Music meme, Day 11
Day 11 - A song from your favorite band
So like I said on day 1... since I can't put CHABA for all 3 "favorite" categories, here's something from someone else.
I really don't know why I like these two so much. Maybe it's the fact that they rip styles from all kinds of classic styles left and right. Maybe it's the harmonies, which I can tell have improved since their height of popularity in Japan (back in the 90s.) Or maybe it's just the fact that their CD, Splurge, was the first CD of Japanese music I ever owned. My parents bought it for me having no idea what it was (the most I knew was of their existence.)
They just knew I liked "Japanese stuff."
For whatever reason, I became obsessed with Splurge for the longest time. I had an hour's commute to get to Japanese class back then, and this CD was just over that. So I could listen to it the whole way coming, to "get myself ready" for class, and then hear most of it on the drive back too.
I have no idea how often I have played that CD.
Anyway, here's something a little newer from them. Not surprisingly, Puffy is one of two Japanese artists that I own more than one CD of (the other is Akeboshi.)
Curious fact: I commented to a friend once that I had never found a Japanese individual female artist that I liked, I could only get into duets or more. There was just something that bugged me about Japanese females that sang alone, and why could that be? After some consideration she remarked that maybe it's because it is, or at least has been, considered "cute" for a girl to sing a little off key. This is avoided when they're in a group. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Anyone else ever noticed this, or think it's true?
Oh and finally, their name is really just PUFFY, thank you very much, not Puffy AmiYumi. Apparently Mr. Whatever-his-name-is-now thinks that just because other people call him by that word means he should be able to "trademark" it and keep anyone else from using it EVEN THOUGH THAT'S NOT EVEN A NAME HE OFFICIALLY CALLS HIMSELF.... That kind of thing just gets me steamed! I don't want to hear your music, ever. JERK. (Yo, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, whatev, Im'ma let you finish, buuuut...)
*deep sigh* /endrant
Warnings for one of the weirdest MVs you may ever see, although I think you can tell by the preview image. Only in Japan, guys. Only in Japan.
Although these lyrics are not that difficult in content, they present a special translation challenge. There is narration of a story, as well as two people speaking, but not a single quotation mark or "he said/she said" is needed to know who. Instead, feminine speech styles and masculine speech styles are rather cleverly employed to indicate who's talking. Since this doesn't translate at all into English, I've indicated the woman's lines with purple text and the man's lines with blue text. I love it when Japanese does things like this, just makes you brain work in ways that English can't... even if that does make me a little sad at the same time. They're just impossible to really translate.
The lyrics are also a social commentary, encased in the guise of a song about unrequited love. Ah, the sad life of the Japanese workaholic and the hard-to-find, repressed career woman. You gotta feel sorry for her in some ways. There are a lot more glass ceilings for women in the Japanese workplace than there are in the US, even now. Change is sometimes hard to come by.
