Distance

greggerz189 · #1 12th March 2006, 06:29 AM

For some reason, I feel distant from Ayu right now...It's hard to explain. But ever since (miss) and Startin' came out, I feel that Ayu and I have grown apart. Maybe it's just because she's in her in-between period--between singles, but she feels far away from me. I am usually very dependent on Ayu's music in my life -- I rely on her music to get me through each day and keep my spirits high (I don't think she's a god or anything, she's just theraputic XD), and I used to be able to listen and it would be like she was right with me, consoling me in her own special way even though she wasn't really there (you know what I mean?)...but now, it's like I can't feel her personality as much anymore. I'm not saying that her music lacks personality or anything, but I feel like Ayu is far away right now. I'm not bashing her or anything and I still love her music and think she's #1, but there's lots of distance. Maybe she's off recording her next single? I'm sorry if this sounds confusing, but I was just wondering if anyone else feels that Ayu is distant from us right now? Maybe I'm just feeling weird? XD I apologize if what I said offended anyone or confused anyone, but if you get what I mean, then I would like to discuss it. I guess the biggest feeling I have about Ayu right now is that I miss her. Again, I don't know if this makes any sense whatsoever, but I feel as if she has gone somewhere, and she's going to come back soon, but she's been gone for a long time. Miss....? Yeah, I think I miss Ayu.

DDR ninja · #2 12th March 2006, 07:11 AM

^lol wow greggerz that was a long post ^_^ But I know what you mean actually, I think. I listen to Ayu a lot, but lately I've been listening to other artists a lot more and depended on their music a lot more than Ayu's, like Mika, Utada Hikaru, Lee Jung Hyun, Gackt, Rin' and other random artists, but especially T.M. Revolution. I don't listen to her as much as I used to. I would talk more on the subject but I must got to bed... @_@

#3 12th March 2006, 07:13 AM

Don't apologize for what you feel. Always stay true to your opinions even if people beat them up or get offended.

I miss the old Ayumi as well. She's not 'original' nor 'edgy'. She's become bland and doesn't release with the quality she use to.

I've grown apart from her new things as well.

Old material all the way to Memorial Address is loved by me. I don't care what annoying crazed fan says about not supporting Ayumi for every single she releases. If I don't like it, I don't like it.

Cheers to you.

truehappiness · #4 12th March 2006, 07:38 AM

That's true though.

I fear the time where I feel I might be apart from Ayu. Her songs are like therapy for troubled souls.. her lyrics reflect many people's emotions at the moment, and there's just about one Ayu song or more for every feeling you can feel. :]

She'll probably come back to you, so don't worry about it

greggerz189 · #5 12th March 2006, 07:55 AM

Oh I'm so glad that all made sense to you guys!! ::breathes a sigh of relief:: I don't think that the quality of her music has gone down -- I know she's just dabbling in other styles, but I feel like she half-assed (miss)understood. I still bought both versions of the album, and I'll always support Ayu, but like I said--the distance...I think she's just a little too commercial right now--too cookie-cutter. I guess maybe deep down I think that she's lacked originality lately, I just didn't want to come out and downright say it. I mean, generally I don't think that's the case, because some of my all-time favorites of Ayu's are on (miss) like HEAVEN and Bold & Delicious. But I truly feel like she rushed the album.

^^See how confused and conflicted I am!!! XD

thanks a bunch truehappiness--I really appreciate what you said. I'm sure she'll come back to me too. ^___^

Hm...I think I'm going to write to Ayu. I had planned on sending her a set of lyrics I wrote about her and her influence in my life, and I managed to use quite a bit of her song titles and still have the lyrics make sense!! Woot! Anyway, I planned on sending it to her a long time ago, and I think that now that I'm feeling distant, I might. I'll probably write a cover letter saying that my japanese is ICK! and that's why I'm writing in English, but I'm hoping she'll find a translator!

truehappiness · #6 12th March 2006, 08:10 AM

It might be quite hard to get mail to the most influential jpop queen in japan! :x

However, I do not believe she half-assed (miss)understood. I think that it feels sort of rushed due to the mass of GEO songs [no offense to GEO]. Ayu had a plan for the album, however her interest in Sweetbox and the staff's intervention of getting GEO caused Bold and Delicious' creation along with the other album tracks. I suspect that the 'team up!' happened in between August and October, since rainy day was already announced for Shin Onimusha by them. :x Plus, the album was done by November! Ayu recorded a bunch of the songs in NY as well. [I suspect she did the GEO songs there..]

