[RIAJ announcement] CAROLS + HEAVEN are chaku-uta million download sellers!

[Annabelle]

lmao O-ZONE's "Dragostea din tei" (a.k.a. the NUMA NUMA song) is on top. Ai-chan is ranked very well.

[Terri]

That's some awesome news, thanks for sharing

[cleftjuston]

i guess ballads are normally those which are downloaded

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, yeah. But the gist of it is.. "We flap." :p

I'd imagine anyway. I know there's more to it, but I just remember 'we begin to flap' and stuff. :p

As good as Ayu's lyrics are if read in their English translations, listening to and understanding her songs in Japanese is a far richer experience. The translation of the lines of Boys and Girls into "We flap" is just one of many examples. (The song should also be appreciated in its entirety, I think. Only then does "we flap" make sense.) Also, looking over her entire body of work, she uses the bird metaphor several times, most lately (and obviously) in "Blue Bird", although what the metaphor connotes in each of these songs is worlds apart from each other

[starr5245]

great news for Ayu!! they're quite new songs after all!

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

As good as Ayu's lyrics are if read in their English translations, listening to and understanding her songs in Japanese is a far richer experience. The translation of the lines of Boys and Girls into "We flap" is just one of many examples. (The song should also be appreciated in its entirety, I think. Only then does "we flap" make sense.) Also, looking over her entire body of work, she uses the bird metaphor several times, most lately (and obviously) in "Blue Bird", although what the metaphor connotes in each of these songs is worlds apart from each other

Well, yes.. again, I was sort of just.. stating an example of somewhat nonsensical lyrics.. there. :p

We began to shine. Someone can stop us, right?
We began to flap. Someone had the right to stop them, right?

It's on my lips.
It's in my dreams.
It's a story told by two.
You say you want to be happy.
You've already been so many times.
What do you want?
What's lacking?
Where will you turn?
Even if you ask,
I won't have the answer.

Such an odd song to me x.x

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, yes.. again, I was sort of just.. stating an example of somewhat nonsensical lyrics.. there. :p



Such an odd song to me x.x

Well, this is how I read the song: it's a song about that point in one's life when he or she feels that change is about to happen, that he or she is on the verge of something momentous, and the confusion that goes along with it. (I interpret it as adolescence, hence the title "Boys & Girls").

First two lines: "shine" in the sense that there is something undiscovered inside of us, something that wants to burst forth. Our selves become brighter, undergo change. "flap" in the sense that being on the verge of something momentous, we anticipate new freedoms, new experience. And so the bird metaphor: as hatchlings begin to flap to head off into an endless horizon, new discoveries, so too do we leave something behind to head into a new, unexplored part of our lives.

Subsequent lines: but this thing that we experience, we really can't fully embody it in words (on my lips, I won't have the answer), we really can't fully imagine it (in my dreams). A story told by two may connote the young love that is such an integral part of adolescence (referring back to the title, "Boys & Girls"), and so on and so forth (I don't want to fully explain the song, it might take up to three pages! ) The last four lines in the song are pure poetry.

So I disagree that the song is nonsensical or odd. I was able to derive some meaning out of it But of course, you can disagree with my interpretation. But this is how I understand the song.

[truehappiness]

Indeed. I agree with it, but I think that at first glance, the song doesn't seem to have much meaning.

But if you look into the song more, then some sort of interpretation should come..

[unless it's like Bold&Delicious o_o]

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Indeed. I agree with it, but I think that at first glance, the song doesn't seem to have much meaning.

But if you look into the song more, then some sort of interpretation should come..

[unless it's like Bold&Delicious o_o]

Well, the meaning of Bold & Delicious is already clear from the start. It's a wake-up call to be "Bold & Delicious" Who doesn't want to be delicious. Hehe.

But I really think the lyrics of Boys & Girls are some of Ayu's best, and contains a lot of the themes she addresses in her later songs (especially her summer songs). The final four lines, especially, are pure poetry. Irony, tension, paradox, ambiguity, all with simple imagery. Wow. You don't get that with a lot of pop songs.

[truehappiness]

It makes me wonder if any Ayu songs are without 'hidden meanings'..

Like sometimes how Western music goes on and on about.. nothing at all.
[i.e Sexyback, Milkshake]

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

It makes me wonder if any Ayu songs are without 'hidden meanings'..

Like sometimes how Western music goes on and on about.. nothing at all.
[i.e Sexyback, Milkshake]

Ayu is a very mature lyricist Some people don't give her enough credit for it, but in my opinion her lyrics share a lot of sensibilities with poetry. She uses metaphors and images, irony and paradox, and repeats and revisits themes. That, for me, makes her a true artist, someone with a vision. For instance, compare the summers of Boys & Girls, July 1st, Greatful Days, fairyland, and Blue Bird. It's admirable how much each song is different from the other, and yet share the themes of love, doubt, transience, melancholy, and hope.

Western pop is more concerned with musical composition, I think. Most good lyrics are usually found in Western rock.

[~X2RADialbomber~]

Good lyrics are usually found in Western rock.

Exactly! I can't believe some of the best lyrics ever are written by men... it's so suprising

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by ~X2RADialbomber~

Exactly! I can't believe some of the best lyrics ever are written by men... it's so suprising

Well, to be diplomatic about it, both men and women are capable of wonderful lyrics PJ Harvey and Joni Mitchell are just phenomenal.

[immel]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

[i.e Milkshake]

The word milkshake has very much meaning to me...














...

[truehappiness]

You know that odd song though right?

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, damn right, it's better than yours. I'd teach you, but I'd have to charge etc etc"

[immel]

I've never heard it, I just assumed I would love a song with that name, lol.

LOL@the lyrics.

[extepan]

thanks for the news!