ramble ramble momusu ramble

[arisha]

I was going to write an entry about movies I've seen in the past little while (I was going to finally post about PotC2, haha), but now I've changed my mind and am going to write about Morning Musume instead, and you are all welcome to skip this post if you so wish. :)

Criticizing Morning Musume, especially the current Morning Musume, seems to be a favourite pasttime of those who frequent Hello! Project forums. They are not as popular as they once were, they're boring, recent songs are bland and awful, all of H!P is going downhill downhill downhill. Except Berryz Koubou, everyone loves Berryz Koubou. Well I can't say I disagree with every criticism thrown at MoMusu, but I do disagree with a lot of it. Today I came across clips from their most recently released concert (based on their most recent album Rainbow 7), and even if MoMusu is less popular now than they have been and even if they don't shine on talk shows like they used to, I would argue that their concerts still make for fantastic entertainment. :)

~

"Osaka Koi no Uta," sung solo by Ai Takahashi

"Osaka Koi no Uta" could very well be my favourite MoMusu song ever. Well, maybe it's premature to say that, because it's only been a year since its release, but I could seriously listen to this song over and over and over and over and never get sick of it. Especially the full version, with the full ending (the background voices being all "aa~ arisugita aa~ koi no uta" oh man I LOVE it). One of the things I like so much about this song is how glossed over it is. By which I mean, there's a lot of emotion in this song, there's a lot of emotion in the lyrics, it's about a bad break-up, it's about lost communication, and there's pain and there's anger and all that, but at the same time that's not how it's performed. The PV is more creepy than upset, all the girls with their faces all expressionless. And the way Aichan performs it here, all cool and all sexy, not upset per se but with a smile here and there. Well, I am forgetting my original theory, that this song is being sung by a girl who's already done all her crying. One of the lines is 答えは知ってんねん, "I know your answer." She already knows they're going to break up and she realized it a while ago and now she's belting this out after getting sick of crying. So maybe she's smiling because the whole thing is starting to seem ridiculous, or because she's still trying to seem appealing. Or maybe there's supposed to be that sort of disconnect between the performance and the song.

I dunno, I really like how H!P has a lot of songs where it seems like they're trying to tell you a story and give you a good performance, they're not trying to make you feel the emotion that's in the lyrics. (Or maybe it's just me and I'm just cold-hearted! Hahaha.) I always say these songs are "glossed over," because I like to make up phrases but also because it seems like they know full well they're just entertainment, the performances are supposed to be fun to watch and fun to listen to but they're not meant to make you cry or anything. One performance that I've watched over and over recently is "Daite yo! Please Go On" performed by Maki Goto, v-u-den (Rika Ishikawa, Erika Miyoshi and Yui Okada) and Nozomi Tsuji during the Goto Maki Captain Kouen concert. Ignoring the fact that four of the girls are wearing little more than bathing suits, I think this is a really awesome performance. And I think it's interesting that the specific emotion of the song isn't really important, it's more the energy behind it that's important. I find this really appealing. That in H!P, it doesn't matter who's performing a song, it doesn't matter if the specific emotion of the song comes across, so long as the performance is awesome fun to watch.

I mean, watching people perform sad songs gets tiring, right? Watching sad movies can be draining, right? We can't all be Ayumi Hamasaki and cry at the end of every performance. ;) I love that H!P performances can have that touch of sadness, that touch of darkness or of anger, and yet manage to keep such strong positive energy going. (Probably I am blatantly ignoring ballads here, but let's ignore that for now, hahaha.)

I love that it's called "Osaka Love Song" and yet it's about a break-up. I love that little disconnect.

This subject kind of reminds me of songs like Gackt's "U+K" or Porno Graffiti's "Melissa," where the lyrics could be considered sad but the music is really upbeat, but at the same time it's not like that at all. ;)

Well I don't feel like my ideas are getting across or like I'm covering everything I should but I guess I'll post this anyway. XD; I was going to be all fancypants and write about other songs from the MoMusu concert and I was even going to write a bit about sexuality in H!P (I had the idea last semester to write an essay on the topic but I didn't have the guts, I thought it would be way too difficult a topic and I would probably have had to connect it back to Japan in general, which would be even harder - but looking back on it I love that I had that idea even before Maki released the shocking(! haha) "Glass no Pumps" - another glossed over song, I would say, hahahahaha I'm so lamesauce), but this entry as it is has taken me an hour and I have to be driving to the airport in seven so I think I will go to bed. :)

Comments

[desirsar.livejournal.com]

And yet all the Japanese here complain that their music is too girly and "annoying" (presumably its pop sound, although no two songs sound alike, really.) It further cements my "nerd" theory for most Japanese students that go to American universities. :) (Far too long to explain in a comment, heh.)

I don't know if I'd say their popularity is declining all that much, though. They still sell out anywhere and everywhere they tour, and they still make a ton of money off merchandising - they just seem to be the first example of file sharing killing a group's album sales, because no one seems willing to pay for their music anymore. :)