The Magic of Music - テルミドール

So today while I was sitting on the train making my way to dance class, I was, with immense intensity, reminded of yet another aspect that makes Nana's music special to me.

Have you ever felt the story of a song, just from the melody? Just from the tone of voice? Just from lyrics you cannot understand? And with this I do not mean just the atmosphere of the song, but the actual content - the message it is trying to convey.

I can from many of Nana's songs. Intuitively, I know what some of her songs are about. For example I linked Dancing in the velvet moon with a scenery of a world full of vampires before knowing it had anything to do with Rosario+Vampire, and I also made my Final Fantasy XIV AMV using Silent Bible without being aware that the lyrics actually fit with what was going on in the video - it just felt like something I should make, like it would fit perfectly together if I did. The closest experience to this that I've had with other artists was when I felt Utada Hikaru's Tokyo Nights would go well with Kirihara Misaki from Darker than BLACK, but then I had no clue what the message of the song was and I was very unsure about my feeling being right. I can't say I've really had the chance to test this with my other favorite artists since I understand the lyrics and there is not much sense of the unknown, but I do doubt I'd feel the message of the songs as strongly as I seem to do with Nana.

So today, on the train, this happened to me again with more intensity than ever before. I had recently added a new song to my Nana playlist, which I had actually never listened to before (could you believe that?). I thought I should give it a listen, since one of the people I follow on Twitter listens to it very often. It is not on any of her albums so it never caught my eye before.

The song is テルミドール (Thermidor).

So yeah, on the train, the song came up on my playlist for the first time ever. I was lost in thought and did not really stir when the song changed, but the moment Thermidor actually begun, things started happening in a rapid pace - the atmosphere of the song vibrated through me filling my mind with an image of a certain place and time (including even the weather and season), which quickly changed into something very much like a movie. For the duration of the song, a whole story was woven in my mind. I was amazed and had to listen to the song for a second time right after. Listening to the song again made the story sharper in my mind and new details emerged. I had to keep listening to the song over and over again, as I was so fascinated by this beautiful and mysterious phenomenon. It really left me speechless.

When I got home I read the lyrics and checked some words I did not understand on google translate (yeah, I know.. but it was the best I could do >.<). I was genuinely shocked by what I found - the lyrics seemed to match the story in my mind perfectly. Not completely literally of course, but the sort of way I would go about making an AMV, if that makes sense. Scenes that go with the message behind what is being said. There. That's how I'd describe it.

... Which is why I decided I would try to draw the story, every scene of it, if I can get someone to translate the song for me first -just because I want to make hazy bits as accurate as I can in what I draw. Which in turn is why I did not describe the story here in my entry - I want to keep it a surprise until I can present it visually. Ha. Also sorry, the song was not on YouTube, which is why I did not include a link to it here.

But yeah, an artist has to be very talented if they can invoke something like that in a person.
と思う。