Tank! is a song composed by Yoko Kanno, performed by the Seatbelts, and is the main opening theme song to Cowboy Bebop.
It is a big band jazz piece that goes by a Latin-infused hard bop style with a rhythm section that mixes a double bass and bongo drums. Despite primarily being an instrumental piece, the introduction portion of the song features a section of male vocals provided by Tim Jensen, which provides a jazz style and a lead into the main instrumental portion. An extensive alto saxophone solo was played by Masato Honda, who also performed a fill in to end the song.
The song is included on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, the compilation album Cowboy Bebop Tank! THE! BEST!, and the Cowboy Bebop Boxed Set, the latter of which has released it in its T.V. edit. A remix of this song was also done by Luke Vibert, which was released on the remix album Cowboy Bebop Remixes: Music for Freelance.
Introduction Lyrics
I think it's time we blow this scene.
Get everybody and the stuff together.
Okay three, two, one, let's jam!
Personnel
- Alto sax: Masato Honda
Trivia
- The song was used for a solo skating routine done by Kevin Reynolds for the 2016 Canadian National Figure Skating Championships. Reynolds was dressed as Spike Spiegel during his routine.
- The final session the Real Folk Blues (Part 2) is the only session of the anime not to open with Tank!.
- POWER OF KUNG FOOD REMIX takes the song's audio in its remix along with a small sample of Road to the West.
- A variation of the song titled Wandering Cowboy featured lyrics that were performed by Aoi Tada, the Japanese voice for Edward. This variation is included on the Cowboy Bebop Boxed Set.