ll just write something that sounds all pompous and abstract. That’ll work!” (laughs) Because I had these songs like “Keyaki” and “Chitose” that were more complicated, and they were going to be more difficult.
So this was actually the last song on the album to have lyrics. Or wait, no. “1989” might’ve come later. In any case, I put the lyrics on the back-burner.
— How was it then once you began writing the lyrics?
KAN: They didn’t really speak to me. I thought it wasn’t bad, but not great either. My excitement level from when I’d first just written the song went way down.
But like, I knew that the song was good. The thing is that I wanted to kick the song off with an “a” or an “o” sound, but no matter what I tried, “shiiinpaaai…” was the only thing that seemed to fit. I just felt like “shi” wasn’t the right call.
But then I just thought, “Oh well.” (laughs)
— As in, “Oh well, good enough“?! (laughs)
Million Selling Hit
KAN: So when a song like that ended up becoming such a hit, it was like… It felt like all the things I’d been thinking about up until that point, none of it had mattered in the least. I felt down about that.
— “The things you’d been thinking about”? What do you mean?
KAN: I mean, in regards to how my songs “needed” to be. Ever since my first album. Thinking, for instance, that the lyrics to any given song should start with an “a” or an “o” sound, when “shi” turned out to be easier for people to remember.
— Oh, right. Contrary to what you’d believed.
KAN: Yeah. So to me, “shinpai nai kara ne” really wasn’t the best opening line.
— So you kind of regretted it?
KAN: I did. But now there’s probably lots of people out there who only remember that line.
— That, and the “saigo ni ai wa katsu.”
KAN: Yeah, but even with that line there’s lots of people who mistake it as “ai ga katsu.” But everyone knows “shinpai nai kara ne.” That’s how catchy it is. So that’s why I just think… What was I even doing, spending so much time worrying about “a” or “o” or whatever? (laughs) I realized how there’s just no point in thinking about stuff like that.
— It was when “Ai wa Katsu” began playing on the TV program Yamakatsu that it really shot up in the charts. How did you feel about it at the time?
KAN: I didn’t trust anything or anyone. I’d lost hope in pretty much everything around that time, you know?
I first met with this producer from Yamakatsu. Mr. Obata. He told me how his job was to listen to all these samples that were constantly being delivered to his desk, but he could only be bothered to listen to a tiny bit of each sample. And he was telling me how this song was the first one in years that had really surprised him. He said he just had to meet me.
He was telling me all these things. “No one can predict what’s going to be No. 1 in the charts.” “Everybody’s going to be singing this song.” “Soon everyone will know this song!” That, he said, was why he was so insistent on working with me.
The song was being used as the ending theme of this TV Asahi program at the time. And he was just very curious about me. Anyway, that’s all we talked about on that day. Then, they gradually began using the song on the show starting in October.
— It really felt like the song was being employed by someone who genuinely liked it. They’d always find the best timing to play that song. It was very effective.
KAN: Yeah. So it was like… Mmm. I don’t know. Of course I was happy to have met Mr. Obata, but as someone who does music for a living, I was seriously worried. You never know what might happen.
— And your worries were probably only exacerbated with the song becoming a hit.
KAN: Right. I think the whole thing was really just a sign of the times and not about the song itself. I mean, what I’m trying to say is… Now that we’re in the CD era, it means that most people own the necessary hardware, but it doesn’t look cool if you don’t also have a huge row of CD’s all lined up next to your CD player.
So when everyone switched from LP to CD, I think the general public became way more conscious about needing to buy new releases compared to just a few years ago. Also, while record appreciation used to be more of a fancy leisure type activity, now it’s become something that’s a lot more readily enjoyable.
— It became more of an everyday type of thing.
KAN: It really does feel that way. Stuff like “Ponpokorin” and people like me and Oza Kazumasa—I think we all got our big break simply because we happened to coincide with the CD era. Wouldn’t you agree? Koizumi Kyoko and Makihara Noriyuki having million-sellers… And ASKA selling even more than that.
— CD sales are booming.
KAN: In ’91 especially, CD’s were just flying off the shelves. (laughs) I think things are finally going to settle down on that front pretty soon though. In any case, it just happened to be the beginning that era.
— I see. But despite taking the world by storm, you haven’t changed a bit.
KAN: (in a low voice) I want to change though…
— In a big way? (laughs)
KAN: I want to be like Eguchi Yosuke in Tokyo Love Story. (laughs) He’s always like, “Hey baby. Come over to my place tonight.” (laughs)
— But… (trying to move on to the next question)
KAN: He’ll be like, “Come over“—and then the girl does come over! Unbelievable! He actually gets his way, the little rascal! (laughs) Eguchi, this guy…
— But…
KAN: Man, Eguchi’s cool…
Side Effects
— But “Ai wa Katsu” was for a lot of people their introduction to you, and you even had that whole “let’s get rid of my Ai wa Katsu image” campaign.
