The Rock'n'Roll Circus era concepts analysis thread!

Andrenekoi · #1 9th July 2014, 11:21 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
Love Songs
FIVE
Party Queen
LOVE again
Colours
A one
M(A)DE IN JAPAN

Rock 'n' Roll Circus (you can download it here)

1. THE Introduction
2. Microphone
3. count down
4. Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~
5. BALLAD
6. Last Links
7. montage
8. Don't look back
9. Jump!
10. Lady Dynamite
11. Sexy little things
12. Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~
13. meaning of Love
14. You were...
15. RED LINE ~for TA~ (Album Version)

Rock 'n' Roll Circus was Ayu's 11th studio album, released in 2010. The album and its videos address a variety of topics, including her hearing loss, the future of her career, her relationship with the stage, her gay fandom and women role in society. Rock 'n' Roll Circus's biggest hits were Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~ and You were...

LYRICS (from here, and another take here)

Microphone

Spoiler:

Count Down

Spoiler:

Sunset~Love Is All~

Spoiler:

Ballad

Spoiler:

Last Links

Spoiler:

Don't Look Back

Spoiler:

Lady Dynamite

Spoiler:

Sexy Little Things

Spoiler:

Sunrise~Love Is All~

Spoiler:

Meaning of Love

Spoiler:

You Were...

Spoiler:

Red Line~For TA~ (Album Version)

Spoiler:

BOOKLET (from here)

Spoiler:

PV's

Spoiler:

Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour Final: 7 Days Special (you can download it here)

Andrenekoi · #2 10th July 2014, 01:21 PM

I'm not very found of this album to be quite honest, it's actually on the bottom of my personal album lists and promotional tracks aside I tend not to listen to it...

Well... Let's take a look at it^^

The album:
- Considering the amount of personal subjects she goes through in the album, I tend to believe the title isn't album the music genre or a literal circus, but she calling her life/career a Rock'n'Roll Circus. She tends to point the "circus" aspect of her life a lot with her heavy use of clowns and circus related themes during her whole career.

- Even if Sunset is on the 1st half of the album and You were... is on the 2nd half of the album, things are A LOT brighter and more optimistic after Don't Look Back than they were before it, so, maybe she was able to follow her own advice in the end.

- The album mix several elements of british rock music (from the title taken from The Rolling Stones to the Punk rock inspired booklet). On a way, even Don't Look Back hindi-inspired arrangment fits that. Part of the album was recorded at England, and I remember she was pretty excited about recording at the Metropolis Studios, wasn't she?

The videos:
- Both Microphone and Sexy little things videos pay homenage to british aesthetics, the 1st being recorded at famous London locations and the 2nd using mostly Alexander McQueen designs.

- I read once over here (and don't remember who posted it) that Sexy little things showed men dressed as loony english hunters and women as monsters. I also believe the plug scene that opens the video was meant to represent a rape. It's someone putting a power plug on a socket that doesn't fit, followed by a woman horrorized scream and blood flowing from it, followed by males laughts, so, a comment on rape culture.

- Don't Look Back video has more vanitas elements like the clock and the rooting fruits and flowers that appears in flashes during the video. It's probably the first post peak Ayu song (maybe the 1st since Duty) to talk about her feelings about her era being over, and the 1st video since ourselves.

- Lady Dynamite video has Ayu for the 1st time ever openly and fully taking a position about her gay following. Her art had some homoerotic elements before (like the girls flirting during Limited TA Live) and she represented homosexuality on her work before (GREEN), but the first was at a smaller performance and the second was rather dubious and eliminated from live performances. There were some smaller gay elements through her whole career, but it was the first time she went all the way.

The tour:
- The tour opening makes reference to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was trendy during 2010, being referenced also by Britney and Glee.

- The backdrop of Microphone made reference to Michael Jackson's Invencible cover. Considering this was the era dealing with her fall, maybe she was comparing herself to him?

- During Count Down, the song that deals with her deafness, the backdrop from the start of the song shows a neon sign written "showtime" wrecking and slowly going unlit, the "show" part first, them the "time" and finally, "me".

- Don't Look Back performance opens with the dances doing several pretty fakey "magic" tricks, the whole performance have a suntuous palace as a backdrop. In the end of the song it shows that the palace was just a movie set and people starts unmounting it, showing that not only the trick, but everything grand in that performance was just smoke and mirrors.

