Ayu-View: An unprofessional Review

[Zeke.]

People chill the f/ck out, my God. Half of us users on here don't know Japanese enough to link the exact meaning and structure of phrases as they are uttered in the songs but we know whether we like them or not just by listening. Yes after reading lyrics sometimes your appreciation / love for a song will increase, but if the song sucks (production / melody / arrangement wise), reading a 'translation' of lyrics is not going to make you suddenly love the song you initially disliked/hated, when your brain isn't processing the subject matter as you listen.

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Originally Posted by Zeke.

People chill the f/ck out, my God. Half of us users on here don't know Japanese enough to link the exact meaning and structure of phrases as they are uttered in the songs but we know whether we like them or not just by listening. Yes after reading lyrics sometimes your appreciation / love for a song will increase, but if the song sucks (production / melody / arrangement wise), reading a 'translation' of lyrics is not going to make you suddenly love the song you initially disliked/hated, when your brain isn't processing the subject matter as you listen.

Don't try to reason with the stans, they're beyond it lol.

And even if she doesn't know the meaning, she can just think of the voice as another instrument. Songs are liked because of the MUSIC, lyrics can improve a song but in this case I don't think its vital that she knows every word out of Ayu's mouth.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by ComatoseBunnySnatcher

Don't try to reason with the stans, they're beyond it lol.

^Okay, I'm officially offended.
Jesus, all I said was lyrics is a part of a song, giving a review without knowing them is useless. In. My. Opinion. And I said it very nicely. Why is it so hard just to agree ti disagree? And I am chilled the ***** out, I've been the whole time. People need to stop attacking others. This is ridiculous. This is gonna be one of those threads that are going downhill to the trash already.

Zeke - I pretty much disagree with all of what you said, but who cares? How boring would it be if we'd all think the same?

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Okay, that was uncalled for so I do apologize.
I just don't think a casual fan would need lyrics to determine whether a song sounds good or not.

[TeamAyu2004]

^ I dont think you were being overly critical about some people??

Originally Posted by Sandy

^Okay, I'm officially offended.
Jesus, all I said was lyrics is a part of a song, giving a review without knowing them is useless. In. My. Opinion. And I said it very nicely. Why is it so hard just to agree ti disagree? And I am chilled the ***** out, I've been the whole time. People need to stop attacking others. This is ridiculous. This is gonna be one of those threads that are going downhill to the trash already.

Actually I think you said what she did as 'very very stupid...'

not too nice if you ask me.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Sandy

^Okay, I'm officially offended.
Jesus, all I said was lyrics is a part of a song, giving a review without knowing them is useless. In. My. Opinion. And I said it very nicely. Why is it so hard just to agree ti disagree? And I am chilled the ***** out, I've been the whole time. People need to stop attacking others. This is ridiculous. This is gonna be one of those threads that are going downhill to the trash already.

Zeke - I pretty much disagree with all of what you said, but who cares? How boring would it be if we'd all think the same?

Here, take a cookie... I agree you were never agressive or not nice on the discussion^^

[Zeke.]

Well in all honesty who is going to say:

"I feel like listening to (insert song title). Even though I absolutely loathe it, I do recall the lyrical translation being quite nice so I will listen today"

Lol.

[Andrenekoi]

^Not you, that's obvious

But I don't find it hard to like a song more after knowing how the lyrics are linked to the melodies, arrangments and emotion on the voice... Knowing what a song like Memorial address is about, for example, makes it even more powerful...

Well... whatever... you are the one with translated lyrics on your set...

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

Actually I think you said what she did as 'very very stupid...'

I never said the idea was stupid. I never called her stupid. Get your facts correct before you accuse someone of being mean.

Here, I quote from my own quote you were refering to:

Originally Posted by Sandy

Giving a review to a song while you're a) in a moving car and b) listening to the song while you talk is a very very stupid idea Next time, pull over!!

^ If you think this is being mean, I don't know how to talk to you.


