ayu 'injects' feeling into her songs

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

I do agree..I love her because her feelings are so close to my heart..her communicative way reaches so strongly my soul.

the songs that move move me more are:

Dearest
End Roll
fated
memorial address
HEAVEN
teddy bear

[keikeiaznqueen]

I think TO BE, Who..., untitled ~for her~, teddy bear, and A Song for XX move me the most. Ayu does have the knack of conveying emotion through her music that I seldom feel from other artists. This is the reason why she exploded in popularity in the first place (apart from her image) because people who listened to her music felt like she could understand them. Songs like A Song for XX and SEASONS resonate in people's hearts!

This is truly her talent. Whether the emotions are truly her own, or if she's emulating someone else's emotions into her own music, she does it so well that it comes alive. I think she takes advantage of this talent really well.

[asmAyumi1992]

untitled ~for her~ really gave an impact for me.

[Andrenekoi]

Well... it's not like she is the only singer in the world (or even in jpop) that is able to do this... Actually, most HUGE stars everywhere in the world can, that's one of the reasons why they are huge in the first place o.õ

But yeah, she can do this pretty well^^

[ayuayu798]

I have lots!
-Fated
(Miss)understood
Is this love?
Together when...
SURREAL

[noidea]

Ayu is the only artist that ever got me to cry while listening to her songs, so, at least for me, she's somewhat special in that manner. I remember two other songs getting my eyes slightly wet or getting me a little angry, but no song ever made me feel the song as strong as some of ayus songs(memorial address, teddy bear, a song for xx,untitled) do

[Crystal_Ageha]

Yeah, Ayumi is the only singer that has ever given me this "feeling" whenever I listen to her. For me, the actual lyrics and how she sings them adds the most to that feeling. And for me, in many of her songs, it's like she took my own personal feelings and created a beautiful song from them. A few of Ayu's songs even made me tear up. That has never happened with other songs before. She really does have a gift for conveying the emotions she sings about.

[Lanz16]

She's one of the artist that were she connected withe her audience to her song.

I can remember that I was crying while listening Over, and it was a huge impact for me.
I think the lyrics and the way she sings it was so brilliant.

(d)Lma, identity, LOVE 'n' HATE, and Naturally can make me "sarcastic" for a while to its strong lyrics and aggressive kind of tune.

Happy songs like Greatful days, HONEY, EnergizE, B&D, and glitter makes my day a-lot.


winding road and Replace are the songs that can move and inspire me though its message.

[Lady_Eowyn]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

The first time I heard "Far away" I knew it was a sort of frustrated sadness that she was talking about. The first time I heard "teddy bear" I knew it was a mournful sort of song. The first time I heard "A Song for XX" I knew she was singing about some sort of apprehensive, angry determination to change something. The first time I heard "Fly high" I knew it was an inspirational, uplifting track - and all of this was without knowing the lyrics.

I haven't felt that in awhile. Songs like "fated" are too over the top with the fake crying type of voice in the bridge. Songs like "Sunrise" sound like she's trying to convince herself that she's happy, nevermind trying to convey the message to us.

"HEAVEN" just about had it right, but then the fake crying in the video nearly killed it for me. I just don't watch the video and I'm fine, lol

Totally agree.

i have felt the same. Sunrise, for some reason i cannot explain, feels somehow forced, plastic (if you know what i mean) and gives me the feeling of sadness being covered by a mask of happiness. Same goes for glitter, though i like that song. In these past days i've been listening the mashup remix of all her summer songs (found in Sunrise/sunset) and somehow, i feel true happiness in the "greatful days" song. that song is special because she sounds so happy and that feeling is contagious

Now that i think about it, may be that's why Next Level didn't work. At least half of the album sounds too forced also, with too many electropop tracks. there are virtually no dark songs in there. This is just an opinion of mine, but i think ayu is trying too hard to convince herself she's happy...

Songs like connected and I am... show so much pain, and that's why they're great. they're totally authentic and natural... straight from the heart

[Kazeyomi]

Yep it is true.
I love how she sings some of her songs, I can feel her emotion through her voice.
Sure, her vocals aren't amazing as ayaka or the Superfly's singer (I can't remember her name lol sorry) that are the most amazing voices in jmusic atm (more than Hikki imo), but she's one of the few singers I've ever listen to that can express her own true emotions.

