The LOVE again era concepts analysis thread!

Andrenekoi · #1 8th July 2014, 07:51 PM

Overall guide-lines:

-The intention of this thread is discussing the concepts of Ayu's several releases, analysing the lyrics, the music, the visual, the videos and the tour concept.

-Everyone's insights about the concept of an era is welcome!

-Please, let's avoid the "this era rocked"/"this era sucked" stuff.

-And remember, when it's about the interpretation of a creative work, there's no right and wrong, just different impressions. Offenses towards another member discussing the subject will be reported.

Other Threads:
GUILTY
NEXT LEVEL
Rock’n’Roll Circus
Love Songs
FIVE
Party Queen
Colours
A one
M(A)DE IN JAPAN

LOVE again (you can download it here)

1. Wake me up
2. Song 4 u
3. Missing
4. SAKURA
5. Melody
6. task'n'bass
7. Bye-bye darling
8. snowy kiss
9. Sweet scar
10. petal
11. glasses
12. untitled for her... story 2
13. Gloria
14. Ivy
15. You & Me

LOVE again was Ayu's 14th studio album, released in 2013 as the 4th of 5 monthly releases to celebrate her 15th anniversary in the industry. LOVE again has a strong 90's jpop influence and was released under controverse among the fandom due to having all the studio tracks from the 2 EPs released before it ("LOVE" and "again") and the relationship with the dancer Maro. LOVE again's biggest hit is You & Me, A Summer Best's promotional track.

LYRICS (from here)

Wake me up

Spoiler:

Song 4 u

Spoiler:

Missing

Spoiler:

SAKURA

Spoiler:

Melody

Spoiler:

Bye-bye darling

Spoiler:

snowy kiss

Spoiler:

Sweet scar

Spoiler:

petal

Spoiler:

untitled for her... story 2

Spoiler:

Gloria

Spoiler:

Ivy

Spoiler:

You & Me

Spoiler:

BOOKLET (from here)

Spoiler:

PV's

Spoiler:

As we didn't really got a proper tour for LOVE again, I took the concert where she performed the most tracks of it and followed it's aesthetic closer:
Countdown Live 2012-2013 A: Wake Me Up (you can download it here)

Andrenekoi · #2 8th July 2014, 11:25 PM

So... This is a highly unpopular release, I wouldn't say it's even among my favorites, but I do think there's some interesting stuff on here:

- The "wake up" thing that was repeated on several ways during the era; it was in the same of the CDL, the name of the track that opened both the CDL, the album and the "again" EP. Also, in the booklet, Ayu is seemed rolling around the bed on photos with a pinkish, dreamy filter, with expressions like she was having the most sweet of the thoughts, until you get to the page with Gloria, on the next page with Ayu, the filter isn't pinkish and dreamy anymore and she left her bed. On the obi, you see her empty messed up bed. So, you have the "wake up" theme repeated again on the booklet and album art.

- A lot of people noticed this, but the album starts and ends with up-beat tracks with eletronic elements making reference to summer or at least, summerish elements. The 1st song of the album is about dealing with a heartbreak people pointed to you ahead that was going to happen, while the final track is about falling in love fast. This gives the album a "full circle" feeling, as it ends right before the point it started before... In other words, love again.

- Considering the tracks progression, the album can be seen as a representation of the process of falling in love, healing up and falling in love again.

- People also hated the triology, saying Ayu was exploring domestic violence to make money, I disagree with this. IMO the triology wasn't about a violence abuse, but about a relationship that already started in a bad way, Ayu was the unhappy girlfriend of Maro's friend and cheated him with Maro; had an intense development, most of You & Me video; until it ended on constant fighting. The reason why I don't see domestic violence on it is a)it's not constant, once they started fighting, the relationship ended and b) there wasn't unbalance of power, Ayu was fighting Maro as much as he fighted her.

- Snowy kiss seen to reference some elements from appears... Maybe this is how the relationship of the couple seemed from affar went

**DonkeyKongRemix** · #3 9th July 2014, 01:04 AM

I really enjoy some of the songs on this album... I wonder how closely together they were written though.

The idea I get from the lyrics of the different songs, is pretty much what you suggested, Andrenekoi, that she fell in love and has to go through a healing process, and then falling in love again.

I noticed some consistent elements through the lyrics:
looking towards the future, overcoming pain, a road once traveled or a journey that will be taken (for roads traveled, look at the lyrics for Snowy kiss and Petal), sunset and starry sky, holding onto the one she loves tightly, and some rather introspective thoughts.

