The GUILTY era concepts analysis thread!

Andrenekoi · #1 21st July 2014, 05:26 AM

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

GUILTY (you can download it here)

1. Mirror
2. (don't) Leave me alone
3. talkin' 2 myself
4. decision
5. GUILTY
6. fated
7. Together When...
8. Marionette -prelude-
9. Marionette
10. The Judgement Day
11. glitter
12. MY ALL
13. reBiRTH
14. untitled ~for her~

GUILTY was Ayu's 9th studio album, released in 2008. The album released during the year that celebrated Ayu's 10th anniversary in the industry was rather dark, even in comparation with her own material that never was all that happy. On a year where the delt with her hearing loss, the end of her relationship with Nagase after 7 years and the death of a close friend, the lack of a more "party-ish" release came as a no surprise. GUILTY's biggest hits were Together When..., glitter and MY ALL.

LYRICS (from here, and another take here)

Mirror

Spoiler:

(don't) Leave me alone

Spoiler:

talkin' 2 myself

Spoiler:

decision

Spoiler:

GUILTY

Spoiler:

fated

Spoiler:

Together When...

Spoiler:

Marionette

Spoiler:

glitter

Spoiler:

MY ALL

Spoiler:

untitled ~for her~

Spoiler:

BOOKLET (from here)

Spoiler:

PV's

Spoiler:

ASIA TOUR 2008 ~10th Anniversary~ (you can download it here)

Max_ZZZ · #2 21st July 2014, 08:33 AM

as my favourite ayu album, ill give my two cents.

i really do see this as her darkest album, besides glitter and MY ALL theres no happy songs. also,i think its interesting to note how this is the only album where she really uses her deeper voice to its full extent without trying to cover it up or make it higher pitched. talkin' 2 myself is an amazing track and i think her voice is amazing, but she would never sing it in this way now.
this album to me is a combination of her singles + songs she made out of remorse for her departed friends and songs she made to thank fans for supporting her through this hard time + songs for her ended relationship. altogether, creates a frikken wicked album. i consider I am... her magnum opus. but GUILTY for me is her prime, an album where top to bottom is left little to be wanted.

maneayu · #3 21st July 2014, 03:52 PM

Idk but I always had the feeling this album was made to kinda say "sorry Tomoya (Nagase) I cheated on you", since all rumors at that time tied Ayu up as the responsible behind Ayu and Nagase's breakup.

Andrenekoi · #4 21st July 2014, 09:06 PM

- The jaguar print is back, so, dark album.

- I can be reading too much here... But the booklet basically portrays Ayu going from an open space (the desert, a place she usually links with I believe would be freedom in videos like Dearest and NEXT LEVEL) to a close space (her home, with the booklet ending with mourning clothes). So, it's basically her going to the exterior to the interior, what could also be understood as her going from the world to herself after a turbulent year (end of relationship, death of friend, hearing loss).

- (don't) Leave me alone shows Ayu walking alone through a maze... From times to times she encounters other people there, and they always get in conflict. Once the conflict ends, Ayu tie's change to the color of the person's she found outfit, showing that she got something of them with her.

- Going from confusion (Mirror), desire of being alone out of fear of being judged ((d)Lma), doubt (t2m), how much suffering decisions can cause (Decision), fear that your sins come out (GUILTY), feeling uncapable of being loved (fated), end of a relationship (Together when...) and pretending to be happy so people won't notice you are suffering (Marionette) to finally accepting that there's still hope in love (glitter) and thanking her fans for never letting her alone (MY ALL). People tend to dislike glitter being on the album, but I really think having at least one hopeful song on this whole sad release gives it a hopeful outlook in the end.

Surreal17 · #5 23rd July 2014, 12:01 AM

Lyrics/Themes

GUILTY is Ayumi’s most aggressive album to date. From the cicle of darkest albums such as Duty, GUILTY and Party Queen , this album marks the beggining of a new era in her discography. From this point on, she starts to make use of a more stern timber.

Mirror – the most explosive song from the entire album. Ayu questions the current state of herself and the world as she is repeatedly asking if our present is as good as we had expected. She used “future” in the sense of “present” to create a certain distance and coldness and this practically is the introduction of the era. A dissatisfaction with what we truly see in the mirror because the reflection has not taken the ideal shape of our wishes. The military beats are amplifying the great tension and confusion preparing us for whats to come.

(don’t) Leave me alone continues the theme of the dissatisfaction. If the discontention in Mirror was kinda vague, here, ayu’s taking a defensive side towards the fake system. Also, she’s showing two facets : the rebellious one and the fragile one (even if she wants to cure her wounds alone, she can’t stand total loneliness).

Talkin’ 2 myself (my favourite lyrics from the album)
Talkin’ 2 myself is in the same vein as rollin’ (also Last angel & Letter). Ayu is bringing awareness, putting forward a monologue, also used as a healing process. She's giving a 'wake up' signal to the younger generation saying that depending of their actions, they may pay some consequences. About the 'overflowing information' that she’s mentioning, she admits that we all have free will, so nobody except for ourselves is forcing us to do it (drugs, alcoholism, porn, becoming depressed etc.). She’s also saying that sometimes we first have to make mistakes in order to evolve (“That destruction/ Gives birth to creation “). In the end, we are responsable for whats to come, so don’t blame others for your misfortune.

Decision is talking about people's resolutions. A decision taken at a crossroad point may change one’s life forever. Ayu’s not questioning her decisions, the fact that she chose the singing road. Morevover, she’s proud of what she has became. She’s also had hard moments (“A strong head wind blows / The cold soaks into my skin “) but she managed to overcome the crisis (“My frozen hands now / Reach straight out to the other side”) . This song serves as introduction for Guilty regarding her hearing loss.

