Oh Ayu, always with the meaningful lyrics. :D

You know, as I listen, I also kinda get a "About You" vibe and even a "decision" vibe near the end. What do you think?

^Hmm I think About is not as dark as Microphone sounds, but if you're talkin' of the melody, yes it's right imo ! And this is definitly the same atmosphere as decision !

I've listened to preview many times on the yesterday evening and I'm listening to now since several minutes. I have to say that I LOVE THAT SONG already. Even it's only 15 seconds. Even if other parts would be bad in full song for me, I love this now. Kind of unique and different from Ayu, but still the same, old and good Ayu. :love


And that part of lyrics... OMG so beautiful. <3

Can't wait for upcoming album!!!!!

Hmm... I think it does sound a little... unfinished or rather truncated, because of the あなただから (at the end), so it's more of like:

What it means to be me
What it means to exist
Because the one who taught me that
Was always you

I think there is probably another part to the chorus before this, and we need to hear it and maybe the rest of the song to get the full meaning of what she's saying.

Well, I don't know how many times I read those part of the lyrics, seems like it is a song for her fans...

To make more sense in english, it's probably better translated as

"Because the one who taught me
What it means to be me and
What it means to exist
Was always you"

Even though line-by-line it's not as accurate. Japanese sentence structure makes this sort of song lyric hard to translate. But this way sounds much less awkward in english.

This song sounds like its EPIC.
The title is bugging me though. Much.

i LOVEEE the title. it's so simple & cool.

I hope the full song is gonna have something new. Because I don't want to hear a song like "kiss o kill ~episode II~".

Oh wow, it sounds so awesome, so kiss o' killish!! AHHH! :thud

The title dosen't really bother me though XD
I personally don't mind when she gives strange names to her songs as long as it sounds good, to me it's ok even if she names them like "food" or "cake" (yeah, I'm hungry now) XD

I can't wait for the new album too!!!!!!!!
I don't want a NEXT LEVEL cover again

I know of a german band that names their demos whatever comes to their mind or whatever they see while recording them, titles like dog, applepie, iPod or the names of their microphones usually end as titles then xD

Lol, awesome :roflmao

Well, I guess it's because I'd run it through several translators and it'd be like... reversed, haha.

-hides-

This title also reminds me od Beyonces and Gaga's Telephone :laugh Randomness~<3

thank you!!!!
You took the words out of my mouth. ayu is the most emotional performer and has the most emotional songs of any performer, IMO. (:

Omg, I never even thought of that.

^^ Yeah, I never understood some people talking about 'lack of emotion' in some of her songs, like Days... I thought Days was very emotional in every aspect. And seriously, there's only so much one can do with her voice.... If the song isn't emotional for you, maybe it's just you, and not because she sounds "boring"?
Really, I've never felt lack of emotion in any Ayu song. If there's one thing she's good at, it would definitely be showing emotion. She's terrible at dancing, and she isn't the greatest singer ever, but my gosh, between her lyrics and the sincerity she puts into her performances, her music is definitely always emotional, in my opinion.

Sometimes I'm not sure what people are looking for when it comes to emotion... do they want her to start (audibly) bawling while singing the chorus/verses in the studio or something?

A connection is what I'm looking for. I can't really explain it, but it's something I feel so strongly in her songs, but not in songs like Days and Sunset. It's a certain feeling, the feeling that I think makes her voice so amazing despite it being techincally very mediocre

Yeah, that's why I have such a strong connection to her music, because I can feel the emotions she puts into practically every one of her songs. Whether she's happy, sad, angry, or anything else, it comes out in her voice, and I love that. I don't think I've ever felt in any one of her songs she was disconnected and not putting any emotion into it.

I like the preview \shrug\ I mainly watch the CM over and over again just to hear the organs though. It's so epic sounding, and it reminds me of Guilty Gear. Guilty Gear was the first thing I thought of when I heard it also... ):

Yeah, I take it back. She has a lot of emotions in her song, it's just a matter of connecting with that emotion.

I feel something from Days, Sunset, and Curtain call (added because it's one of those songs that people call emotionless), so I don't really see what's so different for them really. Days is sugary sweet cutesiness where she's longing for someone, so I don't think it's supposed to have any sort of "strong" emotion in the first place. Lord, imagine if she sang Days like she did is this LOVE? or something. I guess it should be compared to something like teddy bear but in place of her father, it's like some guy who she likes but knows he won't return the feelings. I don't know, it's hard to describe for Days since I think it requires being a girl to understand, haha. Actually, Sunset is kind of like that as well, with the really girly feminine feelings but more of a father-daughter love.