I don't think this era has a theme from begining to end, she was dealing with several stuff at once and the circus umbrella was perfect for dealing with that much subjects, most of them linked to her personal life strugles.

**ayumisrael** · #3 10th July 2014, 01:43 PM

About the struggles you mentioned, I remember that she said in an interview that the songs are like "cries" that came from herself and that they have some old ayu in them (maybe refernces or style). I can't remember which magazine was it though and how it was really translated.

Thank you for the thread. I love these.

marty · #4 10th July 2014, 04:06 PM

That rape reference in Sexy Little Things changed EVERYTHING in my mind.
I need to what that PV again.

primavera♥ · #5 10th July 2014, 04:20 PM

This album does explore different serious themes both personal and about people in general. I love that about this. Exploring themes she doesn't always touch on to such a great extent. It makes things so incohesive I think, theme-wise, unlike with other albums. But the at the same time, that's why it's a crazy circus I guess. So many facades.

And the meanings and intentions behind the Microhpone, slt, dlb, and lady dynamite pvs are worth looking into I think.

I joined this forum right before this release so it was my first time really getting to experience the craziness behind a new release. So I felt really deep into all the interpretations and stuff. So I appreciate this album.

I think it's one of her best in terms of the topics she discusses in her lyrics and pvs because it's generally well done and stuff that is touchy.

Surreal17 · #6 11th July 2014, 11:17 PM

When I first became an ayu fan, the two albums that I was most eager to listen to were Rock’n’Roll Circus and Love songs. I loved the visuals and I was very curious about the music itself. And I was not disappointed at all. Two stunning albums (especially Love songs)
So, this album is ayu’s “multifunctional” album : various genres (rock, pop, orchestra, traditional, oriental, electro swing, piano) various cultures (british, Japanese, Chinese, oriental) various lyrical themes (abandon, hearing loss, carrer etc.),. A mix of everything.
However, I still think that this album tells some kind of story. Most people tend to overlook this album because it looks like a hot mess.

Microphone is ayu’s inner dialogue with her artistic side. She is questioning her own capacity “It's true I feel my limits in everything / And there were days / I turned my back and cowered” but at the same time she’s sure that this is her mission in life and she won’t hesitate anymore. Being in the business for so many years, she has a lot of experience and warns aspiring singers that if they want to make it they have to keep their true self :” Change is a wonderful thing / But it's meaningless if you lose yourself / What happened and what will happen is in my roots / Because I can see it through “. In the climax of the song, she admits that there’s not such thing as a perfect carrer (“If there's such a thing as a perfect melody / I haven't found it yet “) and maybe this tinge of balance has kept her in the game for so long time.
In the booklet (Microphone lyrics page), she looks like she’s searching for answers (through those papers), somehow puzzled but at the same time curious and eager for more. Her hand movements and her face can be taken as evidence. The visuals are like a metaphor for her continuous search for inspiration.

Countdown continues exploring ayu’s life, but this time we’re talking about her personal life, more exactly about her hearing loss. I think that the lyrics are comparing the moment when the doctor told her that she has an inoperable condition (“You said it / Without a hint of hesitation / And I don't know / What those words meant”) with a methaporic “fall in an abyss” (“I can hear it in the distance / Soon the end will begin / And I'm going to face it head on / And by my left side / I don't need any pity ”). Everyone can imagine how that moment was really difficult for her. In the booklet (countdown page) she looks really lost (her eyes are fixed) and she takes a defensive position.

These two songs alongside Don’t look back are ayu’s most personal songs from the entire album: one about the difference made by art in someone’s life, the second talking about her personal loss/trauma and the third talking again about her carrer.

Sunset ~LOVE IS ALL~
Now, the next song is a fiction. It’s the story of two people who start knowing each other and who want to build a relationship at a certain point (“It's better to take the long way round / 'Cause I know we can understand each other”) . Everything’s happening in a gradual mode. The protagonists are feeling a bit awkward, they still have the need to accommodate. Maybe two friends who fall in love or two adolescents. This doesn’t mean that mature people can’t feel this way. At first, I didn’t understand ayu’s choice to put Sunset after countdown but now things have gone clearer – both songs have that doubtful voice (although countdown treats a sad memory and Sunset seems like a new beginning).

