why do they say it that way?

[M_aria]

How come certain artists who's English is good or are very fluent choose to pronounce English words in songs with an accent? Does it have to do with the music arrangement? or is it meant for people who aren't fluent in English so they can sing along? Anyone have any ideas? The reason I'm asking is because I was listening to Hikki's Heart Station and I wondered why she says "Heart Station" that way but the English in Flavor of Life and Beautiful World is without an accent

[CatGirl]

I noticed that in HEART STATION today too, actually! I was really confused as to why she pronounced it with a Japanese accent O_o; I hope someone here has the answer~

[CoriKaru]

Only Utada really knows why she chooses to pronounce certain words in certain ways.

She doesn't pronounce all of her english with a Japanese twang. In fact there's a great amount of english in her songs that is pronounced "correctly" and every once in a while there's some that she pronounces like a Japanese person would pronounce it so there really isn't some divine answer.

With all of the "regular sounding" english that she sings it really shouldn't even be an issue when she does actually Romanizes/Kana-izes it up the little bit that she does.

[M_aria]

I wouldn't say it's an issue. It's just that I was wondering if there was actual reason for it, I thought maybe it had something to do with song writing or something like that. I guess it really is up to the artist...

[CoriKaru]

My apologies if I came off a certain way, I couldn't really figure out how to say it in a different way so I just used the word "issue". But yeah.......I suppose when constructing a melody/beat/whatever Utada or any other artists for that matter is conscious while making the actual lyrics how they'll have to sing something to stick to the beat/melody/whatever.

Originally Posted by M_aria

How come certain artists who's English is good or are very fluent choose to pronounce English words in songs with an accent? Does it have to do with the music arrangement? or is it meant for people who aren't fluent in English so they can sing along? Anyone have any ideas? The reason I'm asking is because I was listening to Hikki's Heart Station and I wondered why she says "Heart Station" that way but the English in Flavor of Life and Beautiful World is without an accent

I don't know why she decides to do it, but it's not such much an accent as the Japanese version of the word. If you know much about Japanese, you probably know that English words can be written into Japanese in katakana. I think when she wants to make things a bit more Japanese she'll avoid singing the English word or phrase in English, and just do it in katakana. One of the strangest instances is Kiss & Cry, where shes says "donto woori beibii," but then sings "I just want to be happy" in perfect English a few seconds later. I'd be interested to know why she makes those choices.

[cloud♥honey]

Maybe to fit better in the song. If she would sing "HEEEEART STAAAATION" in the chorus, it wouldn't be as cool as "HAAATO SUTEIICHON".

[CoriKaru]

Originally Posted by Cloud_Honey

Maybe to fit better in the song. If she would sing "HEEEEART STAAAATION" in the chorus, it wouldn't be as cool as "HAAATO SUTEIICHON".

Yeah, and singing "HEART STATION" would sound awkward and wouldn't fit the beat/melody. The "HEART" would have to be dragged out too long to the point where it wouldn't sound as good as breaking it up into 2 syllables.

So overall, instead of dragging out 3 syllables (HEART STATION) to fill up the space, she ends up with 5 syllables (HAATO SUTEISHON), which fills up the space nicely. Keeps the flow going.

[taskinillusion]

Originally Posted by Cloud_Honey

Maybe to fit better in the song. If she would sing "HEEEEART STAAAATION" in the chorus, it wouldn't be as cool as "HAAATO SUTEIICHON".

You are so right! Imagining her trying to sing it like that makes me laugh out loud!

[che0173]

LMFAO yeaaa
they change the accents to fit with the beat and feel of the music =D

[KuroixShiroi_Namida]

oh my... i never noticed it before *dies*

*Listens now* ehehe

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by M_aria

How come certain artists who's English is good or are very fluent choose to pronounce English words in songs with an accent? Does it have to do with the music arrangement? or is it meant for people who aren't fluent in English so they can sing along? Anyone have any ideas? The reason I'm asking is because I was listening to Hikki's Heart Station and I wondered why she says "Heart Station" that way but the English in Flavor of Life and Beautiful World is without an accent

She does that intentionally. It's not because she wants to sing it with an accent, but because english is already infused in japanese culture, and she sings like that because she's singing in japanese, if it makes any sense. Some english words have been incorporated to japanese language (reason why ayumi mentions sunglasses in monochrome). When she says HAATO SUTESHON, she's spelling it like someone speaking japanese would. Her intention is not to speak english there, even though that clearly is an english word. I know how I don't seem to make much sense out of it, but I hope someone who understands the language will be able to explain it.


On a side note, she pronounces HEART STATION in both ways in the song:


oh oh oh oh *whispers*Heart Station*

....Shinya ichi-ji no HAATO SUTEISHON