For example, when I listen to Memorial Address for the first time I wasn't read lyrics yet.
Her voice in Memorial Address is powerful but extremely sad at the same time. I was so sad too that I start to cry lol, even if I wasn't know what she saying.
I mean, even if you don't know japanese you can feel the song and what she want sayin' to you.

Lol I'm sorry for my bad english I need to learn english too

[Diana]

I also love it when she puts feelings in her songs.. Yeah, sometimes it is acting like on Arena Tours with Shuya.. It was cool at first but it started to annoy me :/ The same fake thing all over again!
But when she sings her ballads and cries I so love to see that she gets all emotional..that I also cry (it's not too hard to make me cry lol). When she was singing untitled ~for her~, MY ALL etc, I doubt she was faking. It was nice to see her, sharing her feelings with everyone... Showing her weak side. Sometimes I don't know if she's crying from happiness or from sadness.
I love Ayu because she sings with her heart! She puts her emotions/feelings in her songs, both melody and lyrics!

EDIT: Yeah.. forgot one thing.. I think her vocals are great! Well, they've been better of course, but still good. She tries very hard and has skills. She really sings because she loves it! Not just "to sing a song and get over with it"

[Ayumiko]

Ayu might not be the one of the best singers out there but she's one of the best when it comes to expressing her emotions through her singing when she's not trying to put on a act with shuya.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

When her emotions are conveyed naturally, I love it. When they are obviously something being played (like in many of her ballad performances with Shuya), it just comes off as way too over the top for me.

I agree...except its not over the top for me...just annoying. I blame Shuya for this...lol. I prefer her singing alone especially ballads.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

I've been injected with her feelings upon hearing songs like A song for xx, teddy bear, and Memorial Address. They're songs I can relate to, and I was even shocked of how much it mirrored feelings I've felt.

[Not~Yet]

Am I the only one who thinks songs like Sunrise~Lia~, glitter, NL etc are just purely "feelgood"-songs and not trying to convince anyone anything...? Just because they don't have anything "deeper" than just being happy and wishing for good things in the lyrics doesn't mean they're less meaningful. Most of you are probably gonna lol hard but I have actually cried while listening to glitter To me there's something bittersweet/mellow about that song, and it just happened to fit very well to my feelings atm. But yeah even in those songs I actually do feel the emotion in her voice.

[noidea]

^ no, but Sunrise feels forced, like fake happiness (Oh LOOOK im HAAAPPPPYYYYY! *turns away* *cries* why shuya, oh whyyyyyyyy?)

[Ayu_Ready]

I think it's cause she is so popular she is a bit out of the commercial music system and do what she loves like songs and speak with her heart, no?

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by noidea

^ no, but Sunrise feels forced, like fake happiness (Oh LOOOK im HAAAPPPPYYYYY! *turns away* *cries* why shuya, oh whyyyyyyyy?)

Yeah, NEXT LEVEL didn't feel forced at all, it felt genuine. As did "Greatful days," for example. And those are two of the few "happy" ayu songs that I really enjoy.

And ayu's certainly done a fantastic job in the past with mixing happy songs with a certain nostalgic/melancholic feeling (in fact, I'd argue that that's what she's best at). In those cases (like "fairyland") she makes no illusions about the fact that the song has a sad aspect to it. But with "Sunrise" it sounded like there was sadness behind the happy-mask, but she was trying very hard to pretend like there wasn't any. "glitter" didn't really feel like it had any emotion at all.

And "untitled ~for her~" for me has the same issue as "fated" where... it is a genuinely sad song, but when delivering the vocals, Ayu seemed to have it in her head "okay, this is a sad song, I need to sound sad when singing it. Think sad, ayu, think sad!" and then when she sang it, the sadness was too much and too put on. Both of those songs are really very moving and very sad, but she overdoes it with the vocals and it lessens the songs' power.

When ayu just DOES, doesn't think, just DOES, she ends up so much more honest and relatable.

[Yoake]

Ayu is very special. I always hypnotise by her way of singing. She always put a lot of emotions and feelings. Maybe, it's her only way she can speak us...in singing

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

When ayu just DOES, doesn't think, just DOES, she ends up so much more honest and relatable.

Yup, I 100% agree. It's just unfortunate that she seems to have less and less of those kinds of performances these days.

[alternarist]

A Song for XX gives me the strength to continue when i feel that I am breaking.