KAN: It’s just not possible though. Not unless I have a song that becomes even more successful.
— True.
KAN: So I gave up on that campaign. (laughs)
— Did you hate it? Being thought of as “that Ai wa Katsu guy“?
KAN: Well, when that’s all everyone says about you, it does get tiring.
— You grow weary of it.
KAN: It’s kind of like people only going on about Motoki Masahiro not having body hair. (laughs)
— Right. (laughs)
KAN: But I don’t get a say in it…
— But then, although it’s not like making it big was ever your only goal, wouldn’t you say that in some sense you also felt that you could never truly consider yourself a success until you’d done so; until you’d made it big? Now that you’re actually in that position, there must’ve been many things you had to give up in exchange.
KAN: That’s totally appropriate though. It’s only par for the course.
It’s like… Say you wanted to live somewhere with an ocean view, so you worked hard to save up the money and you built yourself a fancy house by the coast, but then you started complaining about how you suddenly couldn’t stand living there what with the constant salty sea breeze. That just goes to show that you never know how something really is before you actually experience it. No matter how people might warn you how it’s tough to live somewhere like that, with the sea breeze and all, you’d just think… “I don’t care. I want to live by the ocean.”
So that part of it, I really don’t mind. Because no matter what you do in life, there’s always a positive and negative side to everything. The only thing that caught me off-guard was the speed of which it all happened to me.
— But I wonder, the fact that the song became a million-selling hit, did it change your perspective in regards to it? Or no?
KAN: Sure, it changed. I mean, when it’s the only thing people talk to you about, no matter where you go, at some point you’re just like… “Enough already!” (laughs) But then I also do think of it as my song. It’s my song, no mistake about it. So of course I also think it’s a good song.
But even so, it gets annoying when that’s all anyone talks about. You’re doing an interview and they go, “Okay KAN, last question… Will love win?!” If someone did that to you, you can’t honestly tell me you wouldn’t want to just smack them in the back of the head with a slipper, can you? Can you?! And that sort of thing just went on and on and on! (laughs) But even then I just keep answering those people all sincerely. I don’t like that about myself.
— You don’t think to give them a more perfunctory answer?
KAN: I was raised too well to do that. (laughs)
— Right. (laughs)
KAN: I should just answer them like, “Well, I sure hope so!”
But it’s nice to play it live. It’s like with “Ai No Corrida.” Everyone was dancing to that tune in the disco to the point that it just got too popular, and then any club that was still playing that song by the following year was considered lame. You see that sort of thing happen sometimes, right? And on the radio, it’s probably been ten years since any station last played that song on-air. That’s why recently it feels better than ever to be playing “Ai wa Katsu.”
— Ah, that’s what you mean by it being nice to play live.
KAN: It reminds me how it really is a good song.
— At first I thought you just meant it’s nice to play live because it’s a guaranteed way to get everyone fired-up.
KAN: Well, of course there’s that, too.
— But not just that, right?
KAN: Right. Even on this last tour, “Ai wa Katsu” was getting people going just like “NO-NO-YESMAN” would. (laughs) When we do “Ai wa Katsu,” I want everyone to get fired-up. And of course everyone does—it’d be a bad sign if they didn’t. But even then, I definitely don’t want it to be the be-all-end-all of my shows, even if I do think it’s a good song.
It’s tricky choosing where to put it on the setlist though. On my campus festival tour I’ve been playing it as the third song, even though everyone’s been telling me it might be better to play it later on in the show. When we played in Kanazawa, they told me how several people left right after we’d done “Ai wa Katsu.” But I just thought, “Yeah, but it’s not like they paid any money for tickets.” I don’t need fans like that anyway. So that’s why I’ve been playing it as the third song on the tour, while also wanting to see just how excited I’d be able to make the crowd without playing “NO-NO-YESMAN.” (laughs)
— You’re testing them. That’s not something one could do if they lacked confidence.
KAN: And I end with a new song.
— But while most people just try to play it safe when they get their first hit, it’s nice how you’re still trying out all kinds of different things.
KAN: I’m definitely playing it safe though. Or, well… I guess it’s all about that balance.
— You are? Playing it safe how?
KAN: I mean… I don’t know. (laughs) I just mean I’m not purposefully trying to destroy that achievement… Like I said, it’s the balance. I’m just half-assing it.
— You might be right though. It’s not good if one’s only playing it safe, but then only trying new things all the time would also be a little, ehh… You know?
