An Analysis of the Song Tank! from Japanese Animated Series Cowboy Bebop

“Tank!” is a groovy, rather intense song that is the opening to the Japanese animated series, “Cowboy Bebop”. It’s also been used occasionally in international commercials. You can find it on youtube under “Tank! Cowboy bebop” if you so desire. I’m assuming it’s considered a jazz song as sometimes the instruments do their own thing and there’s a virtuosic alto saxophone solo. It also does a bit of layering, adding instruments and getting more intense as it goes along.

It keeps the same basic melody the majority of the time. I’ve always enjoyed it very much and still consider it the best opening theme to a television show.

“Tank!” was composed in 1998 by Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts, a band Kanno formed specifically to create the soundtrack for the Cowboy Bebop series. His principal focus was on jazz and the recordings he produced were an international effort. According to Wikipedia, “[Tank!] has an extensive alto saxophone solo played by Masato Honda, as well as a fill part at the end.

The song is a big band jazz piece in a Latin infused hard bop style with a rhythm portion that combines a double bass and bongo drums.”

The alto saxophone solo performed by Honda is quite impressive and according to Aftershok on blog.animeinstrumentality.com, it is legendary in the tangential overlap of jazz and anime. I especially like the final wail of his saxophone at the climax of the song. It brings everything to a close nicely.

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The solo is 59 seconds and 68 measures which to me seems pretty daunting.

As someone who used to play the trumpet I have an appreciation for the instrument and brass in general. I’m sure that’s also a large reason this song and jazz in general appeal to me. The melody is carried throughout by blaring trumpets if I’m not mistaken and it seems like it

would be fun to play. The opening to the song is very jazzy thematically with the bongo drums, a chill bass line, and a man with a cool voice who starts it all off with “Okay I think it’s time we blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok, three, two, one let’s jam.” It’s a pretty great opening I think and a fitting prelude to the jam that ensues. The rhythm starts out fast from the beginning and never lets up. I would say it’s very fitting for the action show about bounty hunters that it is the theme for.