Addendum

　　　　　　　　1. Manner of Writing Lyrics
　There are several things I omitted in writing. I will complement here.
　Firstly, about her manner of writing lyrics. It's well known as follows.
　　Language -- Write in Japanese (Titles alone in English)
　　Contents -- Express her thoughts, feelings and experiences honestly
　It seems to be a very natural, basic manner of songwriting. But there are very few who write lyrics in such a manner in Japan now. It may be said in fact that she has been writing consistently in the manner she relies on just because she didn't know such conditions of the music business world. Looking from language --
　I've long been fed up with the J-Pop scene where Japanese lyrics with English phrases are flooding. Why are they eager to insert English phrases so often which they never say in their daily conversations? Don't they feel ashamed of themselves reading over their own lyrics? But most of them do this just because they think it's cool (I think it to be the opposite), not because they feel the necessity of inserting, and indeed, they don't make much of lyrics from the first. The group who brought such custom of slighting lyrics to Japanese popular music scene is undoubtedly Southern All Stars. (The title of the lyrics book Kuwata Keiske published was "Merely lyrics, don't tell much about such trifles") I think it's a fact of rejoicing now that after the apperance of Hamasaki Ayumi, many people are beginning to notice the importance of lyrics and the charm of the lyrics written in clear, beautiful Japanese.
　By the way, I think it doesn't matter whether the song titles are in Japanese or in English, as they are not sung. I hadn't hit upon the idea of unifying them in English, but once unified, they look stylish and beautiful. (And it's certainly in better taste to name as "FRIEND", "YOU" than as "Tomodachi", "Kimi".) And she goes further to write them in three ways -- �@All in capital letters �AOnly the first letter in capital �BAll in small letters -- I think she does so according to how much she could feel responsiveness in each lyrics.
　As to the contents, on the other hand, we can't blame many other lyrics writers to be negligent. Because her manner seems to be easy at first glance, but is actually very difficult. If I say it's as same as exposing one's heart and mind to others' eyes, most people will realize how difficult and fearful it is. I think the manner of writing lyrics are classified as follows by the standard of honesty and sincerity.
　�@ Express one's thoughts, feelings and experiences honestly
　�A Write a fiction, but put one's thoughts and feelings into it
　�B Write a fiction, and doesn't put one's thoughts and feelings
　Most of the lyrics flooding in Japan now would be �B. I think it almost a fraud to sing out "I love you", "I will protect you" without thinking of anyone and sell CDs. The typical singer who writes lyrics in the manner of �A would be Shiina Ringo. (I think "Boys & Girls" is the only song written in this manner of all the songs of Hamasaki Ayumi.) But I think the person writing in this manner should always be conscious that there is another person writing in the manner of �@ in a higher position, and keep on holding a kind of guilty feelings. (It would prevent him from falling down to the manner of �B.) Because to write a fiction is to tell a lie and to deceive others, and however well and tactfully it's made, a lie is no match for honesty.
　Hamasaki Ayumi is a person who writes in the manner of �@, keeps on doing the most difficult thing, but how many people realize that? Her fans, the reviewers, the staff around her, and even she herself don't seem to be aware of it clearly. She has created three albums and forty-four lyrics for two years and a half after the debut. But you should never describe the fact using such a phrase as the energetic will to creation. Because, setting aside the first album now, she was making every effort, struggling very much to create her second and third album. (And she has been about to break down once at least in the period.) Most people are just praising of the beautiful figure of a swan, never thinking of the legs paddling the water hard. But I'd like her fans at least to think of the legs, too.
　Will she keep on going in the manner of �@? She will maybe. And I hope so. But thinking naturally, it's almost unreasonable to keep on making lyrics constantly after this, too, in such a high pace. Fortunately, she is in the state of, so to speak, getting an advantage now, I think, after creating three excellent albums thanks to her efforts. It can be said that she has already earned enough money for avex trax and finished repaying the favour of Mr. Matsuura. I hope she will take it easier hereafter and keep on musical activity, taking a rest whenever she feels there is nothing left to produce, having new experiences and assimilating new things.

