The followings are lives I had seen for the last year: Femi Kuti, DIP, Pusim, Coaltar of the Deepers,Youssou N'Dour, TSUNEMATSU Masatoshi, Number Girl, ABURADAKO, Paul Weller, KODAMA Kazufumi, Little Tempo, No Doubt, King Crimson, Muse, Lou Reed, Fishbone, Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss her, Dry & Heavy, Audio Active. Lou and Femi were best two for me.
In the essays I write on this web page, my life never appears. There is not a phrase such like "When I was blue, I've got to know his music." You know we can find easily a kind of this on essays of music. The reason is simple. I had never had experiences to meet a particular music when I was so blue that I write about it. Even if I write, nobody will not be attracted. As far as I know, many essays about rock music feature one's negative situation. It is interesting. It seems that rock music is a lounge of unhappy guys.
If I wrote that I had not got used to group action since I was a child, it looks like rock music itself. I had not disliked schools especially, however, and had not dropped out. I had managed to live without serious failure to break down my life. Yes, my life had been average and will be found everywhere. I had never had the unhappiness as an attraction. You then will not be able to find me in my essays. And the essays written by me who is everywhere can be written by anybody. The essays which feature unusual experiences are not the case, nobody else than he/she can write.
I guess, however, that writing essays anybody can write means that anybody can understand, maybe it is not interesting though.
The reason why I write the essays that anybody can write is that nobody writes. If I find someone write, I will stop writing.
It is a boring time for me to hear musician talking in the live. Although saying only title is no problem, I cannot stand talking more than one minute. Talking interrupts a flow of live and makes me sober. The worst thing is conversation with audiences.
Since I am not a friend of musician and had never thought to want to be a friend, I don't care how boring musician not playing music is, but I want to complain as an audience paying for the ticket. "Don't spend time on talking," "Taking with your friends, not audiences."
I was shocked and am being shocked by the sounds (including voices) itself and rhythm of rock music, not by the words. I guess rock musician is too. Unless, it is better to read or write novels. In fact, there are (ex?) musicians who act in the field else than music. I am disappointed by the word, "rock music is insufficient as a field." Oh, don't you know it? There is no sufficient field.
I love the voices of Lou, David Bowie and only voices are sufficient for me. I don't care whatever they sing. I then cannot remember lyrics, much less english lyrics. I am attracted not by what they sing, but by their voices.
And we can know how abnormal situation Kimi to Odori Akasou was recorded in, only listening to the guitar in the introduction. It is not the case that we cannot know that situation until we can understand lyrics.
In our daily life, especially social life, our main tool to communicate is consistent words. We cannnot communicate using fragmentary words as lyrics. This is not a problem, however, for rock music. Only those sounds make me understand or make me think to understand message, that is rock music. Now the consisntent words are superfluous in the rock music. They should be in only daily life. Hearing consistent words make me come back to daily life from live. The message of rock music is in that sound and rhythm, not in the words. (original Japanese version is uploaded at 15/Jan./2001)