沒有大公司聘用,鈴木清順轉戰獨立電影。80年代展開他的「大正浪漫三部曲」,明顯跟日活時代作品截然不同:實地取景而非片場製作,片長較以前長得多,知識份子作主角,不同時代背景和主題使他的作品由以前吸引Cult片粉絲轉移吸納一些藝術片觀眾。《流浪者之歌》是三部曲之首,以大正時代為背景,是一部唯美、懸疑、超現實的鬼怪片。片名來自西班牙古典小提琴作品,樂曲也是片中的重要元素。鈴木清順改編內田百間的小說,摒棄傳統電影敍事手法,反思大正時代西方文化滲入對日本文化和身份的影響。

After being blacklisted for a decade, Suzuki Seijun made a triumphant return with this dreamlike drama that refused distribution by exhibitors, played Japan in a travelling tent. Based on the novel Disk of Sarasate by Uchida Hyakken, with a title taken from Pablo de Sarasate's violin composition Zigeunerweisen, the film is an astonishingly-realised meditation on desire and obsession taking place during the Taisho Period (1912-1926), when Western culture became assimilated into Japan. Two childhood friends, the suit-wearing Aochi and the kimono-garbed Nakasago, meet as adults and simultaneously fall for geisha Koine. Both marry other women, but as their lives spiral into decadence, Koine remains an elusive, haunting figure that refuses to leave them.