I originally found this album to be a weaker one in her collection of music because I felt like the lyrics were predictable. But, I feel like people could relate to the lyrics easily and that they were very honest. I think it's a good album to come after Party Queen, as it suggests her coming out of that dark time and facing a brighter year. I say this because her lyrics on LOVE again are bittersweet at times, but she doesn't sound as if she's trying to bury her pain by over-indulging in pleasure.

(P.s., my favorite songs on this album are definitely Wake Me Up, Song 4 U, Ivy, and Sweet Scar!! I really love them!)

Gustavopc · #4 9th July 2014, 04:37 AM

^ About the songs being written closely one to another, iirc Wake me up was bought from Phrased Differently years before the song came a release. But then se don't know if ayu made the Japanese lyrics right back upon buying it or just later. I myself believe she had an idea back then and wrote the final thing by the end of 2012, all lyrics on LOVE again seem consistent with each other for me.

I like to think of LOVE again not only as the final chapter of the albums trilogy but also like an outside look upon the things that happened. There are sad things being said here, but she's not desperate like she was in Party queen, as she came to understand better what happened overall the last years, for herself and others. It is a mature album, consistent and the idea of finding love again in a cycle in this way is like accepting there can't be love without pain.

Surreal17 · #5 9th July 2014, 05:01 PM

This album is one of those albums that grow into you with the passing of time. This is how it happened to me.
I feel that this album is her "meditation" album (she had GUILTY in which she analyzed herself but that was too angry so I could not call it meditation, and also Party Queen but there she's in the middle of the whole situation and her emotions are everywhere so there's not really a balance). Instead, in LOVE again, she has a more calm and mature point of view.

I do not mess up things mixing the whole Maro situation, as I don't really feel this album as a Love album. I gave the album a different meaning.

If the Party queen tries to survive with herself (ayu doesn't give us a conclusion that she's healed; all the songs from Party Queen are in fact her own questions, doubts, upsets, dispair, solitude - she is aware of her situation, she's making efforts to forget, to encourage herself and she manages to survive. BUT she's not healed. I don't find HBYA a healing song, but just a encouraging song to go on) the girl/boy from LOVE again is way more determined, metamorphosing into a new human being, transceding into a new chapter.

I relate to MY STORY when thinking about LOVE again. The meaning is the same. It's like MY STORY is the rebellious brother of LOVE again:

*MY STORY - the girl is aware of the fact that the things that worked for her in the past are not valid anymore and instead of continuing to lie to herself she blooms into a better version of herself. She then turns into an elegant, rafined lady ( (miss)understood, Secret)
*LOVE again - same but here she is not the fiery MY STORY ayu anymore . The accent is put on the meditation : a more calmer, mature ayu with an ethereal feel.

I'll return with a track-by-track opinion.

marty · #6 9th July 2014, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surreal17

This album is one of those albums that grow into you with the passing of time. This is how it happened to me.
I feel that this album is her "meditation" album (she had GUILTY in which she analyzed herself but that was too angry so I could not call it meditation, and also Party Queen but there she's in the middle of the whole situation and her emotions are everywhere so there's not really a balance). Instead, in LOVE again, she has a more calm and mature point of view.

I do not mess up things mixing the whole Maro situation, as I don't really feel this album as a Love album. I gave the album a different meaning.

If the Party queen tries to survive with herself (ayu doesn't give us a conclusion that she's healed; all the songs from Party Queen are in fact her own questions, doubts, upsets, dispair, solitude - she is aware of her situation, she's making efforts to forget, to encourage herself and she manages to survive. BUT she's not healed. I don't find HBYA a healing song, but just a encouraging song to go on) the girl/boy from LOVE again is way more determined, metamorphosing into a new human being, transceding into a new chapter.

I relate to MY STORY when thinking about LOVE again. The meaning is the same. It's like MY STORY is the rebellious brother of LOVE again:

*MY STORY - the girl is aware of the fact that the things that worked for her in the past are not valid anymore and instead of continuing to lie to herself she blooms into a better version of herself. She then turns into an elegant, rafined lady ( (miss)understood, Secret)
*LOVE again - same but here she is not the fiery MY STORY ayu anymore . The accent is put on the meditation : a more calmer, mature ayu with an ethereal feel.

I'll return with a track-by-track opinion.