I have a hunch that the reason a lot of people despise Sunset because of Sunrise's existence, which is sad since they are meant to complement one another, not compete against each other. Oh, and about Curtain call, I think it's one of those tracks that you either get or you don't. Sure, it's simple, sounds like Without You, and the lyrics are very barebones for an Ayu track, but after you recognize its beauty, all of that kind of just doesn't matter anymore. ~It's from her heart~ and all, you know. I want to see the AT09 Curtain call performance already, jeez.

Maybe it's just you (and a handful, perhaps bucketful of people) who don't feel a connection from those songs? Or maybe you're not supposed to...? I'm sure many guys who listen to Ayu are like "Huh?" when a song mainly deals with father-daughter love or unrequited feelings that a girl has for a guy, haha.

Honestly, Days is the only Ayu song that is truly my life story, and it pisses me off so much to hear her pretty much "lalalalawtfever~" singing it. Maybe it's just me, but that's what it sounds like.

I just like feeling a connection with her songs in her voice, and Days was the first one for me that didn't have that. Sunset is the other one. They just feel void, empty, and fake

Hm, I think I would understand what you mean if you could propose a way that she could sing the song that would make it seem not so hollow and actually have feeling, otherwise it just seems like you're nitpicking. For me, she's singing in Days like she always does, so I don't really get it. I can just imagine her doing a bunch of girly poses while singing in the recording booth while listening to the song...

Save that for the gossip blogs... it doesn't really apply anyway unless it really is way too long to read.

come on! the clip is too short to judge the quality of the song.

That's sorta proof she's SINGING THE SONG WRONG. Days is a depressing song, it's sad. BUT SHE DOESN'T SING IT THAT WAY. If you can imagine her posing all girly singing Days, which is as I've sad, a pretty sad song you've negated your whole point.

I'm sure most people aren't judging the "entire song" when they say they love it, but more often than not, I think when people enjoy the preview (15s or 30s or a minute and 23 seconds) they will enjoy the full track when it's released later.

I think if everyone thought "This preview is only 15 seconds long, what's the big deal?", we'd seriously need to have our status as "TeamAyu" members taken away from us, haha.

Days really doesn't give me "depressing" when I listen to it... it seems more like it's a "girly, youthful innocent love" sort of thing. I think you might be the one misreading the song's intentions, not me.

Have you actually taken the time to read the song's lyrics? There's nothing like that in the lyrics, the lyrics are a desperate plea to have the person who she loves to let her keep loving him, despite him having someone else. Girly and youthful and innocent, totally right? No.:shakehead

yes, i hope people do judge the song again when the full version comes out

Well, if I haven't read the lyrics, then you clearly haven't actually listened to the song...

I HAVE listened to the song,THAT'S the whole problem here. Her voice gives off the innocent puppy love crap you keep talking about, BUT the lyrics are actually very sad and heart wrenching. There is a complete disconnect between subject matter and vocal performance. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT I'M MAKING.

Oh, okay. What's the issue with that? She did it with Trauma, so why not do it here? It's kind of like one of those things where she's trying to intentionally show a disconnect much like how some people put up a front (the song being happy innocent loveliness) when they're really depressed/whatever (the actual subject matter of the lyrics) and they don't want people to see what's really going on in their hearts or w/e. I might be reading into it too much but that's how it seems to me.

--from Trauma

Because it made sense in Trauma, due to the lyrical content. There's no reason for it in Days, it just happens.

Okay, on this Days Discussion:

I also thought it was meant to be a very depressing, serious topic..... But maybe that's because I can personally relate to that experience..?.... But you know, I think this proves that Ayu truly does the emotion well, and that it's all on how the person herself takes it. :yes
Grace, maybe you don't connect with this song, even though you've lived it, because your experience was something totally different than how Ayu portrayed it? Or that you were expecting something different in general from her approach to it? Or... Maybe your subconscious doesn't allow you to connect with something like that, because it was too painful for you?.... I'm getting all psychological here, hah.

Subject matter = yes, very sad. But I think the song itself is not trying to sound sad at all. Do you understand what I mean? It's like..., the lyrics paint a pretty depressing picture and people who have gone through an unrequited love will relate to it pretty well, but I think as a song it just gives more a warm and fluffy feeling as opposed to a depressing one, that's all. Not once have I listened to Days and thought "Wow, this song is really depressing." which is more along the lines of what I would think when listening to say, GUILTY than Days.

lol@song title. we get ballad, and now microphone. I think her next song should be lyrics, voice, producing, or synthesizer.

