素手纤纤的音乐

(Written on October 31, 2009) Introduction When I watched the Japanese film Sakuran, Anna Tsuchiya who played as a Geisha wearing colorful kimono appeared with powerful and beautiful music, which is composed and sang by Shena Ringo. And the impressive original soundtrack attracted me well for its unbelievable music style which merged Japanese traditional notes and modern electronic music perfectly. This is the first time I met Shena Ringo and her outstanding music, reminding me of P.J. Harvey and Bjork who are talented female rock singer-songwriters. However, Shena Ringo’s music could be identified easily by her unforgettable voice and charming Japanese elements, making her famous among Asia. Muzai Moratoriamu is the first album of Shena Ringo, one of my favorite musicians, representing her unique music style combined of different genres such as Japanese pop, rock and roll, grunge and jazz. She composed all the songs and wrote the lyrics using Kenji and English, thus creating a special experience for her audience. About Shena Ringo Shena Ringo, born on November 25th1978, quit from her senior high school and devoted herself to music career. Although her parents did hope her to dance rather than to sing, she insisted to join band and decided to be a singer. At her seventeen, she wrote a song named seventeen (collected in her single罪と罰) to express her determination by singing “I see same face in school and they say I am different / I think it is an honor / I say it is an honor to be different / I can’t go their way.” It is true that she goes an absolute different way. Her particular powerful melodies, her unforgettable husky voice, and her striking visuals in her music video and concert helped her become a successful musician. She ranked as 36 in top 100 Japanese Pop artists. (HMV) Shena Ringo created her magical music by endless efforts including learning composing, playing several instruments such as guitar, piano, bass and drum, and even making music in studio. From her debut till now, ten years have passed by but she is still the girl who loves music singing “I can’t go their way” and tries her best to pursue her dream. Muzai Moratorium Muzai Moratorium, almost composed during Ringo’s teen before her debut, was released on February 24, 1999 by Toshiba EMI. The album debuted at #1 and has sold over 919,000 copies (Wikipedia). Her first album is successful in that it shows her genius on composing, displays her strong and distinctive voice, and presents her abundant imaginations on music. Shena Ringo collected inspirations from not merely her own life but also her observation to Japanese society. In the first song named Tadashii Machi (Correct City) of the album, she described her inner thoughts when she had to leave her boyfriend to another city to develop her music career. Although this song reflected the sad mood of leaving her love, Shena Ringo used continuous driving drum and bass to deliver her faith and believe about love and hope to her audience. She knew what she wanted to do and what she had to give up, though with regrets to her boyfriend. When I listened to this song, I understand her sorrow that she had to face the destiny of separation and her determination that she must be strong to pursue her dream, because I had to leave my families in China to U.S. for study accounting. In my opinion, this song could provide courage and strength to many people who have the same situation