This is a beautiful point of view, and more or less how I feel about this album too.
Forgetting the dispute about the demos, this cd has really good lyrics. It isn't a happy album, but it's not overly sad either. It has its moments of aggressiveness (Wake me up, snowy kiss, Bye-bye darling), but they're just that, moments. LOVE again is extremely mature and toughtful, and I felt for the first time Ayu as a real adult. Like she embraced her age. Since she released LOVE again she turned so much more mature, wise and serene. Reading her interviews I almost feel intimidated sometimes.
I think You & Me as a final trak it's perfect, because among other thing, it conveys the feelings behind LOVE again (and somewhat of the previous two album too): the initial rush, that builds, and builds and builds, until it finishes on a extremely gentle, melancholic, thoughtful note. I consider You & Me one of the most beautiful ending tracks Ayu ever did.

Mami-chan · #7 10th July 2014, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surreal17

This album is one of those albums that grow into you with the passing of time. This is how it happened to me.
I feel that this album is her "meditation" album (she had GUILTY in which she analyzed herself but that was too angry so I could not call it meditation, and also Party Queen but there she's in the middle of the whole situation and her emotions are everywhere so there's not really a balance). Instead, in LOVE again, she has a more calm and mature point of view.

I do not mess up things mixing the whole Maro situation, as I don't really feel this album as a Love album. I gave the album a different meaning.

If the Party queen tries to survive with herself (ayu doesn't give us a conclusion that she's healed; all the songs from Party Queen are in fact her own questions, doubts, upsets, dispair, solitude - she is aware of her situation, she's making efforts to forget, to encourage herself and she manages to survive. BUT she's not healed. I don't find HBYA a healing song, but just a encouraging song to go on) the girl/boy from LOVE again is way more determined, metamorphosing into a new human being, transceding into a new chapter.

I relate to MY STORY when thinking about LOVE again. The meaning is the same. It's like MY STORY is the rebellious brother of LOVE again:

*MY STORY - the girl is aware of the fact that the things that worked for her in the past are not valid anymore and instead of continuing to lie to herself she blooms into a better version of herself. She then turns into an elegant, rafined lady ( (miss)understood, Secret)
*LOVE again - same but here she is not the fiery MY STORY ayu anymore . The accent is put on the meditation : a more calmer, mature ayu with an ethereal feel.

I'll return with a track-by-track opinion.

I really like your analysis, and I agree with almost everything you said.
I didn't really like this album at first, it felt weak, but it started growing with time passing and lyrics had a big role in that.

I don't see this album about Ayu falling in love, but about her looking back at her life and career until now (see Ivy, for example; or her talking about the "sand castle" in Wake me up, she used the same words in the past to describe her career).
Also, I remember Ayu saying in an interview that she views this album as a collection of letters written to different people in her life and that for her it's just a mature version of MY STORY, because both albums have been written in the same way and for the same reasons.

marty · #8 10th July 2014, 05:02 PM

Ah, I gave a completely different meaning to Wake me up and snowy kiss.

Wake me up for me it's obviously about her world (herself, her mind, her heart, her career, her EVERYTHING) and she's just screaming at whoever she let in to, well, get the hell out of there, lol.
She's saying things like "This is MY castle" and "Just leave it alone already".
I noticed she lately seems to have developed the habit to run away from a situation when it becomes expecially painful. She did it with Mannie and Maro, she just... ends things. In Party Queen, during the song "call", she says "Though I've become very good at preteding that I've forgotten it all". And to me Party Queen feels like a short parenthesis. She doesn't want to talk about what happened anymore, she just wants to be happy (and for me this is what LOVE again is about: she desperately want to start over, not address that moment anymore, just treasure the experiences and learn from them).

snowy kiss too, imo, is about her panicking and not knowing how to deal with the situation when it became twisted. She sings "To continue to send out these feelings / Means to continue feeling them / I know, I know, but / I can’t stop it, I don’t know how", which I interpreted as a "I still feel something for this person, but I don't know what to do, I can't stop this urge I have to just turn my back and pretend this never happened".
She finishes this song begging the snow to just erase everything. She doesn't want anyone, let alone her, to bring it up anymore. She wants to start anew. She walks away while the other is asleep and just disappear.

Of course, i find the idea of her being a "relationship addict" brilliant, and I think the album addressed that too, in many ways. Ayu is able to talk about quite a lot of things in the same song anyway.

Andrenekoi · #9 9th July 2014, 10:53 PM

@nalini-dahlia
It's a very hopeful album, isn't it? She doesn't have much of those... It's not my favorite, not even top 10 I believe, but I do think it's a beautiful piece of work on those aspects.