GUILTY shows a very fragile part of human nature. The feeling of culpe for letting people down and the fear that everything may end in an instant. I'm pretty sure that this song deals with her left hearing loss. Being the title track of the album, we are left with an apocalyptical painting that sees no light at the end of the tunnel. Pretty depressing and a bit scary - but this is surely the summary of Ayumi's 2007.

Fated – the first love song from GUILTY. A beautiful description of love that at the end could not be fullfilled. Also, a dream hypoptesis is possible as the lyrics are kinda vague. The pv shows how love was undone by death.

Together When… – second love song from GUILTY. Suffering from a failed relationship, the need to return to the past and the unsure future.

Marionette (second favourite lyrics)
Similar theme as Like a Doll. She is doubting people's capacity of truly loving, as they choose to hide themselves within masks. Ayu’s using the “marionette” metaphor to describe this kind of self-destructing behaviour. The song is accompanied by a theatrical manifestation in the form of a pv that makes a lot of sense in the context of the lyrics. The video connects very well with the songs' creepy vibe by showing many interesting elements such as dead/fake eyes (confusion, lost of purpose), dark house (loneliness), wind (unsecurity) etc. The prelude marks the transition between two of the most darkest moments on the album (Guilty & Marionette). After Marionette ends, the mood of the album gets quite cheerful – The Judgement Day continues in the same sober style but only by a certain point when it becomes more and more uplifting.

Glitter – GUILTY’s singular summer song. The decision to still trust life and love even after multiple letdowns. Its our choice to limit our lives in black and white but we can certainly choose to see it in shades of gray. The lyrics may also be interpreted as the start of a new love story.

MY ALL – Ayu's gratitude for fans. The lyrics are kinda vague, so they can also be interpreted as lyrics for a friend, for a family member, even for a lover. Again, a fresh uplifting warm melody.

rebirth - reinvention, moments of collectedness, of grieving.

Untitled ~for her~ – ayu’s mourning towards her lost friend. The CDL 07-08 is so sad, I feel like crying everytime I see the concert. The lyrics are using the motif of the sky (e.g. clouds) as the place where souls go after leaving this world. This tragedy is maybe the main inspiration for this record.

GUILTY was created from ayu’s unconscious need to forgive her mistakes and her impotences. 2007 was a depressive year for her and she even said at a certain point that she wasn’t planning to release anything that year because she wasn’t feeling inspired and well enough. But eventually, she found the power to gather herself and to unleash all her anger into the music. Once again, music is healing.

Zeke. · #6 30th September 2014, 07:25 PM

I am doing an analysis on a form of visual communication for my visual communication class. I am surprised this era doesn't have more analysis input from users - there definitely was a strong message that Ayu was trying to present - it was her 10th anniversary after all!

Anyways, I like the last comment regarding Mirror. I personally feel that Mirrorcle World really represents the culmination of her career during that time. I think the performance of it on AT10 has a lot of hidden messages about her and her career as "HAMASAKI AYUMI." First, I am wondering about the beginning where she boards the ship, she stops and takes on last look backward, as if she knows she can never return to that state (pre-fame, pre-fortune, pre-HAMASAKI AYUMI). She boards the ship, and it's the start of her career. Over time, she acquires an army, her fans. Her ship has the battered "A" symbol (it is torn and tattered but stands), and after all these years she still continues to sail the ship proud, for the fans that have stuck by her side and continue to wave the flag of HAMASAKI AYUMI. Notice at the end the "fans" help her board the ship again, and it doesn't end as the song does - it is extended, foreshadowing that her career WILL continue on from this point forward and she will continue to lead the troupe of fans and uphold the image of HAMASAKI AYUMI with pride.

Does this sounds like a reasonable interpretation, and are others able to expand on this thought? Even the way she chose to end it with "MY ALL" is a message to the fans that she will continue on this journey and sharing in this dream with them. Her 10th anniversary was very much a celebration of the fans that remained, more so than the fame and fortune she had amassed.

Surreal17 · #7 17th March 2015, 07:56 PM

Artwork
In the CD only version, we can see the representation of the "marionette" muse. A women standing in a "crucified" position, with her right hand above her head. The hand line-up is giving us a lot of possible explanations : she is either doing the "frozen diva"/"marionette" look or her hand is protecting her from the torrid sun (symbol of obstacles) but at the same time her whole body is implying a signal of danger. Her eyes have a fixed and lost glance and she is wearing a leopard dress, symbol of power but at the same time of deception (a symbol well known in her art)
The cycle of the "Leopard" started with Duty when she was struggling/just starting to deal with the downside of fame, continuing with GUILTY and then with the controversial Party Queen (divorce).
In the CD+DVD cover version, she goes into defensive mode wearing all kind of animalic accessories such as claws and stones. Her glance is not lost anymore, but kind of aggresive. Her moody vibe is well represented by the medium boyish haircut.

The Chromatic
in a gradal scale:
*yellow (illness, reference to failed relationship) : Ayumi's dress from the photobook's cover, back cover background of the photobook, grass, sand, design of the photobook.
*red-brick (dryness, fatigue but at the same time the will of fire to succed) : Ayumi's hair, the landscape, the Leopard dress, the claws, her lips. This is probably the predominant colour for the entire era.
*metallic grey and black (depression, death) - back cover of the album, dress from photobook, accessories (gloves/ nails/ bracelet/ padlock/ keys/ chains), the funeral costume.