in lives. In the second song named Kabukichō no Jo-ō (Queen of Kabuki-cho), Shena Ringo told a story from a teenager girl’s perspective that she would become the Queen of Kabuki-cho to sell herself to man. In fact, this song is based on Shena Ringo’s own experience that she once met a pimp from a SM club and was asked to become Queen for the club. In the music video, young Ringo played her guitar, dressing like a cool punker, with disdain appearance on her face. The music style of this song is rock and grunge with forceful electric guitar and strong rhyme. The genre could express her mood perfectly because it is a song about teenager. Like the famous song of Smells like Teen Spirit from Nirvana, this song of Shena Ringo also selected grunge, a fierce rock style, to reflect the confusion and desperation about youth. In many Japanese films, youth is cruel and rock is the best way to annotate by its special direct power. Besides the above fast songs, Shena Ringo wrote some slow songs to express her desire about true love. In the first album, she composed Akane-sasu Kiro Terasaredo (The crimson-gleaming sun still shines on my way back, but) and Onaji Yoru (Ordinary Night), two slow touching songs, different from her fierce fast songs. The prior one describes a beautiful but a little bit gloomy scene. The lyric was sad: “I put my headphones on my ears /An Irish girl is singing /As dusk falls, is it too painful to have my tears coaxed out of me?” At the end of the song, she sang in English: “I place the headphones on my ears and listen / Someone sings a song / I feel so blue / Now darlin’ promise me / Please tell me something words to soothe / I don’t wanna cry” (Nostalgic-lavender). It is a common phenomenon that Japanese singers use English in their songs to express some direct words which they would feel shy to speak in Japanese, their first language. Shena Ringo made this song full with eastern artistic conception as lust is always associated with sorrow of separation in Japan and China. As Shena Ringo has excellent accomplishment in literature, she wrote her lyrics in Kenji, providing people more enjoyments besides fantastic music. The song named Onaji Yoru trans (The same night) selected guitar and violin to show grief mood. Although she used the elegant classic instrument violin, Shena Ringo made the violin sound trembling to reflect her different individual style. Especially at the end of the song, she used a piece of violin solo that sounds nervous made this soft slow song have an unexpected effect. Shena Ringo sang “The same wind is blowing on both of us / We go through the same nights / How I love you, oh darling... / Don't you hear me calling / I'm searching for a person that I can't meet a second time / Everyone can hear the song I'm singing / I still don't want anything / My answer is only the sound of rain” (Videouncovered) , with sentimental and soft voice which rarely appear in her music. The tune of the song is more peaceful than any other songs in this album and the lyric with the mournful music reminds people of their own memories about love, and touches their heart by the same thoughts about waiting and eagerness. Another interesting song of the album is Sid to Hakuruumu, which related to one of Shena Ringo’s favorite singers, Sid Vicious who killed his girl friend and died in his twenty one. This singer is the bassist of the puck rock group Sex Pistols. Shena Ringo liked