ComatoseBunnySnatcher, Andrenekoi - it's all good, thank you, I just hate being called mean when I'm not >.< I got bullied my whole childhood, so I do have a tendency to overreact to those kind of accusations, so I apologioze Let's all be friend and eat cookiiiiies (I'm actually am eating cookies now, hhehe)

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^Not you, that's obvious

But I don't find it hard to like a song more after knowing how the lyrics are linked to the melodies, arrangments and emotion on the voice... Knowing what a song like Memorial address is about, for example, makes it even more powerful...

Well... whatever... you are the one with translated lyrics on your set...

Very true, but knowing the translation of an already decent/good/great song is a lot different than finding out the translation to a boring/poorly produced one.

[Andrenekoi]

^I don't think anybody took this extreme example you are using...^^

[Zeke.]

Lol I guess not but to me it's common sense, lol.

It's like if you play Ayu's songs for friends - they aren't going to understand the song but if it sounds nice they will listen to it. You aren't going to change their opinion on whether they want to listen to the song again and become a fan if you show them the translation.

As mentioned, with international music, you can treat the voice as another instrument. I know here on AHS there are a lot of jokes about A Song For XX being a boring album / not their favorite, yet the lyrics are some of her most personal / vulnerable. Doesn't mean everyone has this album on repeat.

Ok I'm done trying to sell my theory. Lol.

Example: My favorite song is STEP you. Yet, I think the lyrics to that song are some of her most boring. But I'm not thinking of the translation / meaning when I listen to STEP you, I'm thinking of how badass, catchy and fun the song is.
Another favorite is Moments. I loved it straight off the bat for it's gorgeous arrangement and genius melody / musical structure. After reading the translations, I saw this song was very poetic in lyrics as well. It is the favorite of the three friends of mine who have heard Ayumi over the years, and they have absolutely no idea what she is singing about in the song.

[Violently Happy]

^
I agree with you.

My mother does not know any Japanese whatsoever, but she always listens to Ayu's songs, because she thinks they sound very pretty. I don't think you need to know the language to think a song is pretty. You can judge a song by the singing and the melody. Ayu always has amazing songs that sound pretty and I love listening to them, and I don't know what she is singing about until I look up the lyrics, and it makes me love the song more. You don't have to understand what they say in order to like a song. I highly doubt a lot Japanese know what America music are saying in the lyrics, but they still enjoy it. I think worldwide music is for everybody, as long as they enjoy it. It doesn't matter if it's in another language. Look at PSY's Gangnam Style that's playing on KIIS FM radio stations now and my family members are not even into Korean music, but they love that song now.

[TeamAyu2004]

Well sandy, I don't know what to tel you, because it came off has rude.

[Kanzaki]

For an unprofessional, first impression sort of video, it's good. I think she did a very nice job. There's not much else to be said, I mean, she's obviously not very familiar with Ayu, which is in my opinion great. It's not like she's biased in any way, and it did feel like she was very neutral. She had a nice discussion going there in the car with the guy next to her. It was an interesting watch. I'd much rather see how other people respond to her music (especially first impressions!) than a total stan. I'd watch more videos by her! Is she planning on making more?

[primavera♥]

I don't think one really needs lyrics to make a review of the music. I find that interesting really, to lose the usual bias the lyrics may (or may not) create and just judge the music.I don't have a lot of trouble getting the feel from an ayu song without the lyrics so I think that aspect of the review is fine.

And I think I understand what you're saying, Zeke, lol.

[paper_doll]

If I had a review blog or whatever, and I decided to try out some random Jpop singer, I wouldn't even think to check out the lyrics. I think it's more the music and arrangement that people are drawn to anyhow.

I think that's part of the beauty in listening to music in languages you don't understand. A lot of the time, the music gives you a feel for what the lyrics are about, but if the lyrics are stupid you'll never be able to understand them anyways and I think it really lets you appreciate the sound of the language (at least for me, anyways).

[TeamAyu2004]

Thanks for all the commentss guys! I'm planning on meetting her tomorrow and show her all this, hopefully she take all the advice.
As for other stuff i dont know right now, I think she is waiting to see how people like it.
She's not even part of the forums, so please feel free to comment on her video too!
I'll forward what everone said of course too!

[ImpactBreaker]

HANA has alawys reminded me of the Las Vegas M.Bison/Balrog Stage music from Street Fighter II LOL

[TeamAyu2004]

^ lol... never thought about it before.... but yes!