Mad_Cactuar · #7 12th March 2006, 08:12 AM

The way you said it was like Ayu had died and we didn't know because Avex is covering up to put Ai Otsuka in disguise to act like Ayu and announce to the people that "I am retiring, here's my list CD, A Bestest!" to delude the masses so Avex could profit without Ayu's death getting in theway, and you could feel it.

It's just one single, don't worry, she'll get back soon. Maybe with something like Heaven...

truehappiness · #8 12th March 2006, 08:29 AM

No no!

They were speaking of Ayu not feeling like.. usual for the last two releases. [the album + the single]. In my opinion, she generated a sound that is so RADICALLY different that it really doesn't fit her or we're just not used to it because usually we have this one Ayu sound.

Another reason for greggerz confusion can be due to the GEO composition. x.x I want more CREA and DAI and Kazuhito Kikuchi.

MeMeMeChant · #9 12th March 2006, 08:40 AM

Ah, yes, I know how you feel.

Ayumi really sparks people's interests and she... keeps them company. Like a lot of people say, she makes people not feel alone anymore and it's great. I'm one of those people.

Her newest single.. the lyrics didn't really reach me like the older ones. Teens is wonderful but the other two are a bit.. meh. I've been experiencing the distance myself, which scares me because she's one of those people I want to keep close, I don't know why the distance is there suddenly, ever since the new year began it seems as if a wall just dropped inbetween us.

My interest for her newest concert has been able to go through that wall and be a little closer to Ayumi again. I'm sure it'll work for you too. Don't worry about it. =]

truehappiness · #10 12th March 2006, 08:45 AM

Teens was NOT an Ayu lyrical work. It was done by TRF first. [Ayu covered it in their latest album and the acoustic version is on the single]

I think that Born to Be... and Startin' accurately convey the feelings of the products they were meant to endorse :]

Mad_Cactuar · #11 12th March 2006, 08:51 AM

Born To Be... is like her old stuff though, only much better. Much "modern". So no need to feel distance.. Maybe you could listen to all her old stuff again. Memorial Address and Duty are still good even now.

truehappiness · #12 12th March 2006, 08:59 AM

Yeah, it is like her old stuff.. but..

A lot of her new things can be listened to now and still be good. You just need to wait a while for them to become like finewine <3

[cause you can't know if something will be good in a year.. in a day,.. o-o] xD

hallelujah_united · #13 12th March 2006, 09:19 AM

Don't feel too sad about feeling like this, maybe you're just not getting used to her new style. Plus, you could always enjoy whatever you have now, and put those negative feelingsto one side. Music is meant to be appreciated and enjoyed, not obsessed over.

Qt Mashi · #14 12th March 2006, 09:24 AM

hmmmm...i know how you feel and i think i sort of feel the same, i noticed in these past few weeks and it's hard to explain but yeah...i think it's because i was quite dissappointed with her last 2 singles....i just don't feel hyper about her things anymore which makes me sad =(

hope Ayu comes back soon =)

AyUmIXx · #15 12th March 2006, 10:18 AM

greggerz189: you must be really a big fan of her..

I just started to like her since 2003...
and now her works are growing into me just now...
everytime I saw her pictures or anything that talks about her...I'll definitely really surprise about it and feel so happy about it...

when there's a singing competition that is being held in one of the Plaza in my country, they are using Ayu's picture, the evolution single one as the singing competition advertisement..it's a very huge picture of Ayu.. even though they are using Ayu's old picture..but in my country, Japanese singers are seldom to be heard or sold...I'm like..OH MY GOD..they're using Ayu's picture.. and I keep looking at the picture for a lot of time..and feel proud about it...

though my friends asked me to attend the competition and sing Ayu's songs.. but.. I think it's not gonna be really good to sing japanese songs in front of the people who don't really know about Japanese songs...

