I don't think I have ever made a post about Japanese songs that have found their way into my world. Today I thought I'd share two songs that many of the youth of Japan are familiar with and that also caught my attention.
The first song is by a musical group called Wednesday Campanella. The lead singer goes by the name Utaha and she is quite the character. Her shaved head sides and Harajuku fashion makes you look and says "Yeah I am an entertainer". Though she is a recent lead singer for the group, I think many new fans will be drawn to Wednesday Campanella because of her. The lead singer she replaced goes by the name Komi and was also quite the character, so I think they found the perfect replacement for the new era of the group.
I first came across this song on a Spotify playlist when I felt like exploring what was hot in Japan. Once I heard the song, I was thinking to myself; "Yeah, there is something different about this sound, and woah what a voice." I made my kids hear it out of curiosity and they were hooked from the first stream. That is always a good sign. My youngest who is only two was obsessed with the song and actually sang along with it numerous times. He has never done that.
The song is about being busy inventing like Edison in order to become a musician and having the confidence to dance and sing, getting lost in the music. The video while simple is memorable. Check out the foot movements.
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - Edison
Source: Yahoo News
The next song was introduced to me by my kids. They were drawn to the funny but strange dance moves which they tried to replicate day after day. I then started to take notice of the words of the song and realized it had a very deep meaning.
Habit, by Sekai No Owari ( literal Translation: end of the world) is about the bad habit we humans have of categorizing each other by our skin color, wealth, education, looks etc. It is a very deep song and I have come to realize that this band is very conscious and entertaining at the same time. Sekai No Owari has been on the scene for a while and have some monster hits in Japan, such as Dragon night and RPG.
One scary thing is this band literally takes there name to heart as they sing about themes relevant to "the end of the world". They also have a scary looking clown charter in the band that never takes off his mask, he is their DJ.
The video depicts a school setting, very fitting as this is where most of the categorizing begins. Everyone trying to fit in and be cool, losing their sense of self along the way. Check out the song below.
Sekai No Owari - Habit
Source:Wiki
I hope you enjoyed the these sounds from Japan. They all have English captions which makes it easier to digest even if you do not know Japanese. But I am sure the freshness of the sounds will catch your attention.
