Key and clock
 

I think many people who bought this album have already noticed that keys and clocks are all around in the booklet. What do you think they mean?

1. Key --- I think this is very clear, after reading the interview of "Oricon Style". She says that it was so hard and oppressed experience to create this album and it was like when she had been creating the first album. One thing I was surprised is that she said she had thought of nothing but being honesty while making this album, because I thought she had always been honest enough and sometimes too honest. I'm sure she is confessing many thoughts and experiences of her own honestly in this album. For example, "Liar" would be about her first love experience, which I think she confessed for the first time. And I suppose "Replace" might be for the parted friend she once sang for in the songs "FRIEND" and "FRIEND II". And "HONEY" is about --- I don't need to say that. I think the key is the symbol of opening many boxes of her secret.

2.Clock --- There are illustrated clocks in almost every page. It seems they show each time in 24 hours. What's the meaning of it? I suppose they show that the songs are arranged in time order except first four songs. "WONDERLAND" reminds me of her childfood when reality and dream are mixed. (The horrible laughters are so effective. I love it.) And I think the songs from "Liar" to "CAROLS" are about her past and the songs after "Kaleidoscope" are about her present time. How do you think?

so i guess the key maens the key to her heart then :)
and the clock...i have no idea..some people say it is related to the things she does in the time of day, but i am not so sure about that

...Damn. Good..ness..how can someone see things this way? It's wonderful :eek

that's an interesting thought! ^_^ I never thought of it that way. again. it must mean that she has used the key and opened up the doors to her mind/heart. She is working hard to be honest.

wow...interesting~
mmm...maybe key means...that she has given the key to her fans, so that they could learn from more about the real "ayu"~ and the clock means...well, her life in general?

i love the key. i wish to duplicate it.

I think the clocks mean the time she was doing the activity in the pictures that appear on the same page as the clock... Um... I think tt this seems quite obvious...

maybe they don't mean anything, she just likes keys and clocks for no particular reason...maybe avex told her to do it? :P maybe she personally hates keys and clocks and wants to kill them all? :P

MY STORY so they used a key to show you're unlocking her diary, her secrets, her story.

And as a diary, it's story of one day in the life of Ayumi Hamasaki.

From the words of AVEX Taiwan. The booklet's theme is that of a day in her life.

Key: key to Ayu's heart and this shows us her true feelings and her true story.
Clock: How time has passed by, Ayu feels it is time people hear her story.

thank you for the info.. i have to read the lyrics yet --

wow that's a good thought i was wondering why she divided her ballads from the rock songs

The key is because she loves Kingdom Hearts.

Remember the AHS Enter picture before this one? She had a key on her chain around her neck. But if you looked closely, it was no oridinary key. no, it was a keyblade.
so she's just so completely in love with that fantastic game, she puts keys all over het album.

Wonderland is probably a tribute to "Alice in Wonderland", the third world you visit in the game.

Somehow I doubt that, but it's a good theory anyway. :laugh

I'm aware that Ayumi uses plenty of symbolism in her lyrics, but I think there is less symbolism in some of the little nuances of her message, particularly the things like the "key" and "clock." However, if I were to interpret them, I think I would see them this way:

Ayumi has mentioned keys a few times. In her "Duty" album, she has a song called "key" where she sings "I turn the key and send it to you." In "MY STORY," she urges listeners to "Make violent noises on the closed door of your heart if you have lost the key to open it." I suppose keys have always held symbolic meaning to her. As to what that meaning is, I have no idea. Perhaps she feels "locked in" that she doesn't know who her father is and feels if she only had a "key" to this secret, it would open a whole new world for her. Or maybe, if she had known her father, her life would have been a whole different world and she would not be where she is today. (Notice in the "Moments" PV, she opens a door and sees a strange world, in "About you" she is locked in a box, in "M" the doors of a church are being opened and closed, and in "NEVER EVER" she is locked in handcuffs that need a key to open them).

Time has always been an issue in Ayumi's lyrics. She constantly refers to events in the past, most notably in her song "Duty" that centers around the entire concept. "I am..." and "RAINBOW" mention words like "future" and "tomorrow" and at the same time, most of the verbs are verbs of past tense. I have no idea where that fits in the grand scheme of things, but honestly, I thought the clock was just a cute graphic to accompany the album's image concept of living through a day, which was the same theme used in the "A Song for XX" booklet.

haha good one. thanks for chuckle

well i havent noticed that ^^... maybe she mix up the idea.. ^^