KAN: I think it’s best to just play it by ear. That’s why I’m so bad at finding new approaches to things, and I’m usually terrible at explaining to others what it is I’m trying to do. (laughs)
— So then what is it that you’re aiming to create?
KAN: Something that’s fun to play and that makes you feel something—that’s it, really. (laughs) And I do want to keep doing specifically mainstream music. “I’m just going to make music for me. People are free to listen to it, or not.” That’s not for me. No thanks. I’d just pick a different line of work if I felt that way.
— That’d just make it pretty much a hobby.
KAN: Yeah. I do want even more success. I want the fans screaming in adulation. I want to go on TV and just have fun. That’s why I’m envious of people like the Checkers. Takamoku Yoshihiko was telling me, “We’re only able to do stuff like that because it’s seven of us in the band.”
So, roughly speaking, I just want to make something good. What that means more specifically… That’s more difficult to say. (laughs) But it’s nice not having to explain who I am anymore, even if I have mixed feelings about it. Before, I used to have to do that. But now, it’s… “Oh, KAN. The Ai wa Katsu guy.” No further explanation needed.
— No further explanation needed, but…?
KAN: But I also don’t like how “Ai wa Katsu, Ai wa Katsu” is all anyone ever says. (laughs)
— So you’d been trying to let people know how “Ai wa Katsu” is not all you are…
KAN: Right.
— But now you’ve given up on trying to do that?
KAN: Well, see, I’m personally doing the same thing in real-time to other people. (laughs)
— Like who?
KAN: Like ASKA, for instance. I only know “Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame” and “SAY YES.” I did get an album of his which I listened to once and thought it was good, but I haven’t actually listened to it since. “Hajimari” is just so good. And then when I met ASKA, I told him, “That song’s awesome.” (laughs)
So in that sense, I do think it’s only natural how “Ai wa Katsu” is all people talk about—I’m myself actively doing the same to others. (laughs) But the amazing thing about ASKA is how he first had “Hajimari,” and then immediately outdid himself with “SAY YES” like it was nothing. I thought that was pretty incredible. He’s definitely a more remarkable guy than me.
— Surely you’ll outdo yourself before long, too.
KAN: I have to. You know, I’d like to be written about in the music textbooks.
— It wouldn’t be out of the question that you will.
KAN: I do think it’s the kind of song the Ministry of Education might approve of. I don’t think “Love Story wa Totsuzen ni” will get on there. (laughs) But yeah. I’d like for it to get to that stage. Because I think then it’d feel like a weight off my shoulders. Yeah, the junior high schoolers might be thinking, “What the hell is this song?” But that’s okay. I wouldn’t mind.
— What will you be doing when that time comes?
KAN: I’ll be happily married. (laughs)
— And work-wise?
KAN: One album every five years. (laughs)
Japan Record Award
— Did you not feel at all reluctant about accepting the Japan Record Award?
KAN: To be honest with you, I was initially not at all excited about anything in regards to the award. I’d always found things like that uncool, and I’d never thought about those sorts of things in relation to my own music. To begin with, by that point I’d already released two follow-up singles with “In the Name of Love” and “Propose,” but they just hadn’t left their mark sales-wise and people were still only going on about “Ai wa Katsu.” That’s just such an uncool look for an artist.
But the company was telling me to be pragmatic about it—I’d made it this far and it wouldn’t be such a bad deal to just leave my mark in history. I got what they were saying, of course. So I told them I’d do it. “Okay, yeah. Fine.” What they were saying did make sense.
So then I was out drinking with ASKA, and we got to talking. I told him, “Rather than the stuff I actually want to do, I’m just being made to do all this stuff I don’t want to do.” ASKA told me how he himself had done lots of stuff like that—stuff he absolutely loathed doing which he had no choice but to do anyway.
But then he said, “You can choose not to do it, but then you’ll just have nothing instead. If it’s something you can do, you’d better do it.” He was all, “Just go do it.” That was an eye-opener. So I’m really glad to have met ASKA—it was a big deal for me, being told that by him. But then it also felt weird, because had he been a nominee there’s a good chance he might’ve won instead.
So I phoned him right away. I’d won the award, there was a big party and stuff, and then I phoned him that same night. ASKA. He wasn’t home though. But then the other day he called me back and said, “Hey, good for you. Congratulations. Let’s go out for drinks again soon!”
— So you’re genuinely glad to have won the award?
KAN: Very glad. It was a relief. I can see the award for what it is. Really, I feel like that’s where it finally ended. That song, I mean.
— It gave you closure?
KAN: Yeah. Happily enough, it really did. So… Now it’s onto the next thing.