@Gustavopc
The lyrics also seen to be pretty consistent IMO. I agree that she most likely picked up demos from several years, but wrote the lyrics probably close to each other. The 90's nostalgia the album is filled with is a strong market trend of this decade, and she went for a interpretation of it not many artists are going (but Utada's Singles Collection 2 + Wild Life concert followed a similar route, and it looks like Otsuka's new album is going on a similar direction too).

@Surreal17
Even if I always felt like it was a triology, I never really tried to see how the album worked together with the other 2, and I found your take on it to be really interesting! She DOES seen healed after that era, doesn't she?

J/TOP2326 · #10 10th July 2014, 01:32 AM

i have to say that i like this album very much. its the type of ayu we used to hear. I dont get it when people say, they dont like this album wit those kind of types. **we do we listen to ayu again?? **

Wake me up: such a nice song. the life performance at CDL 2012-2013 was really great!!

Song 4u : its similar to progress. i think its quite well done, though i prefer progress.

Missing: wow. this song is one of the songs, that i listen the most of the alubm. its so great and i love the slow - fast - slow - fast on this song

Sakura: its so great. the live performance where she cried is so awesome

Melody: firstly, i thaught that this song is very borring and not so well done, but now, i can listen to it all the time. i somehow like the relaxing melody of it

Bye Bye darling: this has some right amount of speed. its not too much or too less. reminds me of now&4eva

snowy kiss: it was used to be the song i disliked the most. but now i think its quite well. but i would not hear that song all day long

Sweet Scar: well, this song ist just amazing. i felt in love with it since the first time i heard it. its so relaxing. just amazing. her best song on this album!!

petal + ivy: well those two were songs, which i felt the most excited but now, i think there are ok. nothing special and even too slow for me.

Gloria: well done, its nice.
You and me: after seeing it life 30 times, i like this song now! ;D

Untitled for her 2: i thought this song will be so much more touching and slow, but unfortunetly it isnt. but i like it. the part with same lyrics( te o hanashite ...) this was done so great by ayu!!

interludes: so great!!! honestly!

as you can see, i really dont dislike any song in this album. its just great!!! ican not understand people disliking it! ;D

Surreal17 · #11 10th July 2014, 02:08 PM

And here comes trouble lol

By the words “LOVE again”, I always imagined that you are given a second chance to live again, to start a new path, with a fresh and warm vision. LOVE in the sense of taking again the reins of your own life.
I know most fans consider this album as a love album but I feel it as the album that tells the story of an addict (it may be a sex/drugs/alcohol/food/depression etc. addiction) person who acknowledges his problem, learns how to cope with his/her own self (like a Party Queen sequel) and then overcomes it, becoming a new human at the end of the trial (more mature).

Wake me up starts the whole story with ayu admitting (people around her also adviced her) that she has a problem and she must let go of everything that’s keeping her in the state of a “sandcastle”. The methapor of the sandcastle showcases a human in a delicate state who can crumble at any breeze of the wind or at any intention of a person who would want to “enter” it ( “Anyone can enter, yet nobody can enter/ That is the fate of the sandcastle”). She still has hope (“I can still be in time”) for returning to a normal life and continues repeating the “Wake Up” line as to make sure that she isn’t retreating. The strong & sharp chorus is in opposition with the whisper-like-verses to give us a lot to think : the burdened person is contradicting oneself because she says she has the tragic fate of a sandcastle and then she screams to wake up from the nightmare. Exactly what an addict would do : she knows she has to escape but then she finds it too hard and continues in the same way. This song may apply to a love one too, at least when she’s saying “ I gotta let you go” but also, this can refer to a lot of things, like her own person – like, she’s deciding to let her old self go so she can start a new life. One of her best lyrics in the last few years.

Song 4 U is like a letter to oneself or more than that, it’s a monologue – the battle is starting. Ayu finally realizes that if she’s not going to take measures, nobody is going to do it in her place. Song 4 U in the sense of Song to myself because ayu feels indebted to the person she once was and wants to find again that personal harmony. She remembers the past in which she could say “See you tomorrow” without a second thought but now she’s stuck into darkness (“The moon and sun can’t shine anymore”). She’s scared of change because things may not go her way (“What if I make a mistake?/ What if I repeat that mistake?/ What will I do?”) but she knows that she owns that to herself (“I can fly to the sky/ As long as it’s for you”). The choruses are lead by a strong, determined voice (the same with Wake me up) – the white ayu chasing the black one (as represented in the PV too).