BALLAD is the second fictional song. Ayu said in an interview that this song tells the story of a person who lost someone precious from the family : mother, brother etc. Other themes : maternal/fraternal etc. love, longing, mourning (“My memories may not disappear, but there’ll be no more/ The one thing I’m not allowed to say is “Please stay by my side”) . So no, not a love song in that sense lol
The traditional style of the melody shapes even more the familial pathos. In the booklet, ayu is shown as if she’s searching for someone or looking at the sky. She’s walking on a narrow street, and her hands place (around her back) seems interesting, emblematizing resignation in front of fate.

Last Links has a worldy type of message (“Holding on to the love
That still remains in this world”). Maybe hope towards a new day (“With the sky like this today / I feel like I can keep going”). Also, I can feel the solidarity in ayu’s words towards the suffering people . She’s saying that even if we can’t do much for our planet we still have to wake up and start anew (every little action from our part matters). This song is really resonating with the events that took place in Japan in 2011.
In the booklet’s picture, she’s tightening her laces as if she’s preparing herself for a new journey (could be reference to Don’t Look Back)

Don’t look back is ayu’s third personal song. It’s an introspective song – she is okay with everything she’s done in her carrer until now and doesn’t feel the need to try changing anything (“Painting over the tidy footprints / Can't fool your heart”). Through a sad note, she’s also saying that many people keep remembering their glorious old days, which unfortunately is the same thing as living in the past (“Hey, don't you think it's too sad / That everyone remembers /The time they shone the brightest?”) . She’s questioning herself if she should stop at this point (of her carrer) but she knows that singing is her life, so this is not a valid option.
In the booklet, we can observe a beautiful collection of guitars, clearly referring at her art or art in general.

Lady Dynamite is ayu’s first gay song. A song about self-acceptance (“Sorry, but can you just stand aside? / We women want to get past”) – it doesn’t matter what everybody else is saying about you because at the end of the day if you’re not feeling good in your own skin, then you’re not truly living.
In the booklet, ayu’s standing in front of a huge window which contains many squares and lines. The bright window may represent the freedom of manifestation but at the same time the existence of those squares may indicate the rigidity of society.

Sexy Little Things – another song treating the society theme. A manly society in which women are seen as objects without a brain (“Women are always passive / And pretend like they have no thoughts or hopes”). The pv is a methapor – “females hunted by predators”.
In the booklet we can find the same picture as in the Lady Dynamite page with the difference that ayu’s looking at the ground. So, this time she seems more thoughtful as she’s also part of the feminine sex. In antitesis, the pv has a humorous/mockery take.

Sunrise ~LOVE IS ALL~ - same meaning as Sunset with the difference that the main character is more open and more bright in taking risks. (“(In a bigger voice)
(A bigger love)”).
The booklet picture is pleading for this message as ayu’s smiling, standing firm in a military dress (may represent power) & black long gloves near a bridge and some imposing towels. Her hands’ standing are conveying safety.

Meaning of love – When you love someone, you don’t try to change that person’s character, personal color (“Always be yourself / Don't change, don't dress yourself up, just stay the way you are / This feeling / Is probably what people call love”). When you’re yourself (honest) you give the best possible randament.
The booklet page is simple, showing some city background, symbolizing the simplity of loving something or someone.

You were… - the same story as in BALLAD with the difference that here we’re talking about a sad passionate love (the loss/departure of a lover, husband etc.). Other themes – nostalgy (“They attack me when I’m wrapped in silence/ Sweet memories that are so warm”), sadness, despair.
In the booklet picture, we can see a closer take on ayu’s uneasy face. She covers part of her head and her right shoulder with her left hand as if trying to protect herself from the ruthless destiny.

Red Line – awareness towards suffering people (maybe those who want to commit suicide); encouraging song (“The sun keeps rising/ I want to accept that with reverence”).
In the booklet, ayu has a deep look, with piercing eyes and her mouth is open showing her determination. She’s watching us, her fans. In her left side, we can see a letter written by ayu herself to us.