働く男
Hataraku Otoko
"Working Man"
仕事できる男 それが彼女の好み
Shigoto dekiru otoko Sore ga konojo no konomi
Men who can get the work done,
That's what she likes
気合入れて勤めたのだが 忙しいわ つまんないわ
Kiai irete tsutometa no daga Isogashii wa Tsumannai wa
You've worked, you've fought hard but-
I'm busy
It's boring
今の会社かなりレベル高い方だし
Ima no kaisha kanari REBERU takai hō da shi
I'm heading for a pretty high level at my current company
親父がらみのコネもあるから やめるわきゃないし
Oyaji garami no KONE mo aru kara Yameru wakya nai shi
And since I'm in with the boss
I can't just quit now
いつも僕はひとりきり フロに入って寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri FURO ni haitte neru dake
I'm always all alone
I just take a bath and go to bed
たまにオフィスで電話かけたら彼女の声が
Tamani OFISU de denwa kaketara kanojo no koe ga
Now and then he calls her at the office, and her voice-
忙しいのは自分だけと思わないで ジャマしないで
Isogashii nowa jibun dake to omowanaide JAMA shinaide
Don't think you're the only one who's busy
Don't get in my way
眺める事さえできない 君の髪を 歩く姿を
Nagameru koto sae dekinai Kimi no kami wo Aruku sugata wo
I can't even look
Not at your hair
Not at your figure walking by
眠る事しかできない せめて夢の中ででも 君に逢いたい
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo Kimi ni aitai
The only thing I can do is sleep
I want to see you
In my dreams at least
いつも僕はひとりきり フロに入って寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri FURO ni haitte neru dake
I'm always all alone
I just take a bath and go to bed
いつも僕はひとりきり 明日のために寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri Ashita no tameni neru dake
I'm always all alone
I only sleep because tomorrow's coming
いつも僕はひとりきり いつも僕はひとりきり
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri
I'm always all alone
I'm always all alone
眺める事さえできない 君の髪を 歩く姿を
Nagameru koto sae dekinai Kimi no kami wo Aruku sugata wo
I can't even look
Not at your hair
Not at your figure walking by
眠る事しかできない せめて夢の中ででも
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo
The only thing I can do is sleep
And in my dreams at least...
思い出す事ができない 君の裸を とぎれる声を
Omoidasu koto ga dekinai Kimi no hadaka wo Togireru koe wo
I can't recall
Your naked body
Your static-filled voice
眠る事しか出来ない せめて夢の中ででも
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo
The only thing I can do is sleep
And in my dreams at least...
In other news, it won't be long before I'm done with the next chapter of PoSM! Just gotta tie a bow on one last scene. Oh dear Usopp, you always manage to get into such trou-ble. XDDD I didn't get half the exciting twists in that I thought would get into this chapter, but... ah well. Better luck next time. Really, I don't know how the heck it all got so long before I could get there. Maybe there's something I could condense but... aaah I don't see it.
Day 12 - A song from a band you hate
Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 - A song that describes you
Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 - A song from your favorite album
Day 20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year
So like I said on day 1... since I can't put CHABA for all 3 "favorite" categories, here's something from someone else.
I really don't know why I like these two so much. Maybe it's the fact that they rip styles from all kinds of classic styles left and right. Maybe it's the harmonies, which I can tell have improved since their height of popularity in Japan (back in the 90s.) Or maybe it's just the fact that their CD, Splurge, was the first CD of Japanese music I ever owned. My parents bought it for me having no idea what it was (the most I knew was of their existence.)
They just knew I liked "Japanese stuff."
For whatever reason, I became obsessed with Splurge for the longest time. I had an hour's commute to get to Japanese class back then, and this CD was just over that. So I could listen to it the whole way coming, to "get myself ready" for class, and then hear most of it on the drive back too.
I have no idea how often I have played that CD.
Anyway, here's something a little newer from them. Not surprisingly, Puffy is one of two Japanese artists that I own more than one CD of (the other is Akeboshi.)
Curious fact: I commented to a friend once that I had never found a Japanese individual female artist that I liked, I could only get into duets or more. There was just something that bugged me about Japanese females that sang alone, and why could that be? After some consideration she remarked that maybe it's because it is, or at least has been, considered "cute" for a girl to sing a little off key. This is avoided when they're in a group. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Anyone else ever noticed this, or think it's true?
Oh and finally, their name is really just PUFFY, thank you very much, not Puffy AmiYumi. Apparently Mr. Whatever-his-name-is-now thinks that just because other people call him by that word means he should be able to "trademark" it and keep anyone else from using it EVEN THOUGH THAT'S NOT EVEN A NAME HE OFFICIALLY CALLS HIMSELF.... That kind of thing just gets me steamed! I don't want to hear your music, ever. JERK. (Yo, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, whatev, Im'ma let you finish, buuuut...)
*deep sigh* /endrant
Warnings for one of the weirdest MVs you may ever see, although I think you can tell by the preview image. Only in Japan, guys. Only in Japan.