Missing continues the idea of Song 4 U but it’s way more bitter (especially ayu’s tone) and at the same time meditative. It’s like ayu started thinking in Wake me up about the whole situation, in Song 4 U things becoming calmer and more introspective and with Missing, she’s already in a trance, finding her inner self (in the pv she’s a pilgrim walking on a mountain in the search of peace of mind). She regrets she couldn’t say and do the things she wanted at certain moments but at the same time she’s not blaming herself anymore the same as in the past (“When I felt it, I found that I couldn’t leave you”/ When I found it, I felt like embracing you”) – it’s like this song is giving birth to a feeling of self-understanding (quite new for ayumi). Her world was falling apart, she couldn’t control hersef anymore (“Someone else’s wish takes control of my emotions”) so the only way was to stop taking all the blame.

SAKURA (I know the she said she wrote the song in her friends’ restaurant one night but she also said that various songs have various meanings) is way more laid back than Missing, blooming into a beautiful, grand chorus. This song is like a short conclusion to the previous songs, that life is so precious and ephemeral and the most important thing is : “Ah, the only thing I can do for you/ Yes, is to stay together as “us” no matter what”. So, here takes birth the union between ayu’s contradictions and distorted feelings. She is not anymore the ayumi who regrets the past and tries to survive in the present , but she managed to embrace herself, to prepare HERSELF for the main war that’s coming (to overcome the addiction – Bye Bye Darling, Snowy Kiss). Just like in reality, to overcome something this big, you have to “work” in your own terms, to understand what’s happening.

Melody is the song of goodbye (the sun sets). Ayumi finally regains “her senses” and she has arrived in this point in which she’s able to let go of the past, of her old self, of the “decayed” scenery. She sends a melody (represents her release – “Slowly, it becomes like air/ Like the flowing of wind”) to the old good days as a farewell sign. This is the beginning of a new life (“Being able to stay just as I am/ I’ve never known this comfort before”) giving her courage for what’s coming next. The acoustic vibe of the song really connects the listener to the sky methapor. One of her most recent artistic lyrics .

Bye Bye Darling/ Snowy Kiss – THE CLIMAX (the withdrawal)
(Let’s not make a confusion – ayu mentioned in S Cawaii March 2013 Edition that this is not a love song)
Like I said at the beginning of “my” story, this is the tale of an addict.
*Bye Bye Darling:
I always connected this song with feelings of confusion, pain, determination and anxiety. It’s like a big brother of Trauma – the melody is warm and uplifting but the messange is solemn, contradicting itself. Ayu’s hardest moments. She took the best decision to start a new way but now she finds herself in an unknown labyrinth with no way out (“Slowly closing my eyes/ Then slowly opening them again/ If I continue to do this/ You may just disappear”). It’s the same with an addiction – you stop harming yourself but then you face the adverse effects which can be scary in some cases (depersonalization, panic attacks etc.). The good part is that after a while they pass – what remains is up to the person’s will.
We can feel the despair and desolation in these kind of moments (“The sun will not rise again/ This long night will never see dawn”), but at the same time she’s determined to do whatever it takes as not to return to her past nightmare (“I won’t go back anymore/ Even if it spells my end”). She knows that she made so many efforts to arrive in this moment , so she can’t afford to lose everything.
*Snowy kiss:
(the pv was part of the love story trilogy but in the album, this doesn’t quite make sense as Bye Bye Darling was mentioned by ayu as not being a love song)
Whenever I listen to this song, I imagine a pacient at intensive therapy who’s fighting for his own life. So here, the will is the most important - you find the light or you gave up all. Ayu is running through her life’s labyrinth. The effects of the withdrawal are still there (“Gazing at the sinking Sun/ “Please somehow don’t leave me/ In the night’s darkness just yet”/ But the more I prayed, the faster it sunk”) and this is one of those moments in which nobody can save you BUT yourself. Sentiments of contradiction are all over the place but unlike BBD, on this song ayu is repeating in an obsessive way the word “goodbye” (asymmetric with the wake up from the beggining). She has a desperate tone through all the song, almost yelling in the chorus and the climax of the song seems like an explosion of sentiments followed by a short quiet part and then bursting again.
At the end, ayu finds the exit and falls into a deep sleep - “Just looking at your eyes, I know that you can’t speak/ So I kiss your cheek as you sleep/ After that, I will leave without leaving even footprints/ And when this snow melts, forget everything about us”. EVERYTHING’S DONE, she made it. “Snow, don’t stop, just continue to fall and pile up/ Until the path we’ve walked together can’t be seen anymore”.
(These last verses can also be interpreted to be told by ayu to her love)
For me, the footprints that are disappearing and the snow that's falling means that ayu is released from her addiction.