Except for the fact that the commercial is 100% recycled, I think the song sounds ok from the 15 second preview that has alot of talking ontop of it.

I wonder if this'll be like ourselves where the song is "light" and the video is really dark. only this time it'll be vice versa.

Sounds kind of haunting near the end. Reminds me of something off of Guilty

^ Which is a good thing. :yes I would love a few more tracks that would fit in with the GUILTY era!! :D

Yeah, I see what you mean with the actual music. It is very bittersweet - and kinda cutesy, since it's so poppy, hah - so yeah..


....And I actually really like the title "Microphone". :innocent

It looks like there is so much love for GUILTY. I remember a lot of users complaining about it. Lol. Maybe the complaints always stick out more than the compliments. Lol.

Oh wow, I love her new song! Can't wait for the full version! I don't see anything wrong with the song title, it sounds decent to me.
And for the Days discussion, I actually really like the song. I think the whole thing about the lyrics being sad and voice being cute is intentional. It's sorta like the smiles of sorrow thing where you feel pain but you are instead smiling. I actually think Days is really touching and I feel connected. Just my opinion. :D

LOL Days is about a crush... Not death, not mourning, not love beyond the grave. There is nothing "depressing" about a crush even if the feelings are not returned. It is not that serious O_O;

:yes
I am one of the ones who LOVES GUILTY. I remember everyone complaining about it and I felt awkward because internally I was raving about it.
With Ayu's albums I can't really rank them.
GUILTY is definitely at like a 6 way tie with (miss) understood, My Story, Memorial Address, I am..., and NEXT LEVEL (yes I loved that one as well). :luv2

Sounds infectious. It seems to fit better with the CM than Sparkle did too.

Honestly LOL now no one can deny the greatness of Days if it can take up 2-3 pages of debate
i like it it's like fairyland with it's happy butsoundingsadlynostalgic feeling

honestly off topic but ^ at the cm comment i swear glitter sounded better in the cm then it did when the whole song got leaked LOL just sayin

Ayu's music is often confusing. A song can appear to be happy by the way it is sung and how it is sung (e.g. costumes and the whole stage) but the lyrics can often be quite sad. It's very confusing.

I felt the same way for GREEN!

I'm hoping Microphone will surpass all expectations~ I wonder if it will be a single or an album-only song.

I love songs with a happy beat but sad lyrics. My Way by Saori@destiny is a good example of this. It has a bunch of happy synth and poppy instrumentation but the song is about suicide XD

Same~! A lot of GACKT songs have that theme, as well as Yokan by Dir en grey. :P
It adds more dimensions to a song.

Yay, another "Microphone" approve-er! :P
And yeah, that's exactly how she meant Days to be, I'm sure. Like I said, it's bittersweet. :yes Because the whole idea is that she cares for him so much, that even though it hurts he doesn't want to be with her, she's happy he's finding somebody who will bring him joy.

Hm, well, if you think she's talking about just a crush, then yeah, I guess it's not really "depressing", but... Well, I just assumed she was talking about somebody who's closer to being a true love, rather than a simple crush. And in that case, it's very sad. :(

WOOOOW honestly i only played the cm three times (once yesterday, once this morning and once juuust now) and the chorus is in my head LOL I DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OPINION YET like i swear it's not just because it's ayu LOOL UGH MAN this is waiting the wait all the more unbearable i wish she would just get it done with

is anyone else sort of fearing the panasonic cm because of how potentially catchy the song might be LOL because i definitely am

I can relate to Days as the love of my life found another guy. We're still great friends, and for the longest time I thought I'd never be able to be around her because of the pain. But after I saw that he was a lot like me, and a very good guy indeed, I realized that at least she is with a good man and I don't have to worry about her. So I'm happy with any moments I can spend with her, regardless if we aren't labeled as "boyfriend/girlfriend" - I have only one wish (and try not to expect nothing more), but to let me keep loving her just the way I do (Days lyrics).

That's how I see it. She's definitely sad to not be with him, but she sees it as she'd rather have him in her life than not have him there at all. Either way, they get to spend moments together. I think she sings Days with a very bitter-sweet sound.

Sorry I know this is way off-topic. Lol.

