FM "on8" - GACKT & You
I was feeling down today, so decided to cheer myself up by translating something G-related. :D
So, I picked this one since it really must be shared.
Takumi, Jon, and You were asked to pick their favorite words of wisdom from GACKT. You's the last one to go. (I'm skipping most of the background talks by Takumi and Jon since they aren't very important. XD)
Everybody, especially GACKT, is totally pressuring You to pick the most incredible GACKT quote EVER, saying "It's really gonna be a dangerously great pick, isn't it?", "I need to get a handkerchief ready", "I bet this will make all the listeners cry", etc.
[01:19]
You: GACKT's words of wisdom... "(echoed) Dreams are to be realized."
GACKT: .............Too short!! Why so short? It's longer than that, you know that, don't you? Is that all you remember? That's not all, is it???
Y: No no no... You know, we've known each other since we were teenagers, and talked to each other a lot about our dreams, right? And we've always been together, and I've seen you realize your dreams, one by one. So, when you say "dreams are to be realized", it's very convincing.
G: We've known each other since we were18, you know..., maybe 17 even. It's been 21 years!
Y: And when we were teenagers, I used to say things like "That's impossible, Gaku." But seeing him making his dreams come true has made me think that dreams aren't just to be dreamed, but to be realized.
Takumi: Niisan (big brother), I'm quite touched right now.
G: The first time I saw him was 16, and then became friends at 17, and made a band together at 18. At that time, I would say things like "I'll do this, and I'll become this, and our band will be doing this, and in 5 years from now, we'll be doing this, and in 10 years, we'll be doing this." And every time I would say things like this, all the other members would totally shoot me down, saying "You gotta be nuts, are you an idiot?" And I would respond, "No, you're wrong. I will have accomplished this, for sure. For sure." And then, I went to Tokyo first. I was in Malice Mizer at the time, and You came to see us [perform]. I heard this from someone who was watching the live together with You, but while watching the live from the audience, You said these words, which I remember to this day. "Gaku has realized everything he said he would. So, what am I doing?" I strongly remember these words You said to the person, who told me about it later. And after that, I said to You, "Come to Tokyo."
T: Your friendship is ultra-touching. And it's been 21 years.
G: Yeah, 21 altogether. Since we were 17, so.. And You came out to Tokyo....14 years ago.
T: Wow, that's amazing... [You're like] a married couple.
Y: Life goes by so fast, doesn't it?
G: You know what, I've spend more than half of my life with him. Isn't that incredible?
J: On top of that, your relationship is so deep.
T: When I hear a story like this, I can so understand why You-san cried while standing inside Tokyo Dome.
G: And there are many episodes. For example, when You came to Tokyo, I felt the pressure to not let him fail since I was the one that called him, and I also couldn't fail myself. Up to that point, I used to think it's easier to fight when I'm alone. I'd always thought it's easier to fight when you have nothing to lose. But when I called all the members from Kyoto and started living all together under the same roof, I realized something. I realized that you can fight even more when you have someone to protect. So, even when things were really rough and taxing, I'd think to myself "I can't give in, I've got these guys to take care of.", "I gotta keep going for them", and kept thinking like this day after day.
And I think it was really hard on everybody at the time. By then, it was already normal for me to perform in front of tens of thousands of people. But for the others to jump from performing for hundreds to performing for thousands was like skipping an entire process, and there was a pressure for them to suddenly move up to that level. So, [I used to tell them] "You can't just keep working at the same pace as me, you have to work much, much harder in order to catch up with me, or our gap is just going to widen. So, you really gotta put your everything into it." And this was a huge pressure on all the members. And in reality, most of the members that came to Tokyo started breaking down, because they couldn't keep up with the pace psychologically.
But....how should I put this.... I'd thought that You'd be the first one to break. But You followed me all the way to the end, clendhing his teeth. He just kept going and going, and looking at him, I once asked him this question. I said "Why aren't you breaking down?" I asked this because You'd kept working so hard despite the fact that I thought he'd be the first one to break. And then You replied to me with these words, which I also remember to this day. He said, "I don't even have room to break down." These words, I thought, were also words of wisdom. He also continued to say, "The other members, they can afford to break down! They can afford the time. I can't even afford the time to break down!" These words, I still remember. At around 2 to 3 o'clock in the morning, I used to watch You playing the guitar all alone with just his pants on, because I used to always check these recordings when I got back home. These recordings were done in night vision...., don't know why it was night vision. You would ardently practice his coreography, etc. in front of the videocamera, and I would come home and check the recordings around 2-3AM at night. And then the following morning, I'd tell You, "Right here, you should do this more like this", "You should move your body more here", "This move may be OK for 500 people, but not for 5000 people". And we'd do this every single day. In the end, You was the only one who lasted to the end. And I'm extremely grateful to him for that.
