Hello all you wonderful people! Once again it’s me, Alexie!
I realized something around a week ago when I send a video to my brother a song I was listening to in my car–it was a song some people here may know, but as for my friends and others I know I didn’t think it would resonate any sort of connection (except my brother.) That song was MAYDAY by coldrain, ft. Ryo. If that doesn’t ring any bells, I’ll make it simple: Fire Force OP 2.
Now, I know I have a wide range of taste in music–I can go from rock, to classical, to the mainstream pop or whatever its genre actually is (I never quite figured out where most of those songs land,) to metal and anything in between. If I can appreciate some portion of the music–be it lyrics or instruments, I’ll listen to it. What I didn’t expect, though, was my friends enjoying any of the songs I could have shared with them.
I have a playlist on Spotify designated strictly to anime; the playlist is filled with OPs and EDs, songs that have played during fight scenes in the middle of shows, or feature film soundtracks. It’s quite long now, as I’ve actually had it for a few years and when I find a song from anime that I enjoy I add it if the artist is on Spotify. There’s a handful of songs that I shared with my brother and a friend in recent weeks that they went ballistic over, and eventually asked me how I even came across them considering two of them were in Japanese and one was in English:
- Mukanjyo– Survive Said the Prophet (Vinland Saga)
- Torches– Aimer (Vinland Saga)
- MAYDAY– coldrain, ft. Ryo (Fire Force)
- Touch Off– UVERworld (The Promised Neverland)
- Found & Lost– Survive Said the Prophet (Banana Fish)
What I wasn’t expecting was my friend to enjoy these songs because while I know his music taste (they’re extremely similar to mine), I expected my brother to enjoy some of them. Still, though, it was odd to me because I got a question after sending about three of those songs. “Alex where do you find these songs? They’re good, but how do you find shit like this?” (my friend)….
I laughed at that and simply said, “Anime. Seriously.”
I learned something then that evaded me for some time: music is music, and even if someone doesn’t understand what they’re hearing, there can be a connection in their mind. They can enjoy the music without knowing exactly what’s being said. Most of these songs are rock songs, which is why I shared them with my brother and friend because I knew they’d enjoy the rhythm and be able to keep time during them. The guitars, drums, how the emotion of the lyrics come across, and whatever else someone may take from a song.
My favorite was having my friend listen to Touch Off by UVERworld. If you haven’t listened to the full version of Touch Off take a listen (shameless begging?)…what UVERworld did in this song blew my mind. They have their drums and guitars and synthesizer and lyrics, but they twisted the genre on its head a bit and added a saxophone…and rap. Yep, all of that is present in Touch Off. It’s a mix unlike anything I’d heard before, so I decided to share it, and my friend said he couldn’t stop listening to it. The elements that seem like they’d clash against each other and make for a sound of nothingness ended up being pleasing to hear. While I will say that the rap portion of Touch Off is a bit odd (probably because I can’t understand the lyrics,) the entirety of the song is enjoyable to hear.
So, anime has given me the ability to find new music artists, enjoy more songs, and share them with people I think would enjoy hearing them. It’s crazy, but I think if something has that ability they’re doing something right. A minute and a half of a song being able to resonate with a person, who then searches for the full version, and shares that song with their friends? Something was done right. There are other songs I’ve shared with my brother and this same friend when the three of us were together some time ago, listening to anime OPs and EDs for hours and hours while eating chicken together (my brother HAD to play Haruka Kanata by Asian Kung-Fu Generation for some reason,) but still…being able to find songs from anime that I enjoy and others around me enjoy as well is a great feeling.
I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this, but either way I think being able to share music tastes and where they came from is always a good thing. Plus, anime always seems to have BANGERS for their OPs and EDs, which is freaking awesome.
That’s it for me! Thanks for reading!
Alexie 🙂
Alex's Arena 