　　　　　　　　2. If at that Time ...
　Looking back on her musical career, I can't help feeling one thing so regrettable. -- Why didn't she hold standard concerts in the first half of the year 1999? If she had done them, it would have surely been good for both her fans and herself. Let us write down when the representative CDs were released and her concerts were held.
　　　　　　　　　　CD　　　　　　　　　　　Concert
　Jan.1999　Album　"A Song for XX"
　Feb.　　　Single "WHATEVER"
　Apr.　　　Single "LOVE〜Destiny"
　May　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Secret Live
　Aug.　　　Maxi-Single "A"
　Nov.　　　Album　"LOVEppears"
　Apr.2000　Single "vogue/ever free"　　 Concert Tour 2000 Act 1
　May　　　 Single "Far away"
　June　　　Single "SEASONS"　　　　　　Concert Tour 2000 Act 2
　Sept.　　 Album　"Duty"
　She held a concert only once, a secret live with small audience, in the period between the release of the first album and the second album. So most of the people who became her fans listening to the first album couldn't experience the concert where the songs of the first album were mainly sung. In the concert tour from April to August 2000, the tickets of which they would be able to get at last, the songs of the second album were mainly sung, and she had even completed writing "The Trilogy" before the tour. I suppose they would feel she had gone farther, leaving them behind.
　And, considering it from her side, she missed the only opportunity of holding concerts having the same mental state as in the period of creating the first album. (And perhaps the opprtunity that she could get a sense of unity with her fans most naturally.) And the first half of the year 1999 was perhaps the hardest time for her. She could hardly write lyrics and even thought of quitting around when the maxi-single "A" was released. How much she could have eased herself mentally, if she had stopped writing lyrics then and spent her time in preparing and performing the concerts for about half a year. Also, as she tried to do the large-scaled concert tour from the first in April 2000, she had much pressure and desperate feelings just before it, and I hear she felt loneliness on the stage in Act 1, never enjoying the concert tour. If she had held smaller concerts before it and got used to the stage, maybe they would have been avoided.
　Telling in short, if she had prepared and performed concerts in the first half of 1999, she could probably have gone along without so much suffering or mental pressure. In that case, such lyrics as "WHATEVER", "Trauma", "too late" might not have been written. Even if so, I think it would have been better. But I don't know actually how much she had the right to speak at that time. If she hadn't had it so much, then, should the staff around including Mr. Matsuura have thought for her?
　Though it's already a matter of the past...

　　　　　　　　3. Standard of Estimation
　By which standard are the albums of what is called J-Pop and J-Rock estimated in Japan now? I think mainly by the two below.
　�@ An album with a large sale is an excellent album
　�A An album on a high musical level is an excellent album
　Are these standards right? Let us look in order.
　Up to the present, the J-Pop album with the largest sale is "First Love" by Utada Hikaru, which I hear sold 7,610,000 copies. On the other hand, the first album of Hamasaki Ayumi, "A Song for XX" sold 1,450,000. According to the standard of �@, the former is more excellent than the latter of course, and that about five times more. Is it true? I have rented and listened to "First Love".
　In my estimation, they are matched as to the singing skill and "A Song for XX" is more excellent than "First Love" as to the lyrics, melody and arragement. Though there are some who object to this of course, they will not at least estimate that the latter is far more excellent than the former. It can't be a standard how many copies an album sells. And if there is a rough standard instead, I think it would be how long an album keeps on selling.
　On the other hand, �A seems to be a reasonable standard at first sight. But what do they actually estimate "on a high musical level"? It would be melody, arrangement, playing and singing. In other words, they don't estimate lyrics, which should be another important factor constituting a song. Looking at the CD reviews in newspapers or magazines today, I notice the lyrics are little reffered to or even ignored. (In the interview of "ROCKIN' ON JAPAN", too, the interviewer never told his own opinion as to her lyrics.) How has it come to this? -- I think it's because the whole musical industries have kept on making efforts to slight lyrics unconsciously.
　In the 1980's, after the apperance of Southern All Stars, the quality of lyrics got poorer. But, instead of putting the brakes on such trend, the musical industries regarded it as favourable and welcomed it. Because an excellent lyrics writer is very rare and seldom appears, and waiting for such a person patiently, they can't sell CDs more. But once formed the trend that melody and beat are of much importance, lyrics is of little, they can make songs in large quantity and the consumers become stirred up to buy many CDs. (The good effect of mixing English phrases with lyrics appears here. As most of the Japanese can't catch English, the more mixed, the less they listen to the lyrics.) The lyrics writers made lyrics more and more thoughtlessly, and both the common people and the reviewers came to listen to music only, without listening to lyrics. There came the age of producing and consuming songs in large quantity. It would be obvious what has been lost in exchange for the favourable growth and development of the musical industries.
　I think it may be a good idea not to use the word "musical", but to use "artistic" to estimate an album. Even if the reviewers can estimate many albums on sale now as "on a high musical level", they would be ashamed to estimate them as "on a high artistic level". But, by the appearance of Hamasaki Ayumi, there appeared as many as three albums which can be said definately "on a high artistic level", so we can demand other singers and bands to try to reach her level. And I hope the common people, the accepters of music, will buy the truly valuable CDs only, which they can listen again and again, not buying the trifle CDs, which they get tired of listening so soon. Because I think if many people do that, it will urge the musical industries having a tendency to overproduce inferior articles to reflect on themselves, and the level of Japanese popular music will go up.


BACK