Tuesday, January 31, 2006

OTSUKA AI

wow. i thought she's another of those pop stars, those idol kind. but she actually writes her own songs and plays the piano since 4. and the reason why i am talking about her now is because her songs are nice. Cherish, Planetarium, 5.09 a.m., Always Together are damn nice.

more about planetarium
it was voted somewhere as the love song of 2005. there is also alot of talk about it bearing an uncanny resemblance to suteki da ne, the theme song of ffx. when i first heard planetarium, i thought it sounded familiar too, then when i read all that discussion, i realised: yes it sounded familiar because it reminded me of a song and that song is none other than suteki da ne. after listening to it a few more times, i realise that actually, it onli reminds you of suteki, but it doesnt sound like suteki. the feel is the same lar, but the melodies are different. for a start, the intro are so different. and the chorus, the main point of contention, upon closer and more careful listening, are actually not as similar as first thought. so otsuka fans should be relieved: planetarium is original as it is. and a brilliant work as well.

more on plagiarism
can we truly say our ideas are 100% original? how do we know if somewhere else in the world, someone is thinking along the same lines as us? what if both you and i somehow have this brilliant idea but i publish it first. what if this idea has been around for a while, and i despite the wonderful interconnectivity of the world, fail to hear about it and "come up with it myself"? can that be counted as originality, after all i didnt hear about it before! i thought i was first!
so, i still wonder: what does originality mean?

by the way, as much as planetarium is brilliant, i feel that it isn't the love song of 2005 for me. the accolades go to either Ai's Story or Mr Children's Sign

Sign stood out for its lyrics.

yui's tokyo's mv is very very nice. got that kind of drama feeling. and there are scenes when she just look out over her balcony. those scenes are so familiar. it is simple but good.

some songs do generate similar feelings. like i for you and symphonie have that same feeling. maybe thats the case for planetarium and suteki da ne as well.

i finally finished the Saigo book. Saigo was a man caught in transition, caught between old and new; tradition and modernity; pragmatism and idealism. he was a man who tried to reconcile these contradictions but failed. "but he failed with such singularity of purpose, self awareness and equanimity that, as Eto observed, his failure was as compelling as any victory."

you don't understand what i want;
i don't understand what you want.
sometimes i just don't know what to say.
the irony of it all.

i am trying to get out of it.
not that i didn't try.
but sometimes, once and you know
impossible.
maybe it's cos of your shadow
hanging over.

i am said to be patient;
but that's only because,
as i say repeatedly
no one else has come along.

yet, i don't really want
anyone else to.
though i am abit numb
from all these.

maybe someone will pull me out of this quagmire soon.

though i espouse the concept of the thinking player, i know better than anyone else that sometimes, the more you think, the worst it gets, because your initial conviction becomes shaky, hesitation and doubt start to creep in.

this phenomenon led to the transformation of " i know she's the one" to "maybe".

so we are back to square one.

A: we are drifting apart
B: but that only means we will meet up on the other side of the world.

maybe we are still as apart as before.

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