Now that I got both WINTER FESTA reports out of the way, I thought I'd still write about something before I have to disappear for an unknown period of time again because of school. Thus, I will ramble on a little about the two songs we've got to hear recently~ I'll start the entry off with a picture from the Dreams Come True 25th Anniversary Best Covers album.
I feel Nana somehow really stands out, I guess because of her hair being so dark and also because of the hat. Maybe also because pretty much everyone else looks so serious and she's there all smiley like "hi." xD
Anyways, to the songs!
笑顔の行方 (= The Whereabouts of the smile)
I hadn't heard the original from Dreams Come True, so I made amends now in order to fully appreciate Nana's cover of the song (you can listen to to the original [here]). I have to say, it is very different. I am actually quite surprised.... Well, not really. I should know that Nana would make it completely her own, like she did with 76th Star too. She completely Nana'fies every song she sings. That's pretty great I think. I really like the instruments in Nana's version, they make it much more powerful, just like Nana's emotional singing adds depth to it. The original style of singing of Dreams Come True reminds me of Boney M's Sunny - they both give off a feel of carefree and playfully calm telling of a story that should be emotional, but isn't because it's already a thing of the past. Kinda like when you'd tell something from your past that should be sad, but since it happened such a long time ago it can now be considered funny. If that makes sense. But Nana brings out the emotion in hers, like it was a big and very important thing she overcame. The tempo is much faster in Nana's version too than the original, which became painfully clear to me when I tried to sing the Dreams Come True version in karaoke. xD
I hadn't heard the original from Dreams Come True, so I made amends now in order to fully appreciate Nana's cover of the song (you can listen to to the original [here]). I have to say, it is very different. I am actually quite surprised.... Well, not really. I should know that Nana would make it completely her own, like she did with 76th Star too. She completely Nana'fies every song she sings. That's pretty great I think. I really like the instruments in Nana's version, they make it much more powerful, just like Nana's emotional singing adds depth to it. The original style of singing of Dreams Come True reminds me of Boney M's Sunny - they both give off a feel of carefree and playfully calm telling of a story that should be emotional, but isn't because it's already a thing of the past. Kinda like when you'd tell something from your past that should be sad, but since it happened such a long time ago it can now be considered funny. If that makes sense. But Nana brings out the emotion in hers, like it was a big and very important thing she overcame. The tempo is much faster in Nana's version too than the original, which became painfully clear to me when I tried to sing the Dreams Come True version in karaoke. xD
Also, I am quite happy that from all the Dreams Come True songs Nana got to sing this one, considering how important 無敵な笑顔 (= an invincible smile) from her fans is to her. The song tells of reminiscing about a smile the person once had, and how they can't smile like that anymore, and also of the want to surpass that smile and eventually doing so. I feel it fits in well with Nana's life too, she worked so hard for so many years just to find that 無敵な笑顔 of her own. Perhaps that plays a big part on why her singing is so filled with emotion. It is a story of personal significance. I really like the story of the song myself as well. Perhaps because when I think about it, there is a smile I want to surpass too for myself. あなただけが握っている この笑顔の行方を～
Fun Fun★People
This is the kind of song Nana doesn't have that many of. It fits the title spot on, but still I was a bit overwhelmed when I first heard it and didn't really think much of it. I was also heavily distracted by the way Nana says "baby" and didn't pay much attention to the rest of the song. But before I knew it, I actually had a lot of the song stuck in my head. It is really catchy, and despite my first impression I have to admit that I do in truth quite enjoy the song. Even though I enjoy the epic emotional and deep Nana songs more, Fun Fun★People offers a nice break from excessive thinking and sometimes that is quite necessary. There is one funny thing about the song to me as well. I was recently very busy with a project demo and as a result, basically lived in school for a month. During this time me and one of my project members created this habit of whenever I would say "oh no" she would say "oh yes" and vice versa. And what do you know, Nana says that in the chorus of Fun Fun★People people.... sometimes she convinces me that somehow she knows everything that is going on in my life. xD
I hope we'll get to hear more songs soon~ I am really waiting to hear Ladyspiker again. It was so nice. (>_<)
I didn't know 76th Star was a cover to begin with. But i searched for the original at Youtube and was surprised of the horrible singing of the leadsinger. Nana's version is so much ahead, its not even funny. ;)
ReplyDeleteI knew the version of the Dreams Come True song with Inagaki Junichi, and especially when they performed it on japanese TV it was heavenly. This new version is different enough to justify a new version, but i prefer the duet version, recorded or live. Its somehow lesser busy and in your face.
But Fun Fun People? It suffers the same problems Vitalization had already. Too much, too hectic, no real structure. Especially this feeling of unpleasant, overwhelming noise mixed with some pointless vocal acrobatics is pretty much apparent in a lot of Nana's recent releases. 笑顔の行方, Fun Fun People, Vitalization, Kakumei Dualism. It worked with Kakumei Dualism but the other three are rather bleh. Less is often more. Also some of these songs are similar to other songs. Vitalization is the poor mans Synchrogazer, Fun Fun People is like a mixture between Party Party and Discotheque in terms of athmosphere, 笑顔の行方 has a plethora of versions to compare to. Somehow i have the feeling her songwriters are running out of ideas, and just cram as many sounds and instruments as possible into these songs to make it up for it.
Really, there wasn't even one Nana solo song since Rockbound Neighbors that has really caught my attention. Anything since then has the air of "if its not good, lets be busy at least". Perhaps she should just find some new songwriting team. Fun Fun People is also the promotional song of Superanal Liberty and they performed it for Music Japan yesterday.