I listened to it just once. And I won't anymore until the full song comes out. It's just stupid to listen to the short preview over and over again.

usually low quality leaks pop up before an actual cd rip. so maybe it's that. sometimes they also give the song some final touches.

^ oh no no that's not what i mean LOL i mean the hq part where we just heard the chorus in the kiwi commercial blocked out everything else in the song that made me dislike it later LOL! a bit dry to the song but meh sometimes i get around to listening to it

can we just rename this thread "the thread about anything" LOL

I totally agree with you. She knows whether the song is sad or not, she surely sung it with her heart in it when she recorded it and didn't accidentally sing a song she wrote herself the "wrong way". I actually do feel a little sorrow in her voice but it's otherwise a very soft, warm and "we weren't meant for each other but you'll always mean so much to me" kind of song so I don't see why it should be any more... anguished.

after lsitening to the preview a lot of times... wow it gives me a biiiig DUTY feeling... *-* caaaan't waait!

In case the Days discussion is still running: I think it's more of a bittersweet song, she is sad, but she also is happy for being able to spent time with that person and for that persons happiness. So if she sang it sobbing all the way through that would definitely be wrong, songs like You were... are much sadder.

thanx! but MICROPHONE?? XDD and another Honda CM?

sounds interesting, gonna wait for full preview and the PV just imagine it with the outfit and the rockish/punk hairstyle.awesome!

It's definitely a crush. Maybe a crush on someone close to her, but it's not destined love denied. :laugh When I think of songs that are depressing, songs like fated and Together When... come to mind. Those are way more heartbreaking than Days lol. You can even argue Days is anthem of the stalker. :roflmao

Days was meant to be a bittersweet song... it's supposed to be those songs that sound really sweet, yet you could feel this tinge of sadness as well... I think Ayu managed to do that. :)

^yep agree. I think it;s chorus was sung to portray that emotion. It's kinda like MY ALL.

-blinks-

I'd say it's a grower. Many Ayu song titles tend to take a while to sink in that they're "really" Ayu songs. During the CM-airing phase, many people say that the title really doesn't fit, the title is uninspired, etc etc... but eventually when the full song comes out, that sort of stuff disappears for the most part. Though there are still fans who are like "u guys i still don't like the title of microphone/It was/rollin'/whatever" and I guess for those people, the titles just never sink in.

Too much kiss o' kill going on it seems...and her vocals sound the way they do when she's struggling in the later parts of her concerts. But I guess it's LQ and only a few seconds so far, so I won't totally judge it yet. hehe

I'm really kind of "huh" at a lot of the kiss o' kill comments. Yes, there is an organ here. Yes, there is an organ in kiss o' kill. I don't think that really makes them all that similar... if anything the majority of the preview is a lot more like identity than kiss o' kill and then when the organ comes in, it's like kiss o' kill?

I'm also surprised that a lot of people are able to hear her "vocal quality" when we have trouble even hearing her lyrics in the CM clip. I guess it's weird since people say this clip is too short or that she's too drowned out to judge the quality of the song, but it's just fine to say that her vocals appear to be "struggling" (Not just you, I've just seen it elsewhere too)... how is it supposed to sound when there are spokespeople talking over it and such?

IIRC, the vocal for Sparkle sounded the sameish way when we got it during Christmas last year.

For comparison's sake:

Sparkle from the CM was one of those CM mixes where her voice was different than the final original song right? Kind of like GREEN? I hope if it's the same for Microphone that she didn't decide to sing it deeper in the final song, I like how she's singing it in the CM clip.

i agree with this. i don't get why everyone keeps complaining about the title. yes, at first it seems a little "off" for ayu but she's always been like that. you can never predict her titles and it's always like "really??" when they are revealed. besides, her titles (no matter how strange) always fit just fine with the song. there is always a reason. who knows...maybe the song is about times when she feels weak but then she remembers that she has to be strong and she's able to pick up the microphone again and continue singing. i'm sure we'll understand more once the full song is released. ^^

Microphone sounds a lot more polished in it's preview then Sparkle did, so maybe it's the final mix?

If you want a clearer version of the CM version of Sparkle:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yzxodmzqkdz

It pretty much sounds like the final mix imo except NO NO NOs had not been added when the CM came out.

Just saw this now.

Did she seriously name a song Microphone?

Yes, she did.

