Category: Japanese music

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dir en grey Japanese music

Glass Skin

This is the new song from Dir en grey; again, they never cease to amaze me. “Glass Skin” is another sad, mellow song following the single “DOZING GREEN”; my favorite part of “Glass Skin” is the guitar part in the chorus. It’s so eerily painful yet beautiful to listen to.

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of the official translation, and of Dir en grey LJ Community):

My vision begins to blur
The glass sky, the color of the wind
The merry-go-round playing alone
I wave
My somehow faded voice is more important to me than my guilty conscience
Tomorrow I sleep, leaving myself behind
Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
Here…

In the dark morning, I pretend the window to be a picture frame
I wake my sleeping skin and press my hand against this wet piece of picture
Spring blossoms and the petals fall, giving life to the river
Swaying from side to side, where will you go?
I put my hand on the heavy and closed door
The remains of the parade
The silence laughs along with the fact that I won’t be sleeping again tonight
Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
Here, let there be love…
The joking-dancing seasons endlessy hurt
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
And to be melted by the dreams I hold out

I bleed as my way fo compensating everything to you
How heavy is blood?
Happiness and sadness lies to close
The hand that will be born tomorrow, will be simply pure and nothing else
I can barely see you now with all these tears

Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just tken
Left to be just damaged
Here, let there be love…
This is a ferris weel, where I can look down and see you from
The melody that just comes crumbling down is also so sweet and beautiful, it’s frightning
The shadow exposed by the sun is branded into my memory
and it touches my heart than any shallow words combined

Categories
Japanese music music

Deterioration of Quality in Music.

I’ve been noticing this more and more lately–music has all gone downhill. Not just American music, but even Japanese music. I grew up listening to whatever hits were on the radio; then I “rebelled” against mainstream music during my early teenage years by listening to American oldies. Then, I transitioned over to Japanese pop and rock in my late teenage years since I grew bored of the American scene. Discovering new artists here and there was what kept me enthusiastic about the Japanese music scene.

Nearly six years later, though, I am beginning to feel jaded by that scene as well. I continue to stay open-minded to new acts coming out in Japan, but I feel disappointed with most of them. None of them stand out to me: the same overhashed melodies, cutesy lyrics, predictable everything. A slew of new debuts have come out through the various music companies, and none of them seem to have much potential. Where’s the differentiation? Where’s the variety?

I can’t even name the new artists I have listened to because, frankly, none of them have stuck out in my mind. Maybe the scene has been like this for awhile now and I am just realizing it. I can’t decide where to go next–been kind of sticking with well-known artists, but I also want to branch out into other countries’ music.

Categories
dir en grey Japanese music

DOZING GREEN

There is something about Dir en grey‘s music and lyrics that just makes me tremble with emotion. All of their songs are so artistically written, so wonderfully sung; most of their songs are of depressing/morbid nature, yet somehow I can overlook that factor and appreciate their music for what it is: pure genius.

The five men put so much passion into their music and it shows. Their newest song, “DOZING GREEN,” definitely doesn’t disappoint me at all. I have been listening to it frequently since its 10.24.07 release date, and I fall in love with it more and more. Kyo’s imperfect voice, strung full of passion and emotion, just sings out a lot of loaded lyrics that mesmerizes me.

Categories
friends Japanese music life My San Francisco Chronicles

Life in the City by the Bay.

Well, it has been five months since I moved to San Francisco. Time has passed by so quickly that I forget how I ended up here. So much has happened as well–it’s all been a blur.

Times are still rocky, but I am feeling more and more that this is my new home. I didn’t even realise I had been here for so long until a few weeks ago, when I took my first trip out of the city since August.

I have met a few people so far, but there are still so many people I haven’t met yet. I have become used to the sights and sounds though; I walk around the neighborhoods like I’ve lived here for years. It’s amazing to see how much a person can adjust to in such a short amount of time.

I watch myself kind of shedding away layers of my former self as the time goes by. For one, I seem to be growing distant from the J-music world. Sure, I still listen to a lot of J-music, but I don’t really care to keep up-to-date with the latest news anymore. I also find myself distancing from J-music fans…maybe I feel we can’t connect anymore due to how different our lives have become.

I guess this is how life goes–they say, as you grow older, you end up losing more and more friends until all you have left are your closest friends (and family, of course). I don’t mind that really. I find myself growing tired of trying to seek out too many people.