Monday, April 20, 2009

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Bibo no Aozora

This one is rather unusual.

I remember I watched a film called Babel by Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu, starring the likes of Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, among other multi talented international actors from Japan, Mexico, and Morocco. You can look at my movie pick-ups HERE anyway. Okay so, this movie is about four different stories, multi-narrative but all interrelated yada yada yada bla bla bla I don't wish to start now.

But my point of this entry is that, at the end of the story, the deaf Japanese girl, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) was leaning on the balcony, naked when her father entered their apartment. Suddenly this one very sentimental song came out to close the film with a very touchy part of piano strings. I was so drowned into the sound, not even knowing who actually composed it.

That was about two years ago.

Last week, I met someone, and I asked that person about that song. I managed to hit few stupid keys on the iPod Piano, and not expecting her (ahh now I spilled the beans already) to even understand the sound I tried to make her listen to.

But do not underestimate a musician. No, never underestimate them.

After few days later, she introduced me to a song, which I had no idea what it was (since the name was a bit alien). So I hit the "Play" button, and........................



This is what you guys gonna do.

Since we've been ignorant for the longest time, please spend about nine minutes and listen to this song. Tell we what do you feel, how do you feel and why, in the standard comment box provided by Blogger. This is a practice to develop stronger definition of your own feelings when you listen, see, touch or experience anything for that matter. Unless you are a robot, or you just have no sense at all, you won't feel anything. At least you can just feel annoyed or nauseous or whatever feelings you are feeling that time, rather than "I don't feel anything" because that is just plain stupid.

To me, this is just perfect. Thank you very much Aydan.


Dem yuh!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love this song. I feel as though it doesn't fit its title's meaning however, Bibo No Aozora, as far as I know (thanks to google) means Beautiful Blue Sky, but this song is more haunting than beautiful. Perhaps hauntingly beautiful, but it in no way has me thinking of a blue sky... It is one of my favorites, the dissonance and sort of uneasy/haunting feeling is something I can relate to.

Budak Nakal said...

Hey anonymous, thanks for dropping by, whoever you are.

I guess "hauntingly beautiful" is just a perfect description for this piece.

I listen to this every day, almost to every few hours. Whenever I think my mind is not calmed, I will plug my ears with this song.

And most importantly, this song was later introduced to me (read the story) by someone I can never forget. Someone so special to me, that this is the only thing that keeps me sane. Someone that I will probably miss all my life.

abnormaljunk said...

this IS a masterpiece.
i guess it is the saddest and, at the same time, the most beautiful song i have ever heard in my whole life.
wish i could hear it when i die

abnormaljunk said...

in fact...it may not be even sad...it has a magnificent power to induce into reflection, meditation, thinking about life...i listen to it on and on...and... there are seconds when it 'steals' some tears :) masterpiece

Budak Nakal said...

Nenormalul:
Hell, let's drink to that!

abnormaljunk said...

let's )

Anonymous said...

I must say that every time I hear this song I feel as my heart is burning on fire.

First time I listened it was because an ex-boyfriend sent it to me by email 10 days after the breakup, without any message, just "..." as subject. Almost a year later, I haven't answered the mail just because I haven't found words that possibly could describe what I felt or even feel now.

Anonymous said...

I first heard this on the movie Babel. I knew immediately that this was Ryuichi. I absolutely love his work, especially his collabotations with David Sylvian. Oh my god this is such a beautiful and heartbreaking piece. Thank you for posting it. I looked everywhere for the full version. This song kills me.

Budak Nakal said...

Anonymous:

I have the full version. Email me.

ksantander said...

The first time I heard this amazing piece, I could not stop crying like a baby in front of the immense beauty of its masterful eight-bar endless chord progression, its mesmerizing piano melody and its hypnotic string intervals. It seems of grab an unknown musical magic formula from another dimension that touches the most intimate fiber of my sensibility in a way that I can't explain in words, it is simply an absolutely beautiful creation.

Anonymous said...

The first time I heard this amazing piece, I could not stop crying like a baby in front of the immense beauty of its masterful eight-bar endless chord progression, its mesmerizing piano melody and its hypnotic string intervals. It seems of grab an unknown musical magic formula from another dimension that touches the most intimate fiber of my sensibility in a way that I can't explain in words, it is simply an absolutely beautiful creation.

 
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