I feel that RnRc is ayu’s gift for her dear fans. Her most variate album to date. She tells us about her personal / carrer affairs (Microphone, countdown & Don’t look back), encouraging advices (Last links, Red Line), she talks about the morals of contemporan society (Sexy Little Things & Lady Dynamite) but at the same time she also writes fictional stories (Sunset/Sunrise, BALLAD/ You Were.., meaning of love).
She worked with new people for this album so I think she wanted to convey multiple feelings at a time. – so here comes the circus theme.
About the Rock’n’Roll concept, she said in an interview from 2010 that no matter what she sings and writes about, the attitude is the one and only that marks the difference. So, she can sing an oriental song wearing an extravagant outfit but if she feels extremely strong and confident (about her work and about herself), her art will become rock. So, the meaning of “Rock” doesn’t consist in sound or style but the attitude itself.

And at the end of my long analyze, you may wonder what’s the story behind the album? It’s a bit hard to see through this album like I said earlier, as everything is so scattered. Well, the album begins with ayu’s monologue with her art, continues with personal trauma, then she have to let go of the doubts, sorrow and sad memories; with Last links she admits that connecting with the world is a great cure for soul and she decides to not return in the past anymore (Don’t Look Back). As we enter more and more in the crowd, we are given the occasion to see how sometimes people can be so grim with gay people and ignorant with women. In Sunrise, ayu becomes more confident towards herself & world, accepting her & other people’s flaws (meaning of love). At the end, ayu (after a good progress) is starting to show resignation (you were… - using past tense and not present) knowing that she will survive with her own skills even if she wants to keep the good memories to herself. Red Line is like a final encouraging letter to everyone.

RnRc – ayu’s relationship with art & world

mellody · #7 12th July 2014, 01:51 PM

Just something to share, have you guys read about this Microphone & Sexy little things PV Theory?
Maybe can help you guys reveal something about this release, one of my favorite.

Microphone: Meeting you was a necessity

Sexy Little Things: In other words, you are in my hands

These 2 opinions are nice I think. From Channel Ai Blog btw.

Surreal17 · #8 14th July 2014, 12:01 PM

@mellody
I love that site!
The Michophone description is indeed good. I liked the 3 ayu concept: the black one, the white and the red one. So, the black & white were fighting for change, for discovering the mission in life (rebellion) and the red one was the "clever" one (it seems like this one is already an initiate), watching the whole scene and adding flavour to the pv.

The Microphone/Sexy Little Things story has such a bold & rebellious vibe. It really describes 2010 Ayu who seemed eager to experiment with new concepts. If RnRc would have been released in the second half of 2009 I bet it would have sounded more jpopish.

waterballoon · #9 14th July 2014, 05:39 PM

all right... so this is one of my favorite eras of Ayu post-GUILTY. it's one of the few where everything was consistent - music, lyrics, visuals and tour.

I won't talk much about the songs, lyrics and tour but the visuals I just have to analyze cos they're too good.

okay before all that, I think the concept for Rock'n'Roll Circus is "my life after A BEST 2 (2007 basically)". firstly notice how this is the only album aside from MY STORY to not have a title track at all (RAINBOW existed in A BALLADS but the album came close to the idea of MY STORY and R'n'R C imo & for LOVE again I think it's tricky cos LOVE and again were both mini-albums, and then it kinda fused into one album, so...). MY STORY was an excellent masterpiece (her magnus opus for me), which was basically a musical autobiography.

Rock'n'Roll Circus continues on that idea, almost like a sequel if you would ask me. I think she takes her experiences and feelings from 2005 onward to make this album.

Everything that has happened: her affirmation for her passion and love in music (Microphone), a direct piece talking about her deafness (count down), the relationship she would like to have with her father (Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~; note that she wrote lyrics for a drama with an estranged father-daughter relationship and I believe it is possible and plausible that she had her personal input and wishes into the lyrics), her regret in life and her desire for escapism (Don't look back, supported greatly by the PV which I will delve into later), embracing her feminine side and growing into a woman (Lady Dynamite, Sexy little things), a real, in fact, final and mature thought on her relationship with Nagase (You were...) and her relationship and support she needed and had from her fans (RED LINE).

The events that have happened and her thoughts accompanying them since MY STORY creates R'n'R C. Yay!!

Okay now for the visual:

I want to touch on Microphone, Sexy little things & Don't look back. I really like Lady Dynamite too but that is because it's fun and funny and enjoyable.

Microphone/Sexy little things:
I agree a lot with the Channel Ai blog post on these 2 PVs.

I noticed a difference in opinion between the opening scene of Slt: 1 supports the theory that plugging in = rape, with a woman screaming and then blood flowing out, while another supports the theory that it's forcefully trying to fit in into a 'standard' image of women.

