Ayu's lyrics meanings.. Help?
 

It seems not only her videos are a little obscure, some of her lyrics are too.. Care to explain these lyrics in your own terms? All lyrics are Masa's translations from the Divine Ayu website, the number one Ayu site on the NET! (AHS is the Number 1 FORUM..)

1)WHAT IS "IT"? Is it a person or some kind of magical being?
2)Merely connects and rearranges memories? Wont that change a persons memories, resulting in a change of personality? Why do that?

1)The lyrics sounds SOOOO COOOLLL but what exactly do they mean? Especially "so very cutting" and "the gap between idealism and reality". Shouldnt it be between reality and fantasy?
2)What does she mean by "1,2,Step you"? Is it "want to step on you"? But why?

Thank you for answering these questions, even if they may seem absurd to some.. I cant sleep thinking about those, not to mention many more.. Sorry if this bothers you ARIGATO!!

ummm..i have no idea wat "IT" means, im not very good at analysing Ayuy's lyrics :P

yeah i love Ayu's lyrics, it's very different and meaningful

I didn't know what to vote ?__? But I read masa's translations and I have always thought she wrote deep lyrics... I love her lyrics... they really do have underlying meanings all throught the songs... and you can really relate to alot of them

haha mee too~, so thats why i havent voted yet...

i think Ayu's lyrics would be veyr hard to understand if you didnt speak japanese. A lot of things are lostor just dont make sence through the translation process. Even the best of translaters can't get some thoughts across :(

Dance with me? then it makes sense.. yeah, I get the point on Idealism.. THANKS!! Waiting for Duty..

WOW!!! Where did you get THIS from? THATS SOOO DEEP!! Yeah I understand it perfectly!! Nobody really wants to spend time to find out more about their identity and life even if its important, they expect information about those to just come automatically. Thats why most humans turn to superstitions. Sudden epiphany is the exact term! Wow, you must be smart...

OMG, YOU'RE A SUPER GENIUS.. Then I think if there's a lyrics thread for Ayu here, you should do the translations!! Yeah, I LOVE TORI AMOS (new fan, since Tales Of A librarian) and now I'm reading about the title track off The Beekeper, I LOVE THAT SONG, its really sad.. Anyway THANKS SOOO MUCH!!!!!

wELL, I dont really feel a strong emotion when listening to Ayu because I dont understand her lyrics. On the other hand, Tori really makes me emotional with songs like The Beekeper, The Power Of Orange Knickers, Toast, Ribbons Undone, Jackie's Strength and Spark!

Woah! the lyrics is so meaningful!! Thanks, Delirium-zerO!!

Ayumi's lyrics always mean a lot to me. The lyrics to fairyland espescially hit home.

"Even now I don't understand the meaning of growing up
But I wonder what that kid and that person are aiming at

They're probably walking around

Daybreak comes quickly these days
The smell of the wind changed, too

As if I'm reminiscing, or as if I haven't noticed
My heart starts to be faster"

These words really mean a lot to me.

I don't think the two options for the poll give much range. I think Ayumi's lyrics are very, very deep. But I don't skip them, once I am able to sit and read a translation, I feel stronger about the song. Like with Teddy Bear for example, everytime I hear it (espescially live versions) I want to start crying.

yEAH, I realized the options on the poll had a problem :P .. Nice to see that you also dont understand Japanese!! Many of us dont :D !!!

well, I´m a person that can read through human (sights right?),how they behave, how they talk and what ayu is singing for me can be "deciphered" in my own way no one can know the truth behind her lyrics til 100% ;)

I always love the way you explain things Delirium. The Duty riddle was indeed rather enlightening. I hope to see more of these.

what I think on the plot of the STEP you is...

'1,2, STEP you' = is like yea she wants to step on something..meaning she wants to forget all her doubts or anything she wants to put away....It's like stepping off on all your fears and hindrances in life.... get it? ^^

'The gap between idealism and reality'=the line which seperates "something"

Is so very cutting'=can't be inevitable? (did i use the right word?) it's like they can't avoid the fact that they';re seperated.

'And as we cannot cut them off, they are opening up.'=we cannot do anything for it, but slowly we it is fading...it's like they're slowly trying to understand everything...

'oh yeah yeah yeah'=and yeah oh yeah yeah yeah! ^____^ :P

and DUTY....

'If, after simplifying it a bit more, you think that "it"=after trying to understand eveyrthing once in awhile

'merely connects and arranges memories,'=the thing/problems/fears/wants/possessions slowly tries to recover our memories...

'then wouldn't everyone already have "it?"'= she's saying about the thing/problems/fears/wants/possessions

'I want you to realize that. '=yeah! she want you to realized that! :P

Oh yes I've read most of masa's articles. I was always interested in hidden meanings in lyrics so I've always tried reading about them whenever I could. Same goes for promotional videos interpretations.

i guess in Step You, the first part means that the difference b/w reality and idealism is inseparable. You sometimes can't say which is which.
This has often happened to me in that sometimes, if something actually happens in my life, i feel like it has happened before, but cant replace it. yet the truth is that i only saw in my dreams. In your dreams (most of the time) or when you're daydreaming, things go the way you want them to go, which is your ideal vision. But reality doesn't go that way.
Maybe Ayu is saying her being w/ her loved one is the ideal thing, but reality doesn't allow it.
i dont really get the part "And as we cannot cut them off, they are opening up."

i'm not sure if this explains it at all though.
and it just so happens that this is my fave verse in whole song!!

I get most of her songs.
The only song i can think of right now that i don't completely understand is Duty.