Y: We...didn't even have enough time to be worried, did we?
G: Mmmmmmm, the truth of the matter is, around the time that I became solo in 2000, things were extremely rough. Becoming solo took almost an insane amount of time away from me, and I'd work from morning to midnight, like 1 or 2AM. And after coming home, I had to care for the members who'd broken down. I had to listen to them, and give them advice. And then, I started to suffer more and more because of it, but You, the only one who didn't break, was my emotional support. Because You was there, I thought I had to keep moving forward, and keep leading the other members the best I could. So, I kept moving forward.
But I also realized this. No matter how much love you have for people and no matter how hard you try to lead them, they'll stop walking if you let go of their hands. That's also the reality. So, while it's very important to let people know how much you care about them and want them to walk with you, you can't drag them along. You need to make them walk on their own feet. You need to tell them, "If you can't keep walking with me, then go your own separate way now." The coldness of these words..., it's also a necessary thing. Otherwise, it's insulting to the other members who are walking alongside you, because everybody would have to pause, too. So, these harsh words, cruel things that do happen in reality, the fact that you have to stay true to the members who are with you, and the appreciation you need to have for those members....., all of these things, I've carried and moved forward with them. And after being together for over 20 years, I can't help but be grateful. Even to this day, he's my friend, brother, family, band member, coworker, and best friend. The fact that there has been one member like that in my life...., that is my treasure.
T: This is gonna make me cry, really.
Y: I'm having a lot of flashbacks.
G: It's the same thing as when Jon and Takumi stood on that Makuhari stage, isn't it? So was the first time you stood on the stage in France. I probably said to Jon the same things I said to You. Ever since the time I said to Jon "Let's do this project together", the words I've said to Jon over and over when he was struggling were the same words I said to You. And what I still believe is that you have to walk on your own feet, because I can't drag you with me. But because everybody is walking on their own feet now, I can feel your growths, and I'm sure you know that hard work always pays off in the end. I think these things are very meaningful.
T: You know, Jon, Uzo, and I have been working at double speed, and it's a lot of pressure to be following veteran artists like you all, but we've been encouraging each other, saying "Let's make the most of this opportunity!".
J: Yeah, it's a really good challenge for us.
T: Man.... Isn't it great? Being in a band....
G: Hahahahahahahahahaha
OK, time for bed. :3
So, I picked this one since it really must be shared.
Takumi, Jon, and You were asked to pick their favorite words of wisdom from GACKT. You's the last one to go. (I'm skipping most of the background talks by Takumi and Jon since they aren't very important. XD)
Everybody, especially GACKT, is totally pressuring You to pick the most incredible GACKT quote EVER, saying "It's really gonna be a dangerously great pick, isn't it?", "I need to get a handkerchief ready", "I bet this will make all the listeners cry", etc.
Click to view[01:19]
You: GACKT's words of wisdom... "(echoed) Dreams are to be realized."
GACKT: .............Too short!! Why so short? It's longer than that, you know that, don't you? Is that all you remember? That's not all, is it???
Y: No no no... You know, we've known each other since we were teenagers, and talked to each other a lot about our dreams, right? And we've always been together, and I've seen you realize your dreams, one by one. So, when you say "dreams are to be realized", it's very convincing.
G: We've known each other since we were18, you know..., maybe 17 even. It's been 21 years!
Y: And when we were teenagers, I used to say things like "That's impossible, Gaku." But seeing him making his dreams come true has made me think that dreams aren't just to be dreamed, but to be realized.
Takumi: Niisan (big brother), I'm quite touched right now.
G: The first time I saw him was 16, and then became friends at 17, and made a band together at 18. At that time, I would say things like "I'll do this, and I'll become this, and our band will be doing this, and in 5 years from now, we'll be doing this, and in 10 years, we'll be doing this." And every time I would say things like this, all the other members would totally shoot me down, saying "You gotta be nuts, are you an idiot?" And I would respond, "No, you're wrong. I will have accomplished this, for sure. For sure." And then, I went to Tokyo first. I was in Malice Mizer at the time, and You came to see us [perform]. I heard this from someone who was watching the live together with You, but while watching the live from the audience, You said these words, which I remember to this day. "Gaku has realized everything he said he would. So, what am I doing?" I strongly remember these words You said to the person, who told me about it later. And after that, I said to You, "Come to Tokyo."
T: Your friendship is ultra-touching. And it's been 21 years.
G: Yeah, 21 altogether. Since we were 17, so.. And You came out to Tokyo....14 years ago.
T: Wow, that's amazing... [You're like] a married couple.
Y: Life goes by so fast, doesn't it?