I'd agree with both, and because of the nature of the songs with its lyrics I think both go very well and kudos to the people who thought of them! A little tidbit, notice that the socket is a 3-pin London socket, while the plug is 2-pin.

Now with that it draws support to the rape theory (forceful entry) and also the fitting in theory (clearly the plug doesn't fit into the socket yet it still did).

We then hear applause - the show has started.

Which brings the theory on the blog about how it's about women being displayed as passive images - notice that the women mostly appear as singular, in high-fashion clothing in a room? I theorize that as sort of a runway show, where the women come in as an object to the "audience".

About the fox hunters, I also agree they represent the male gender. Note in one scene with the horses where they appear to be strict, yet when the horses' heads are covered in balloons they begin dancing away: to me, the horses are the "outside", or the "observer". men appear to be a certain form (paraphrase from Slt: how many times did you need to repeat the same hand movements to get them to be so natural?), yet when the "observer" is not looking, the men reveal their true form... playful = players? this juxtaposition of what men appear to be and who they really are also is supported from the lyrics of Lady Dynamite (paraphrasing... you are one of those who always nod yes, your glib and flat speech goes on and on...).

The scene where the large woman "breaks" in and peers in suggests that the whole setting of the PV could be in the mind of a woman, where she plays all these thoughts out, and that woman is the one who broke the wall, looking in because she needs help. note that she looks perplexed at the end, possibly because these thoughts about men haven't come up to her yet due to whatever reasons.

at the end when the Microphone Ayu smashes the guitar, and the guitar actually hits an "invisible" wall, heavily suggests the fact that this whole PV was a show, hence the cheering at the start and end, and an invisible wall.

with the theory that the room is a woman's mind, the guitar throwing can also represent thoughts wanting to escape from the mind but cannot do so due to walls.

---

in Microphone, most of my observations were already noted in the Channel Ai blog but please note the resemblance between the older girl in the jumping scene and the transgender sibling in the family scene. similar hairstyle and build - it could be a throwback to childhood; notice how in childhood the siblings were very close and synchronized, and they looked exactly alike. yet in adulthood they were hostile, and the younger sibling (Ayu) had a drastic "makeover". it reinforces the idea of "change" in the first stanza of the lyrics.

Don't look back:
Possibly my favorite PV after Endless sorrow and Ladies Night!!!!

Okay note in the first scene we see a clock; time is of an important theme here (the clock is repeatedly shown in various scenes and shots), remember that.

Also note the difference between present Ayu and past Ayu. Past Ayu is noticeably younger, sporting a younger-looking haircut), while present Ayu looks decidedly more aged with the bun.

the background starring a A BEST 2 cover strongly suggests this was an era Ayu doesn't want to go back to. notice how her younger self appears to be "shielding" it with hand movements and is basically guarding the past. i feel that A BEST 2 could be a bad era for her (it was 2007; her last album to score #1 on Oricon streak, the year her best friend passed away, the year she broke off with Nagase, the year she went deaf in one ear permanently).

also notice various elements showing the passing of time: fruit vs rotting fruit, happy Ayu vs sad Ayu (in the past appearance).

during the bridge, I can infer that past Ayu has "passed away" in front of the A BEST 2 cover, implying maybe moving on, or that a part of her has passed away along with that era.

when we see the other side of present Ayu's face... okay it was a shocker but it also suggests her unwillingness to move on. one side (ugly) is bent on destruction (similar to the destroyed A BEST 2 cover), while the other side (beautiful) is what she WANTS US TO SEE (note that it is the only side we see for 3/4 of the PV). in spite of whatever trauma she may have experienced, the "ayumi hamasaki" image still must be maintained.

---

so that is my "analysis" on this era. it was bloody good, although some things I don't understand, like why London as a location for example but it was the last time she displayed real artistic creativity in her videos... (MOON & Sweet Season came very close).

it's very similar to MY STORY, in that the lyrics are a lot more personal than other albums, but note a contrast that MY STORY maintained a similar rock feel throughout the album, R'n'R C threw a variety of music styles from start to finish.

VegetaLove · #10 20th July 2014, 08:28 AM

Loved reading the interpretations of this album. It's always been a weaker one for me and reading these insights really helps me feel like I understand and appreciate it more.