and Yes..I'm growing up into her very deep now!

bluegie · #16 12th March 2006, 10:37 AM

everyone dun worry about that... ayu will be back to your heart pretty soon. i had the same experience during the Dearest --> A BALLADS era. It's funny tho the reason of me (feeling) distant from ayu is kinda opposite. During that period I feel like she's just repeating the same type of song again and again and I was getting tired of them (e.g., Free & Easy sounds like M; Indepedent sounds like her ones; etc.). After "&" suddenly the distance is shorten and now I'm OK with her release (except her pvs.. maybe..). You can't hope that you'll get hyper for every single song she releases. There're some types you dun like. Probly there're 3 consecutive singles you dun really like. But if you can stay tight at this position and not getting further, you'll be back pretty soon from that distance. Trust me, I enjoyed her latest music not because she tries to invent something new. It's just I think ayu is doing something on her own other than making herself as avex vending machine.

SheFliesHigher · #17 12th March 2006, 12:52 PM

Well, I can't say I feel the same as you do, but I have been having different feelings as of late. Feelings like sadness and nostalgia because Ayu isn't as popular or influential as she used to be. I think it's a real shame that (Miss)Understood didn't sell 1 million copies, because I absolutely love that album. It hurts me in a way, yanno? Because I feel attached to Ayu. If people talk badly about her or something like that, I feel like they are talking badly about a friend. I don't mean when people say, "I hated this song" etc...I mean when people say things like, "she's not beautiful" or "she can't sing".

I am going to Ayu's concert on April 15th, so I am looking forward to being surrounded by lots of other fans. I think that will show me that Ayu is still well-loved.

***ImpactBreaker*** · #18 12th March 2006, 02:03 PM

I could feel (miss)understood as much as her older albums. I don't understand how can she be "way too commercial" now, when her music has actually always been very comercial.

There's hardly an ayu song where there are no synth intrumentation, guitar solos or electronic beats (You rarely ever get a pure acoustic song).
Not talking about you greggerz, but sometimes I have the feeling people aren't getting tired of the new ayu, they've just gotten tired of ayu overall and instead of admitting it, just blame it in her recent releases (explains why the loss of interest gets worse progressively with every new release). I wonder how many times a day those hardcore "I am..." fans actually listen to evolution/M or still can feel them as much as before or if they just base their opinions because in the memory they remember having listened to that song 1.000.000 times in a distant past (but hardly cares to listening to the song lately).

AyuGAME · #19 12th March 2006, 03:21 PM

i feel that way too greg
but i'm too tired now...i will discuss it tomorrow

ayu_ready? · #20 12th March 2006, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggerz189

For some reason, I feel distant from Ayu right now...It's hard to explain. But ever since (miss) and Startin' came out, I feel that Ayu and I have grown apart. Maybe it's just because she's in her in-between period--between singles, but she feels far away from me. I am usually very dependent on Ayu's music in my life -- I rely on her music to get me through each day and keep my spirits high (I don't think she's a god or anything, she's just theraputic XD), and I used to be able to listen and it would be like she was right with me, consoling me in her own special way even though she wasn't really there (you know what I mean?)...but now, it's like I can't feel her personality as much anymore. I'm not saying that her music lacks personality or anything, but I feel like Ayu is far away right now. I'm not bashing her or anything and I still love her music and think she's #1, but there's lots of distance. Maybe she's off recording her next single? I'm sorry if this sounds confusing, but I was just wondering if anyone else feels that Ayu is distant from us right now? Maybe I'm just feeling weird? XD I apologize if what I said offended anyone or confused anyone, but if you get what I mean, then I would like to discuss it. I guess the biggest feeling I have about Ayu right now is that I miss her. Again, I don't know if this makes any sense whatsoever, but I feel as if she has gone somewhere, and she's going to come back soon, but she's been gone for a long time. Miss....? Yeah, I think I miss Ayu.

I think I do understand you
yes
I know what you mean
and that feeling is so sad
she is at a distance
it's like
she had lost something...something
waha-a-a-a-a!!!!
guy, you made me crying!!!!