Sweet scar (my favorite song from LOVE again) takes us to the ethereal land. The long night is over and a nice morning is coming by, with a mature and peaceful Ayumi. She has gained experience and now she seems to understand more the meaning of loving someone. Only by loosing and sacrificing things, we become wiser and able to see how precious our life and our dearest are. The tone is a bit bittersweet, but ayu’s voice is sweeter than ever. I feel that Sweet scar is somehow in antithesis with NaNaNa. This song is also telling how in fact people are stronger than they think.

Petal continues the ethereal picture of the album. She is attracted by that flower because she saw that “It had bloomed/ Without showing even a sliver of fear”. So, she thinks of that flower as an example for her own life – instead of living in fear for what’s to come, why not embracing it (“That must surely be why/ I had been captivated by it/ Carefully giving it some water/ Let’s do that”). I also feel this song as a love song.

untitled for her...story 2 shows ayu’s emotional growth once again. Instead of the restlessness felt in “untitled I”, here we can feel the longing and nostalgy towards her lost friend. Even so, the song still has a sad note.

Gloria tells a general lesson for everybody. Humans are full of flaws (“Somehow, we forget things really quickly”/ Somehow, we get used to things easily”) and life is imprevisible, nobody knows what’s coming next and nobody is at fault either for our own falls. Still, even if we have fights, bad days and so on, we have to embrace them all because “tomorrow” they “’ll become a cheer “ for ourselves.

Ivy is the conclusion part I of LOVE again : Ayumi looks back at her whole life, conveying a felling of gratification; at the end of the song she says that the most important thing in life is to spend our time smiling and loving.

You & Me is the song that started the whole era. I find it as a mixture of nostalgy towards the old good days and joy & curiosity towards a new life, a new love. A lovely summerish song.
Ayumi is a new person who once again will open her heart, take risks and enjoy brightful days.
……
“That summer, we went all out, our suntanned skins pressed close
Even if we screamed or cried, we just wanted to reach the other”.

Andrenekoi · #12 10th July 2014, 02:44 PM

^Your take on the album reminded me of this! I found it to be a pretty interesting reading! Maybe the girl in the triology is a love addicted, considering she pretty much jumped from one relationship into the other without any thought. You even made me start listening to the album again... @_@

The fact that Ayu shows to be aware of the viewer during Sweet scar video makes me think of the possibility that the video + song (not the song alone) was her reply to the part of her fandom that got against her on the last years.

Surreal17 · #13 10th July 2014, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^Your take on the album reminded me of this! I found it to be a pretty interesting reading! Maybe the girl in the triology is a love addicted, considering she pretty much jumped from one relationship into the other without any thought. You even made me start listening to the album again... @_@

The fact that Ayu shows to be aware of the viewer during Sweet scar video makes me think of the possibility that the video + song (not the song alone) was her reply to the part of her fandom that got against her on the last years.

I'm glad I did! This album tells a great story. You could be right regarding the love addiction XD never thought about that but sounds interesting (the article too)
I love how the album is dealing with serious stuff but the overall sound is so peachy.

Andrenekoi · #14 10th July 2014, 05:52 PM

The Sweet scar video is pretty intriguing. It one of her one take videos and starts with Ayu alone on casual clothers inside a beautiful house, looking ansious or bored, and them walking around and looking through the windows longing for something. We follow Ayu around the house, observing her without really knowing what's bothering her, until she serves herself some tea. Interesting detail here: there's already one cup on the table, on the opposite side of the table Ayu sits, the side the one that is observing Ayu would sit. When she will start drink the tea, she briefly looks directly at the camera, directly at the viewer,, totally care free for the first time in the video. And if there's any doubt she knows we are watching her, she does a deeper and even more direct glare after the first one, staring at us. And this is were things get strange... If she was ansious before and care free them, after the stare she looks sad and hurt, like the viewer just said something harsh to her. She them gets up, heads down, looking like she was really hurt by whatever she heard, and goes in front of a giant painting of a wintery field. Singing in front of the painting, for the first time it feels like one of her usual PVs, the winter ones, as her moviments get more theatrical, the lights get colder and less natural, there's a "fake" wind moving her hair and there's even snow, just like one of the various videos with this motif she released over the years. Once a snow flake will land on her hand, everything comes back to the more natural take of the rest of the video, sugesting all of that was fake. She moves on the direction of the camera, like someone preparing themselves to have a complicated talk to someone they love, and starts singing this part:

"When I felt the separation of our hands, which used to be connected
I came to understand the meaning of “I love you” just a little"

After that, she faces the camera again and staring at the viewer, sings this:

"I want to become gentle and strong as I hold you tight
I want to keep telling you that “It’s alright” until you smile"

But by the look on her face, the viewer isn't much impressed, so, again looking hurt she just leaves the how while the final part of the songs plays in playback.