to use her favorite singers in her lyrics, such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and his wife Love Courtney. From these songs, we can learn that Shena Ringo is affected by western rock bands deeply. And that is why she can combine western music style and traditional Japanese music type without any difficulties. Besides these songs, other songs in the album are also impressive, especially the song named Koufukuron (A view of happiness) which was her first single. The lyric “You’re there living your life and just knowing this simple little fact makes me so happy” (Jpopasia) became popular after released. Shena Ringo organized the whole album from fast songs to slow songs, letting people know her from her shining appearance as her fast songs with passions to colorful inner emotions as her slow songs with tenderness. Comparisons Compared Shena Ringo to other female rock stars in the world such as Bjork, P.J.Harvey and Tori Amos, they share something in common that mark them as rock queens. All of them have powerful voices, strong composing ability and independent attitude. From their music, people can gain courage and strength of love and live, and they can appreciate another aspect of woman rather than traditional obedience and soft image. However, Shena Ringo who comes from Japan tried more genres and various look and added more subtle and delicate eastern elements into her music. In her music video, she played as high school student wearing “kawaii (cute)” uniform, nurse heating the glasses and kissing female patient, and even Geisha playing guitar, telling people she has unlimited potentials in her world and music. This attitude to life is one of the most charming parts of her because no one knows what the next surprise from Shena Ringo would be . Conclusion Although as the first album of Shena Ringo, Muzai Moratorium showed her great ability and potential in composing and singing, as well as revealed her fascinating personality and thoughts. By merging eastern and western music successfully, Shena Ringo with her own bold style in music, conquered audience and became one of the most famous Japanese female singers. The album also becomes her representative work, full of imagination and her own experiences, providing people pleasant with its touching notes and vivid lyrics. Reference Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists, HMW http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/newsDetail.asp?newsnum=309260027 (Accessed on October 31,2009) Koufukuron Shena Ringo lyrics, Jpopasia http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/11544/ringo-shiina/koufukuron.html (Accessed on October 31, 2009) Lyrics and Translation of Shiina Ringo, Nostalgic http://www.nostalgic-lavender.net/ringo/akanesasu.html (Accessed on October 31, 2009) Lyrics of chuchumura, Videouncovered http://www.videouncovered.com/lyrics/20982/chachamaru/grieve.html (Accessed on October 31, 2009) Muzai_Moratorium, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzai_Moratorium (Accessed on October 31, 2009)

