Double Planet Episode 3

Double Planet
Episode 3 : The True Nature of Lyrics and the Destination of Words
Satoru Aono (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan Personality)

Due to the impact of the new coronavirus, high schools have been closed for a while.

Now that I have a day off, all I do is play the guitar.
Yes, ever since I received the guitar I bought online, I've been playing it almost every day.
Writing this might give the wrong impression that Aono has become incredibly good. But don't worry. He's still not good enough. The road to becoming a guitar player is tough. With the help of a tutorial book I found in a used bookstore, I managed to learn to play two chords by imitating others. C chords and Am chords are everything to me now.

I have a classmate who is in the light music club, a guy named Tachibana.
He was almost like a ghost member, didn't go to club activities very often, and was a very careless guy in many ways.

After school, we received a notice that the high school would be closed for a while.
As I was getting ready to go home, he approached me, exuding a somewhat boastful aura.

"Aono, listen to me. I've decided to form a band."

Tachibana often says, "I'll do this for you." That doesn't matter.

Eh, Tachibana is forming a band?
Can the useless Tachibana manage the band?
Won't that be a nuisance to the band members?
You should quit the band!
You're not that type!

Many words passed through my head in rapid succession.
In short, it was just jealousy.
I couldn't help but envy Tachibana for forming a band.

"I'll be doing vocals and juggling."

I had no idea what juggling was all about. Was he going to busk while singing?
But if I asked, I would lose. I knew that if I continued talking any further, my jealousy would explode, so I decided to leave him coldly.

My passion for music was rising at a ferocious pace right now, so I couldn't resist Tachibana's light-hearted declaration that he was going to start a band. After all, I was alone and isolated. The word "band" just had a sweet ring to it.

In that case, I think the only stance left for me is to play and sing.
The pattern is that they become incredibly good at guitar and then become a singer-songwriter.

Wait a minute.

A singer-songwriter is someone who writes their own songs.

...Isn't that too much work?

Wouldn't it be easier to master juggling?
What are you going to do with your admiration for Tachibana?

It seems I need to write songs on my own.
This hurdle is as high as Mount Everest.

I'm beginning to feel like it's no longer the time to take things step by step.
If I wait to get better at guitar, I'll never be able to catch up with Tachibana.
I don't particularly want to live my life in comparison to Tachibana, but I need to be a little more reckless.

Lyrics, let's start by writing some lyrics.

I pulled out an unused notebook from the closet and decided to try thinking up lyrics.

Think about the lyrics.

lyrics…….
Huh, lyrics?!

What should I write about lyrics?

My favorite blue mechanical pencil won't move at all.
I quickly got lost in the labyrinth.
I tried to write lyrics, but the concept of lyrics is a gestalt collapse.

[Lyric writing tips]

I put my hopes in the search engines.
What came out was, "First, let's think about the theme I want to write a song about."

teeth?
theme?!

[Lyrics Theme]

Of course I searched for it.
He came out right away.

·love affair
·support
·love
・Dreams, goals, etc.

One after another, potential themes came to mind.
However, all of these themes seem too grand for me right now.
I don't think I can write a love song, especially since I've never dated someone of the opposite sex.

I'm in trouble.
Maybe there's no topic I can write about right now.

I wrote down my honest feelings in an email,
I sent it to the radio program "Love & Music."

Radio name: Subtle Blue

"I'm Satoru Blue, a high school student who asked you about guitars before.
I got lost in the labyrinth again.
Actually, I'm thinking about writing lyrics for the first time in my life.
But I don't know what topic to write about or how to write about it.
Kanda-san, do you remember the first lyrics you ever wrote?

Furuta : "Satoru Blue, a high school student, sent me another email.
Kanda-san, do you remember the first lyrics you wrote?

Kanda: "I remember it very well.
I first wrote it during a class in my second year of high school.
I had just had a broken heart and it was so painful that before I knew it, I was writing (laughs)."

Furuta : When you say "I realized it," do you mean that you were being forced to write it by some other means rather than Kanda's will? (laughs)

Kanda: "Yes, that's how it feels.
I wasn't even thinking about writing a song, but I was so shocked that before I knew it, the melody and lyrics came to me at the same time.
If it had been more like, "Let's write! Let's make!", I might not have been able to write it either.
As long as you keep thinking you have to make it look like Subtle Blue, it's not going to happen.
Even if I could, I'd only be able to come up with a melody. I have a hard time coming up with lyrics."

Furuta : "Is there any good way to do this?"

Kanda: "I think it's okay to just imitate at first.
Also, try putting yourself in a situation that is different from your usual one.
Instead of trying to write lyrics straight away, it's good to try putting your feelings into words.
Before I write lyrics, I also write down my thoughts in a poem-like format, even if it's just in bullet points. Another way to do this is to pick out words from there and turn them into lyrics."

"to be continued"

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