It'll probably make more sense when we get more lyrical content as do most of her titles.

yep and she named a single GREEN/Days :innocent

and named songs As if..., BALLAD, Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~, Free & Easy, Mirrorcle World, rollin', my names WOMEN, Greatful days, etc. Microphone seems like a normal/good title to me, especially compared to her weird ones.

I don't think Microphone sounds weird... After "Load of the SHUGYO," Ayu could name her song Callamazoo and I wouldn't bat an eye.... GOD AYU ANNOUNCE THE ALBUM NOW!!!! :tired

I think the only things that would sound weird for an Ayu song title are either a curse word in English, or like... "マイクロフォン/anything Japanese" then I would be like "Ayu, wtf?" but until then, I welcome all new titles with open arms because they eventually become "normal" for Ayu.

I'm looking at you, STEP you. And maybe even LOVE 'n' HATE. (makes me think of Cap'n Crunch somewhat...)

Oh wow! This seems very promising and new! I can not wait for the full!~

:laugh
Ugh, now that'll be all I can think of with that song--Thanks a lot!! :eviltongu

Yeah, I guess GREEN is an odder name. :laugh And STEP you... I actually like my name's WOMEN though. You can get a sense of what the song is about just from the title.

But, Microphone. Hm... I'm left to ponder what it's going to be about.

Well my idea from Microphone is how a message can be spoken and magnified so that many can hear it.

"GREEN" isn't all that odd lol she's talking about the overwhelming sensation she feels for someone and having those feelings exposed. her love and honesty may bloom like the trees when they "change color and bud once again" (turning green).

STEP you (even tho it makes no sense grammatically) = taking those steps towards 'you' (the person she's singing to) and getting closer to knowing them

my name's WOMEN = implying that with her message in the song, she speaks for all women in general

Ayu_no_tenshi, I think most fans understand the meanings of the titles now that the full songs have been out for a while, but I think we're mainly talking about what's people's first impressions are when they see the titles. Like how STEP you / GREEN / my name's WOMEN were in CMs and those were people's first glimpses at the titles and people wondered why they were titled what way and so on because they were rather odd.

The same thing is happening here with Microphone because no one really knows what the song is about. Well, that and some people seem to REALLY not like microphones...

Nothing? A new song coming from nowhere is definitely something in Ayuforumfanland.

omg such a long thread for nothing! xD



cant wait to hear the full song and see whats all about this time! surely another album :)

Yes, a new song is very exciting. However twenty pages of the same collective opinion and a couple mini-fights over song perception is (although not new for AHS) probably what SURREAL_RAINBOW was referring to. =/

lol imagine if there had to be

New song [Microphone] Preview Honda Spark CM!! ~thread two~

Still, after a drought of any announcements, something like this is to be expected.

I would imagine that an announcement of the album title/cover or the tracklist would get a very similar reaction. It's just how things are at AHS. People talk, some people read those things and reply, some people just say whatever they clicked in to say and never click the thread again.

(Though in 2003, maybe like 3-5 pages would've been made about a topic like this, but the community seemed to be a bit less active in terms of posts back then...)

Very very true. I'm not surprised at the amount, I just wanted to make sure no feelings are crumpled in the process. :)

I think that having a second thread would be so brilliant. We could wear it as a badge of our individuality. Or amazing ability to talk nonstop. I of course, wholeheartedly take part in this ability. ;DD

I don't care how many threads are made. Let's just hope not too many because that would mean, well in the end, that there was a lot of time between the preview and more news. Maybe not though. Some people are super posters and reply to threads really fast. :laugh

I'm seriously baffled though. I was basically sitting for twenty minutes thinking about what the song could be about. (yes, I obviously have no life since I'm doing this on a Saturday night.)

lol @ people upset because of 20 pages... Um, didn't YW/B have like 8 threads before covers and tracklists were officially announced?

I wonder if this'll be like Sparkle where the single/album mix is different from the CM. I really wish they'd release a full version of the CM version of Sparkle, heh.

^ I don't think anyone is upset here. Just very amused. At least I speak for myself. :B

^ if we were to get upset every time this happens...we'd go nuts sooner or later :P This is usual and "normal" for us ^_^

^ Exactly. ;D [Aren't we already nuts? XD]

is awesome! new song!... then there's not much to talk about right?? thats what i meant... people are just making up their own stories and stuff about this new song xD (dont they always? not like i care too much :P)

i was actually more surprised by the long thread than by the commercial itself. thats all.

I love Honda :D song sounds alright. Depends if her vocals are better than in the You were single...