Considering some of the other one take videos she did, like Daybreak and Curtain call, while she put the smoke and mirrors aside to just sing while breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging the viewer by staring at they, I believe this is her reply to her fandom about the constant controverses she faced because of her personal life.

marty · #15 10th July 2014, 06:04 PM

^
I love Sweet scar PV! I think too she's talking to the fans.
I like to think that house is her "sand castle". Since Sweet scar is directly after snowy kiss, she just chased away everything that made her so desperately unconfortable and now the house is empty and quiet, but also full of light and white, like a blank page she can start over from.
She looks at that plant like she's checking, rediscovering her house (her soul, and heart, and mind) after all the turmoil. There's still sadness, 'cause now she's alone in that big house again (the snow bit), but she's ready to go out and hopes she'll find someone else to invite inside again (and she did, our Mrs. Bodkin, lol).
I also like to think we're in that house 'cause she's letting us, since she truly wants to explain herself, even if we may not understand her.

Surreal17 · #16 10th July 2014, 06:42 PM

@Andrenekoi : Wow, never noticed that she might want us, fans to understand. Now that I watched the pv more closely I also see those things. Ayu's mimics and hand movements are really telling a lot about her thoughts. I love the song even more

@marty : Very nice description about the Sweet scar pv. It really fits with what I said earlier in my post. Sweet scar is like a starting point, the blank page that you mentioned.

mellody · #17 11th July 2014, 10:23 AM

I love this kind of thread where everyone can pour out their thoughts.

I have something to add, it's just bugging me for a while, since the WAKE UP CDL is mentioned in this album release, so this is what I thought regarding the CDL.

I feel that this CDL has a message for ayu herself (or maybe all of her concerts have their own message to ayu herself?). It's like a self-motivation or self-reminder that she needs to wake up (from all the things she suffered or addicted, like many of you guys stated above, I love them all

).

One of many things that captivates me from this CDL, first is because of the logo. She's using a cross. I know it's not the first time she's using a cross as a part of her symbolism, whether it's in PV or Live Performances (usually kiss o' kill, M, and some others), it's just she boldly use this cross as a main symbolism for this show. What's the meaning of this cross? Cross is always related to Christianity, where Christ is crucified and then He rise in the next 3 days. Probably it's just like ayu. She's been "dead" because all of her "sufferings" (marriage, relationship, career, etc), and she's showing to everyone that now she's risen. This is probably not new, but I just want to share it.

Second, the songs chosen for this show.
From Wake me up to Rule, the lyrics seems connected. In Wake me up, it's like what you guys stated above, and then comes Rule with this part:

Quote:

We don't need rules
That someone else made up
'Cause we are the rules
And we won't stand down

I don't want some stupid rules
Forced on us
So first you and I
Have to break the rules and start from there

She boldly states that she wants to let go of that "thing".

After that there's an interlude called Disco-munication. I don't know if the word "Discommunication" exist or not, but I feel the meaning is something like "The absence of communication" or maybe a pun of miscommunication or something along the word "disconnection". Whatever it means, I think it's about her, no longer having a communication or connection (with the things that she wants to let go or break in previous 2 songs).

Next, Beautiful Fighters stands as a girl power song. It's like she wants to say that she can stand up by herself and Fly high as she wants.

The ballad sections, snowy kiss - Missing - Together When... are telling the story about her broken relationship, probably that's what she wants to let go or break, because for me, Together When lyrics are bittersweet but giving her a motivation to keep going, to still believe in love, I guess.

The next 4 songs, I don't know much about the message, in everywhere nowhere, she said that 'love is an illusion', that's why You & Me comes next, where the relationship that goes too fast and then ends just like that, but then she got another positive message in Song 4 u, she declares that she won't lose (that's why she have flags) and she wants to keep on believing for all those people who supports her so far, maybe because why Who... comes next.

I always think that Humming is a celebration song, where you can shout for your freedom without even thinking anymore. The song where you can shout something like "I'm free!" that's what I thought. Followed by evolution and SURREAL, those 2 songs aren't just simple staple songs, but the lyrics are pretty much can build your confidence. So yeah, with these 3 songs, she's now able to "live" again, with so much confidence.

