Recently, an old Buck Owens hit, “Made In Japan,” has become somewhat of a viral sensation on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The song originated back in 1972, and new generations are now rediscovering it thanks to these trends, even though Buck Owens passed away 20 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of TikTok videos have been created using the song’s audio, ranging from Shōgun fan edits to lyric videos to Vietnam veteran tributes.
Buck Owens had an incredibly successful career that included 21 number one country hits and hosting the show Hee Haw, which was very influential to modern artists outside the country genre like John 5. The Beatles even covered his song “Act Naturally”.
What Makes “Made In Japan” A Country Hit
The song “Made In Japan” was written by Bob and Faye Morris and was released through Capitol Records in April 1972. Don Rich, guitarist for Owens’ band, The Buckaroos, provided the backing guitars for the song. Like many of its contemporary country music classics, the song tells a great story. That’s basically what country music is – or at least that’s what it was at the beginning. It was storytelling music.
“Made In Japan” tells a story about falling in love with someone “Made in Japan” who had been promised to another man. It’s a simple story told through well-penned lyrics. The music is equally simple. If you’re waiting for the music theory angle to come in and reveal the secret inner workings that make the song work, you’re going to be disappointed.
At its core, the song leans on a classic country foundation: a I–IV–V framework in the key of A major. That gives you A, D, and E as the primary chords. Depending on the section, you’ll also hear a relative minor creep in – F♯ minor (the vi chord) – but the backbone is unmistakably that three-chord engine that runs through a huge chunk of mid-century country and Bakersfield sound.
Tell Us A Story
Country music is incredibly popular. But what makes it popular isn’t compositional complexity – it’s lyrics. Lyrics are the easiest thing to connect and absorb with because we already speak the language. Not everyone understands what a composition is trying to convey, but everyone understands a good story. Buck Owens built his career, alongside other writers like Harlan Howard, around the idea that a great country song doesn’t need harmonic complexity to hit hard. Howard’s famous line – “three chords and the truth” – gets quoted a lot because it’s accurate. The chords establish a frame. The truth comes from the words, the phrasing, and the delivery.
These sorts of country music classics are sometimes critiqued for being boring, but the lack of flash is more of a feature than a bug (in most cases). If the song had a lot of complexity and flash, it might distract the listener from the point of the song – the story – which is being told by the lyrics, not the foundational music accompanying it.
Songwriting Over Shredding: The Role of the Guitar in Buck Owens’ Bakersfield Sound
It’s not that Don Rich was incapable of playing complex music – quite the opposite – he was a phenomenal guitarist and fiddle player who tragically passed away just a couple of years after “Made In Japan” came out in a motorcycle accident. His passing devastated Buck Owens. But in addition to being a great guitarist, he was also a great songwriter. He co-wrote hits like “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line” with Owens, and he understood the role of the guitar in country music isn’t necessarily to be flashy – it’s to provide a supportive framework for the lyrics to sit upon.
Sometimes the hardest lessons aren’t the technical or compositional lessons; they are the psychological ones. As musicians, especially guitarists, we love to showcase our skills on our instrument – why wouldn’t we? We practice for untold hours to develop the chops we have, and sometimes, in spite of all that time and energy, we have to set the ego aside and just let the story do the work of selling a song. Not every song needs a solo or a hooky riff.
These sorts of simple songs provide a really nice basis for cover songs because there is a lot of room for inflection and interpretation. If you’re a singer, you have to love that sort of song structure. We’ve seen that with a lot of the classic country songs over the years, like Chris Stapleton‘s cover of “Tennessee Whiskey” by George Jones, and the countless versions of “Act Naturally” by Owens himself. And while “Made In Japan” doesn’t have any high-profile covers yet, its renewed popularity on social media might well inspire a cover or a new interpretation.
There’s also a practical reason songs like this are finding new life on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Short-form content doesn’t give you much time to establish an idea. You’ve got a few seconds to grab attention, and the easiest way to do that isn’t with harmonic sophistication – it’s with something immediately understandable. A clear lyric, a strong image, a simple emotional premise. “Made In Japan” delivers all of that without any setup. You drop the needle – or hit play – and the story is already in motion.
