Thinking New Music is “Noise”

When I was a high school student, I loved Blue Hearts very much. Blue Hearts is a Japanese punk rock band. I often listened to their music on cassette tapes. My mother listened to some of the music, and she said, “Why is such a bad singer singing a song?”

I was shocked. I doubted my mother’s intellect. This was punk rock. The vocalist should not be evaluated as “good” or “bad.”

My mother was a highly intelligent person. Her opinion was not related to her intellect. It was her way of looking at music. When she was young, singers had to be well-trained, which meant they were professional singers. That was common sense in my mother’s time.

I listened to the Beatles when I was a child. Everyone loved them. But when I researched them, I found that the Beatles were controversial in their early years. Some of the harsher critics described their music as “noise”.

When I was a junior high school student, I studied baroque music. I actually listened to records of some of it. I felt this music was boring. But the word “baroque” meant “twisted like a baroque pearl”; that is, “bizarre” and “foolish.” The original meaning had a negative connotation. In the early modern age, baroque music was like punk rock; it didn’t follow the old rules.

I’m not saying that my mother, the critics who criticized the Beatles, and the people who called the new style of music “baroque” are all stupid.

My point is that all of us, someday, will reach an age when we hear new music and think of it as just “noise.” If we have a long life, we can’t avoid that. That is a symptom of aging.

Luckily, I can still enjoy the newest music. I have never reached that age. But I still feel that the music that I loved when I was young is good.

Someday, I will reach that age. In that case, I will never say negative things about new music. I will pretend that I also enjoy it, so younger people won’t make fun of me.

“The newest music! I like it!”

 

Proofreading by Michael W, ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by K.Nakano

Blur

Since I’m studying the Chinese language, I watch Chinese TV dramas, which are easily accessible in Japan. A few years ago, I came across something unusual in a Chinese program. Part of the screen was blurred out, even though nothing shocking was going on.

It was a Chinese show about high school students. In the morning, the heroine woke up in her bed, and large parts of the bed were blurred out. It was unlikely that she had anything indecent in her bed, so I guessed the blurred objects were stuffed toys; maybe Mickey Mouse or Doraemon. In China, showing such things might be OK. But in Japan, they couldn’t show copyrighted goods without permission.

I remember a particular episode about the relationship between the heroine and a boy. One day, they had a quarrel because of a misunderstanding. She bought a pair of T-shirts, which I guessed each had a character from Tom and Jerry. She kept the Jerry T-shirt and sent the Tom T-shirt to the boy. At first, the boy refused to wear the shirt, but finally, their misunderstanding was resolved. The boy put on the Tom T-shirt, and they healed their relationship with the pair of T-shirts.

It was a happy ending to a cute story. Of course, I’m not sure the T-shirts really were Tom and Jerry, because the pictures on them were blurred from the beginning to the end.

I think this clearly showed that most people in China love American animation. Isn’t there a better way to broadcast this episode in Japan, though?

I also wish all relationships ended up as happily.

 

Proofreading by Michael W, ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by Suibokuga Arai

Difficult Place

My wife is a runner. She takes part in the Nagoya Women’s Marathon every year. I visit the venue to root for her every year.

I asked her which point I should go to on the course. She answered that she needs support at the most difficult place. This place is near Nagoya Castle (Meijo) Park. It is around the thirty-five-kilometer point. The course is slightly uphill. That is the toughest for runners. No one lives in the park. On the opposite side of the park is a university. There are no students there on Sundays. So, there are few supporters at the most difficult point.

So, I go to that point when she runs every year. I bring some snacks and drinks to give her.

One year, I went to Nagoya Castle Park, and I was surprised. There was a booth on the course. They played music and served cups of drinks.

On the signboard was written “Red Bull.” They served Red Bull to runners.

The Red Bull company is great! They researched the most difficult place on the course. They found the most effective advertising point at this event.

Advertising must be like this. People never forget someone who helped them during their hardest time.

However, my wife doesn’t drink Red Bull except at marathon events. She drinks beer and lemon sour.

If you come to Nagoya Women’s Marathon to cheer on the runners, I have already recommended this viewing point. But the Red Bull booth only gives Red Bull to the runners. They don’t give it to supporters.　

Maybe they will give you wings.

 

Proofreading by Claire ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by Robert Zsombori