In the last song before encore, until that Day... she looks a bit arrogant. Why? I think because of the choreography (Not only because of the 'satisfied looks' mentioned in the lyrics). The last time she performs this song in RnRC FINAL, I think the choreography is different with this one. In this one, she sings with the arrogant looks, as if she's showing that now she has the confidence to face anything, starts from now. The song is also extended and the chorus keeps singing the "until that daaaaayyyy~" probably ayu wants to makes things clear with this last part of the song:

Quote:

I ask you for keeping on watching me
Until that day ...

The last part before the curtain call, she walks to the center stage and she looks back after some part, again with the arrogant/satisfied looks, probably saying that "Keep watching at me until that Day" showing that she's ready and not gonna lose again either to the fans or "that person". This part is surely cool and I can't help but smile, one of my favorite performance of this song ever.

The rest of the songs, Trauma, AUDIENCE, Boys & Girls, and MY ALL, I'm pretty sure all of the songs are addressed to the fans. She needs the support from all the people who's willing to support her. Oh, and this part of Trauma:

Quote:

If it's you, who can you show it to? If it's me, I want to show it to that person.

I don't know who's that person is, maybe the person from the first 2 songs.

So, the conclusion is, I think the first part of the show (songs before encore) is addressed to ayu herself. She wants to let go, she wants to rise again, she wants to build her confidence once again and show to everyone with satisfied looks that she's able to stand on her own again. The second part of the show is addressed to her fans, showing that she needs support and her fans (and maybe she herself) wants everyone to keep and protect that dream forever (MY ALL).

I'm bad at explaining things but hopefully you guys understand what I mean. I like all the thoughts mentioned regarding LOVE again album. The use of the pink colors which almost everywhere in the booklet probably showing the she's recovering at some point. Sweet scar PV is probably one of the main message for this album, it's like she wants to start over. (Maybe that's also the reason why she choose old director to make this PV, she starts from the beginning again, maybe.)

EDIT:
I forgot one thing!
The cover for this CDL DVD is somewhat meaningful (at least for me, or I just think too much). The pink lights around her become something like flower petals as if, ayu is surrounded by falling flower petals. I've read about it somewhere (maybe in a certain anime), when a person is surrounded by falling flower petals, that's a sign of rebirth. So, perhaps the wake up here means, ayu is reborn again from all of her problems in the past. She rose again among falling flower petals.

Andrenekoi · #18 11th July 2014, 07:41 PM

IMO that was a great analysis of the CDL!

The flower thing on the cover, I always have to remind myself those aren't petals because there weren't petals falling during that performance, and your view on this really fits the overall concert feeling!

About the use of the cross on the logo... The way the "arms" of the A symbol is behind the cross makes me think that its carring the cross instead of crucified on it, and there's this:

Quote:

a cross (somebody has) to bear (British & Australian) also a cross (somebody has) to carry (American & Australian)
an unpleasant situation or responsibility that you must accept because you cannot change it
Usage notes: In the past, criminals were made to carry crosses as a form of punishment.

So, either being crucified or carring the cross, it's an interesting choice of symbol.

mellody · #19 25th July 2014, 08:11 AM

That description of the cross gives a new meaning I guess, I never know about that, thanks for sharing!

Anyway, when I listened again to this album, watching the PVs, that Sweet scar PV is really something, I read all of your interpretations from the PV and watch it again to compare, and I found 2 interesting things.

I tend to think 'too much' but who knows if it's actually important or not.

1) Did you see the jeweleries that she wears in this video? I don't remember that much if she wears those quite a lot for music video, especially that bracelet is kind of... interesting. What do you think?

2) At some point of the video, especially the beginning and the last chorus, she never sing the lyrics, I'm thinking that probably those last sentence and the first sentence are the sound of her conscience or maybe the viewers, or something that she wants to say but she cannot say at all. During the first chorus, she sings, follow the song, but back to the verse, she's just act and act. Until the last chorus "Aishiteru..." she stops singing. What do you think?

summerain · #20 26th July 2018, 03:24 PM

I'm reading all of these analysis threads and I'm loving it. You all have a great reading of her stuff, guys.

When LOVE again was released, I was not impressed, but gave her a credit because of the cohesiveness and mature-sounding of the album. Years passed and now I really like this. Her voice is on point and arrangements are very well done, especially snowy kiss (that bass line is stunning) and Sweet scar (I think it's very rare hear a song in pop field which uses oboe as protagonist).