G: You know what, I've spend more than half of my life with him. Isn't that incredible?
J: On top of that, your relationship is so deep.
T: When I hear a story like this, I can so understand why You-san cried while standing inside Tokyo Dome.
G: And there are many episodes. For example, when You came to Tokyo, I felt the pressure to not let him fail since I was the one that called him, and I also couldn't fail myself. Up to that point, I used to think it's easier to fight when I'm alone. I'd always thought it's easier to fight when you have nothing to lose. But when I called all the members from Kyoto and started living all together under the same roof, I realized something. I realized that you can fight even more when you have someone to protect. So, even when things were really rough and taxing, I'd think to myself "I can't give in, I've got these guys to take care of.", "I gotta keep going for them", and kept thinking like this day after day.
And I think it was really hard on everybody at the time. By then, it was already normal for me to perform in front of tens of thousands of people. But for the others to jump from performing for hundreds to performing for thousands was like skipping an entire process, and there was a pressure for them to suddenly move up to that level. So, [I used to tell them] "You can't just keep working at the same pace as me, you have to work much, much harder in order to catch up with me, or our gap is just going to widen. So, you really gotta put your everything into it." And this was a huge pressure on all the members. And in reality, most of the members that came to Tokyo started breaking down, because they couldn't keep up with the pace psychologically.
But....how should I put this.... I'd thought that You'd be the first one to break. But You followed me all the way to the end, clendhing his teeth. He just kept going and going, and looking at him, I once asked him this question. I said "Why aren't you breaking down?" I asked this because You'd kept working so hard despite the fact that I thought he'd be the first one to break. And then You replied to me with these words, which I also remember to this day. He said, "I don't even have room to break down." These words, I thought, were also words of wisdom. He also continued to say, "The other members, they can afford to break down! They can afford the time. I can't even afford the time to break down!" These words, I still remember. At around 2 to 3 o'clock in the morning, I used to watch You playing the guitar all alone with just his pants on, because I used to always check these recordings when I got back home. These recordings were done in night vision...., don't know why it was night vision. You would ardently practice his coreography, etc. in front of the videocamera, and I would come home and check the recordings around 2-3AM at night. And then the following morning, I'd tell You, "Right here, you should do this more like this", "You should move your body more here", "This move may be OK for 500 people, but not for 5000 people". And we'd do this every single day. In the end, You was the only one who lasted to the end. And I'm extremely grateful to him for that.
Y: We...didn't even have enough time to be worried, did we?
G: Mmmmmmm, the truth of the matter is, around the time that I became solo in 2000, things were extremely rough. Becoming solo took almost an insane amount of time away from me, and I'd work from morning to midnight, like 1 or 2AM. And after coming home, I had to care for the members who'd broken down. I had to listen to them, and give them advice. And then, I started to suffer more and more because of it, but You, the only one who didn't break, was my emotional support. Because You was there, I thought I had to keep moving forward, and keep leading the other members the best I could. So, I kept moving forward.
But I also realized this. No matter how much love you have for people and no matter how hard you try to lead them, they'll stop walking if you let go of their hands. That's also the reality. So, while it's very important to let people know how much you care about them and want them to walk with you, you can't drag them along. You need to make them walk on their own feet. You need to tell them, "If you can't keep walking with me, then go your own separate way now." The coldness of these words..., it's also a necessary thing. Otherwise, it's insulting to the other members who are walking alongside you, because everybody would have to pause, too. So, these harsh words, cruel things that do happen in reality, the fact that you have to stay true to the members who are with you, and the appreciation you need to have for those members....., all of these things, I've carried and moved forward with them. And after being together for over 20 years, I can't help but be grateful. Even to this day, he's my friend, brother, family, band member, coworker, and best friend. The fact that there has been one member like that in my life...., that is my treasure.
T: This is gonna make me cry, really.
Y: I'm having a lot of flashbacks.
G: It's the same thing as when Jon and Takumi stood on that Makuhari stage, isn't it? So was the first time you stood on the stage in France. I probably said to Jon the same things I said to You. Ever since the time I said to Jon "Let's do this project together", the words I've said to Jon over and over when he was struggling were the same words I said to You. And what I still believe is that you have to walk on your own feet, because I can't drag you with me. But because everybody is walking on their own feet now, I can feel your growths, and I'm sure you know that hard work always pays off in the end. I think these things are very meaningful.
T: You know, Jon, Uzo, and I have been working at double speed, and it's a lot of pressure to be following veteran artists like you all, but we've been encouraging each other, saying "Let's make the most of this opportunity!".
J: Yeah, it's a really good challenge for us.
T: Man.... Isn't it great? Being in a band....
G: Hahahahahahahahahaha
OK, time for bed. :3