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人生有多少个十年呢。转眼间我已经听了十年歌了。有燕姿所有的专辑。还记得第一次听到《天黑黑》，那惊为天人的感觉。特别喜欢《我要的幸福》的封面。记得《绿光》伴随我跑八百米。还有她在冰山下穿个小背心笑得好灿烂。也记得初三的时候，听着《未完成》为了中考拼命的时候。还有高一的时候朋友送我Stefanie的照片我把它挂在风铃上。记得和喜欢的人搭讪是问《Silent All These Years》原唱是谁呢。记得差点有机会和她去华纳演唱会看燕姿。预购版的《完美的一天》还送了可爱的红毛丹造型的碟片。然后一个人漂洋过海听她唱《我怀念的》，一个人想念，孤单，伤心，然后成长。 后来呢。偶尔听到《木兰情》，听到《愚人的国度》，知道她终于留长了头发。知道虽然时间改变了我们，告别了单纯，但燕姿始终是那个清新的唱着歌，也只唱着歌，坚持着自己的人。曾经去过新加坡，于是也能明白她生长的环境和她的纯净。 没想到一等就是四年，我竟然大学毕业了。 确实是时候再唱歌给爱你的人听了，燕姿。依旧是那样金属质感的声音，坚强，可是我们都听到在坚强下那女子温柔的心。每每听到她故作坚强唱我不难过，都会伤感。是不是燕姿就是那样如她所唱，假洒脱，其实舍不得。朋友说你不觉得燕姿的歌每次都表现得很大女人，直来直往，但其实内心明明是小女人，明明受了伤很痛很痛，还要做懂事的人，其实在爱情里人应该自私一点才可以少受伤，可她却始终在宣扬无私和付出，这是不是对我们这些喜欢她的人的一种误导呢。可是啊，可是，我还是真庆幸我喜欢的是这个真诚的邻家姐姐，让我一直都在逆光飞行，在相信只有自己能让自己发光，在等待遇见，在没有人的方向走我的方向。 “时光像小偷拿走眼泪...回忆很美，未来很慢...热闹学会，停止流浪，我也一样...热闹后的孤单让人更学会珍惜平凡”，听她唱着这些仿佛来自我们每个人内心的声音，觉得真好。很多人都可以唱一些让人心碎的音符，可是陪伴我成长的声音是燕姿，她意味着很多人很多人的青春还有对某种关于爱和梦想的坚持。我觉得爱和梦想是最美好的两个字眼。 浮躁的世界里，众生都在为名和利忙碌。她却是在坚持做那个简单的不妥协的自己。不知道下一个十年，我会在哪里。但我相信我心里还是会记得年少时候，我爱过一个叫孙燕姿的女孩子，她有最灿烂的笑容，和最真诚美好的歌声。希望那个时候我还能对这个世界坚持，做简单的人，真实善良。和她一样。她是我最初爱的女歌手，也是我一直爱的。谢谢她一直唱着。Just like she sang, My Story, Your Song.

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很意外的听到了这首歌，《Life's a struggle》。其实我个人是并不喜欢HipHop的，但是也不知道什么原因，一下子就被吸引了。听完之后我浑身颤抖，就像当时读完《白夜行》一样。再去了解这位歌者，原来他已经在天堂。我完全不知道如何来描述我内心的震动。宋岳庭，二十岁出头就因为骨癌离开，短短的生命经历过最初的灿烂，经历过少小离家的惆怅，经历过北美subculture的洗礼，经历过牢狱之苦，然后就是病魔，辞世。似乎在他短暂的生命里，美好和温暖都太少太珍贵，英才总被天妒，如同红颜总是薄命一般。 生活，为什么那么让人痛苦呢。在欢乐的日子里，不能尽情，在痛苦的日子里，我只能一个人。他们说你别再自怨自艾了。他们说谁让你孤僻谁让你自己找不到男朋友谁让你考了那样一个分数只能读一个那样的专业不得不出国，他们说还有很多人根本读不到书考了大学都要放弃，还有很多人羡慕你小小年纪已经能漂洋过海，还有很多人想把自己卖了想被潜规则只为了能出头，他们说为了钱途你就是把自己卖了又如何换一张绿卡一切都可以解决不是么，你以为自己清高以为自己了不起可是你回国了没人帮助你工作你都不一定能找到，你就是一向没有出头的意识没有追求没有理想。他们说谁没有吃过苦，他们说他们也曾在夜里独自一个人冒着大雪回家，他们每日要工作到夜深。 我能说什么呢。或许世界上的痛苦在他们眼里是有分级制度的，就像电影一样。R级的就一定是更加不堪的。可是这一切真的都是我咎由自取么。我真心对待别人然后被别人看轻所以我选择孤僻选择远离。我不愿意因为我的漂泊而让我喜欢的人因为我的离开而难过所以我宁愿把所有的感情都放在心里直到最后迫不得已，然后换来的不过是一句这一切都是没有意义的。在高中三年我不是没有付出过可是谁明白即使拼尽了全力也做不好的无力感，那种明白自己不是天才不过是庸碌平凡的人的体会，那种从天堂跌到人间的挫败感。羡慕我在国外过得好？羡慕我一天一顿饭，羡慕我生病了连杯水都没有人给我倒，羡慕我顶着漫天风雪夜半从图书馆走回家，羡慕我三年没有过过春节，一到周末就要内心抑郁压力大得止不住的哭泣。我清高有什么错。我不求荣华富贵，我只要内心清净，我做一个真实善良的人，我没有欺骗没有隐藏我就是展现最本真的我。为了生存我不得不妥协，我练习对每个人微笑即使有些人我看到就发自内心的不喜欢，我选择我没有兴趣的专业为了以后可以找到一份工作。我一步又一步退让，然而这世界总说还不够。 其实我想做的是梵高，是兰波，是Kurt Cobin，把所有的生命热情统统献给艺术和自己的信仰。我不想做林徽因，不想理智的做那样的选择，断送了两个男人的幸福成就了自己的一世安稳和英名，我也不在乎是不是可以有一个安定的生活，有一个幸福的家庭。如今这个念头和十五岁的时候一样，没有改变，即使这么多年过去，他们都试图让我成长都试图把这世界的美妙展现给我希望诱惑我说服我，可是我依然没有办法为了那些去坚持。我还坚持做这些我不想做的事情浪费自己的时间的唯一原因就是他们。可是可是可是，我真的需要勉强自己再做下去么。还有一年，然后我的牢狱生活就能结束了么。我很清楚不能。如果我没有勇气去离开去挣脱爱，我将永远得不到自由。 感谢在天堂的宋岳庭，让我明白我接下来要如何珍惜不长的生命去实现自己。我还不能放弃自己的梦想。短暂青春即使像烟火，也要盛放。

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多少年前，我还是豆蔻年华，周杰伦出道。多少年后，我大学毕业，周杰伦依旧是天王。那时候，我写，杰伦是北极星，永远在音乐的星空闪耀。现在，我已经很少，很少想起他，甚至连ipod里都不再有他的名字。 时光改变了我们。我以为，我不再是我，不会再因为有人说杰伦的坏话就生气，不会再把磁带一遍又一遍倒回最喜欢的《开不了口》，不会自以为是的爱着一个人。高中的时候，我已经没有了热情，对一切。可是我还是买了《七里香》，买了《依然范特西》，直到我终于离开了可以买到他专辑的地方。曾经去买《头文字地》的正版，曾经在上海翘课去买《黄金甲》的票，直到我终于只能在网上默默看《不能说的秘密》，直到我最后也没有看《刺陵》。杰伦永远属于音乐，或者对我来说，我只在乎他的音乐么。 也不是这样。我也曾经买过他的写真，那一本《D调的华丽》，至今依然完好地躺在我闺房的书架上。可我回不去了，回不到过去，甚至连闺房，也回不去了。在异乡漂泊的日子，大家去唱k，总是会点周杰伦，然后就大合唱，没有人不会唱他的歌，没有人不喜欢他，我们一直唱，就以为离家还是没有很远。《稻香》出来的时候，我们激动万分，万里之外依然看到他的mv。可是《魔杰座》的他已经不是他。我想，他已经远远走开。但，我也没有什么失望，我只是，不说什么，就像我对这个荒谬的世界一般，无话可说。 我不知道我初中的运动会如今放谁的歌。应该不会再放好多遍《绿光》，或者《流星雨》，还有《爱在西元前》。我什么都不去想，他的歌词，也渐渐背不出来。 然而今天我听到了《伽蓝寺》。烟花易冷，人事易分。我几乎在人潮拥挤的图书馆落下眼泪。我想起很多年前，给他过生日，在雪地上写祝杰伦生日快乐，他的生日是1月18日。我想起很多年前，我希望能嫁给一个像他一样很酷很吊的玩音乐的男生，最好就是他。我想起很多年前，我贴在墙上的蓝色的百事可乐的杰伦的海报，他的脸上一抹美丽的蓝色，个性十足。杰伦还在不断唱歌给我们听，可是当时说着不离不弃的作为粉丝的我们，还在等他么。 杰伦，你是否还认真写着歌，我知道，你一直没有忘记一年一张专辑的承诺。听到这首歌的时候，我明白，你依旧在用心做音乐，你还是才华横溢的Jay，一直都是。即使我如今已远远走开，即使你如此大众，我清楚地知道我爱你的音乐，如同爱永恒的青春。我可能嫁不了你这样的男生了，想到这点，我心里还是有些遗憾。 如果世界末日。我依然希望能听一首你的歌。然后死去。你的歌是我的安魂曲。 －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ P.S:好多写评论的豆友都是喜欢杰伦好多年的啊，意外而惊喜。谢谢杰伦，让我们的回忆无与伦比的美丽。他之于我，如邓丽君之于我父亲，没有人可以取代，最初的感动，永在心上。再次谢谢豆友们热情洋溢的回应。我知道，大家只是在这里同我一起，缅怀青春。

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