Click to viewAlthough these lyrics are not that difficult in content, they present a special translation challenge. There is narration of a story, as well as two people speaking, but not a single quotation mark or "he said/she said" is needed to know who. Instead, feminine speech styles and masculine speech styles are rather cleverly employed to indicate who's talking. Since this doesn't translate at all into English, I've indicated the woman's lines with purple text and the man's lines with blue text. I love it when Japanese does things like this, just makes you brain work in ways that English can't... even if that does make me a little sad at the same time. They're just impossible to really translate.
The lyrics are also a social commentary, encased in the guise of a song about unrequited love. Ah, the sad life of the Japanese workaholic and the hard-to-find, repressed career woman. You gotta feel sorry for her in some ways. There are a lot more glass ceilings for women in the Japanese workplace than there are in the US, even now. Change is sometimes hard to come by.
働く男
Hataraku Otoko
"Working Man"
仕事できる男 それが彼女の好み
Shigoto dekiru otoko Sore ga konojo no konomi
Men who can get the work done,
That's what she likes
気合入れて勤めたのだが 忙しいわ つまんないわ
Kiai irete tsutometa no daga Isogashii wa Tsumannai wa
You've worked, you've fought hard but-
I'm busy
It's boring
今の会社かなりレベル高い方だし
Ima no kaisha kanari REBERU takai hō da shi
I'm heading for a pretty high level at my current company
親父がらみのコネもあるから やめるわきゃないし
Oyaji garami no KONE mo aru kara Yameru wakya nai shi
And since I'm in with the boss
I can't just quit now
いつも僕はひとりきり フロに入って寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri FURO ni haitte neru dake
I'm always all alone
I just take a bath and go to bed
たまにオフィスで電話かけたら彼女の声が
Tamani OFISU de denwa kaketara kanojo no koe ga
Now and then he calls her at the office, and her voice-
忙しいのは自分だけと思わないで ジャマしないで
Isogashii nowa jibun dake to omowanaide JAMA shinaide
Don't think you're the only one who's busy
Don't get in my way
眺める事さえできない 君の髪を 歩く姿を
Nagameru koto sae dekinai Kimi no kami wo Aruku sugata wo
I can't even look
Not at your hair
Not at your figure walking by
眠る事しかできない せめて夢の中ででも 君に逢いたい
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo Kimi ni aitai
The only thing I can do is sleep
I want to see you
In my dreams at least
いつも僕はひとりきり フロに入って寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri FURO ni haitte neru dake
I'm always all alone
I just take a bath and go to bed
いつも僕はひとりきり 明日のために寝るだけ
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri Ashita no tameni neru dake
I'm always all alone
I only sleep because tomorrow's coming
いつも僕はひとりきり いつも僕はひとりきり
Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri Itsumo boku wa hitorikiri
I'm always all alone
I'm always all alone
眺める事さえできない 君の髪を 歩く姿を
Nagameru koto sae dekinai Kimi no kami wo Aruku sugata wo
I can't even look
Not at your hair
Not at your figure walking by
眠る事しかできない せめて夢の中ででも
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo
The only thing I can do is sleep
And in my dreams at least...
思い出す事ができない 君の裸を とぎれる声を
Omoidasu koto ga dekinai Kimi no hadaka wo Togireru koe wo
I can't recall
Your naked body
Your static-filled voice
眠る事しか出来ない せめて夢の中ででも
Nemuru koto shika dekinai Semete yume no naka de demo
The only thing I can do is sleep
And in my dreams at least...
In other news, it won't be long before I'm done with the next chapter of PoSM! Just gotta tie a bow on one last scene. Oh dear Usopp, you always manage to get into such trou-ble. XDDD I didn't get half the exciting twists in that I thought would get into this chapter, but... ah well. Better luck next time. Really, I don't know how the heck it all got so long before I could get there. Maybe there's something I could condense but... aaah I don't see it.
Day 12 - A song from a band you hate
Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 - A song that describes you
Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 - A song from your favorite album
Day 20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year