[I am... being one of the most understood by me :P]

Well I did read masa's site and some of it is hard to understand, especially some of his translations. Like 'A Song for xx' for example. Is it about a lost childhood?

First option? :\

"The gap between idealism and reality
Is so very cutting
And as we cannot cut them off, they are opening up."

I always thought she was saying, sometimes reality and idealism is sharp and that they happen to get mixed together sometimes. Like your dreams negative and positive kind of take over your reality and sometimes your reality takes over your dreams.

If I need to explain it further I guess I would say: You're afraid the person you're seeing will hate you for a hat you're wearing and you believe they'll break up with you and you'll get in a huge fight, so you avoid the person. It's kind of extreme but I guess it helps get a point across?

I always loved Trauma and Too Late

"Today's happy face, today's sad face.
Yesterday's weak self, tomorrow's strong self.
If it's you, who are you showing it to? If it's me, who should I show it to?"

When I'm in a relationship I always wonder who the person I'm seeing goes to for help and then I wonder who I should go to, ha ha ha! I dont remember reading anything about the song so I have no idea what it's really about.

"Perfectly understandable.. Not THAT deep..
*Skips the booklet and translations* Her music is good.."

Where's the option "Perfectly understandable and deep"? Just because it's understandable doesn't mean it's not deep


"The gap between idealism and reality is so very cutting.
And as we cannot cut them off, they are opening up."

Think of it this way:
"The gap between feeling that everything is right and knowing that not everything is right is a big one. Although we can't cut off these feelings, we are starting to express them now more than ever."

Fantasy is way different than idealism.
Idealism - Believing that everything will go the best it ever could.
Fantasy - Not real, too good to be true

Idealism is a state of mind (ie, you can be an idealist) but fantasy is a describing word (you can be in a fantasy world, but you can't be a fantasy-ist)

Her songs are in fact, quite deep in terms of meaning. (That is what I like about her!)

You will only understand her songs INSTANTLY and the meanings if only you've been through the same and exact circumstance of the song. Most of her songs are based on real-life situations and the obstacles that she faced.

Not easy to be decoded though, hahs!!

Ayu is my absolute favorite of all my favorite singers especially when it comes to her lyrics. I can't vote... I care about her lyrics, and I think some are understandable and deep~

Thanks Delirium-Zer0 for the help on Duty and STEP you; that was so interesting to read!! (^_^)

I wanna put my input into the lyrics and meaning of them, especially Duty.

The opening lines of Duty really have a great impact, I think, and I wanna say what they mean to me. She says everyone is looking for something, and I think that "it" that you refer to is just taking the place of the things people are looking for. People are all looking for something, but it could be different things, for example confidence, or love, or even money.

But she goes on to say that, she wonders how many people have actually noticed that what they are looking for is in the past.

I think this is really important in the song of Duty. I think the she is trying to tell us that the things we are looking for are just replacements for the things we lost somewhere along the way while we were growing up, or in her case, when she was becoming a star. Because I think we know, we all experience something, and lose it somewhere, and then we really want to get it back. For example, it could be as small as our favourite VHS when we were young, and we really want to watch it, so we start searching for the DVD, but can't find it; or it could be as important as someone who you loved, and they left, so you are trying to find someone like them, but you will never really find that person, because there is no replacement.

And she goes on to say, if she tries to simplify, then isn't that thing we are looking for simply bridging and arranging our memories, and if that's so, then doesn't everyone have that thing without even knowing it? I think this is important. Rather than looking for something to replace it, isn't it better to realize that we have the memories of the thing in the past, that everyone has memories of this thing in the past, and as it makes connections to the future, we can try to make things better by not searching for a replacement, but searching for new and improved things.

But because we keep searching, we'll never know the true power of the things we hold in our memories.

And finally, I think she is saying "If it's you, then you'll probably find it. If it's you, I'll take a gamble and believe you'll find it." I think she is not so sure that the person she is singing to will find what they are looking for, but I think this "kimi" is the person she is trying to find, her father, or some other, and so because this person is important to her, she wants to believe in that person, even if it's not possible for them to meet.

I also think the chorus has a lot of meaning, and not just expecting her end, etc. Of course, Duty was an album that talked a lot about her accepting that she may end one day, rather she will end one day, but I think there's a deeper meaning behind Duty chorus. I think when she talks about the end of a new era, it also talks about the beginning of a new one, which she talks a lot about in evolution. Therefore, when she says "next, it's my turn" I think this is her relenting the fact that she knows she must change with the era, that she doesn't want to, and that maybe she wants to continue searching.

I think it's appropriate that she starts the album off with Duty, because it states clearly to the listener that from here on out, you will hear something that is completely different than before, so please listen.

And I would like to go on to say how I think the song Duty and the song count down are really similar in content, but I don't have time right now... maybe later!!!

I think Deli is a true genius :yes

The poll is confusing me a bit. Only because something is understandable, doesn't mean it's not deep.

I think, most of Ayu's lyrics are VERY deep and deliver an important message too.
When I read her lyrics, they always make me think; they make me cry and laugh and hope. They make me feel hate and anger and sadness.
Ayu's lyrics touch me deeply most of the time.

And sometimes you just have to create your own meaning and your own storyline for her lyrics. Ayu said herself that she only writes about things and feelings that are important to herself and people, she cares about. But feelings can be very confusing sometimes, so you can't expect Ayu to tell us everything straightforward, because maybe she sometimes doesn't know herself.

I think it's like she sings in "until that Day...":

Hey, the reason of this smile and the meaning of this word can't be understood
Because I don't even want to make them understood

couldn't vote because we have to consider that it's normal that with the translations we loose many meanings.