Double Planet Episode 3

Double Planet
Episode 3 : The true nature of lyrics and the whereabouts of words
Satoru Aono (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan Personality)

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 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 purchased online, I've been playing with it almost every day.
Writing like this might give the wrong impression that Aono has improved a lot. Don't worry. I'm not good enough yet. The road to becoming a guitarist is difficult. I learned to hold down two chords by watching and imitating a tutorial book I found in a used bookstore. C chord and Am chord are everything to me now.

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

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 proud aura.

"Aono, listen up. 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 incompetent Tachibana manage to stay in a band?
Won't that be a nuisance to the band members?
You should quit the band!
Because you're not that type!

Various words passed through my mind in rapid succession.
In short, it was just jealousy.
I couldn't help but feel envious of Tachibana for forming a band.

"I'll be doing vocals and juggling."

I had no idea what juggling was all about. Was he planning on busking while singing?
But if I asked, I would lose. I felt that if I continued the conversation, my jealousy would explode, so I decided to leave him coldly.

Right now, my passion for music was rising so much that I couldn't resist Tachibana's light-hearted declaration that he was going to start a band. After all, I was alone and alone. The word "band" only had a sweet ring to it.

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

Wait a minute.

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

...Isn't that too much trouble?

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

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

I'm beginning to feel like this is no longer the time to take things step by step.
If I waited to get better at guitar, I'd never catch up with Tachibana.
It's not that I want to compare myself to Tachibana, but I need to be a bit 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 lyrics should I write?

My favorite blue mechanical pencil won't move a muscle.
In no time I was 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 quickly.

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

One after the other, potential themes came to mind.
However, all of these themes seem too grand for me right now.
I don't think I have the ability to 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 trying to write 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.
Just before that I had a broken heart and it was so painful that before I realized it I was writing (laughs)."

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

Kanda : Yeah, that's what it feels like.
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 it!", I might not have been able to write it either.
As long as you keep thinking that you have to make it look like subtle blue, it's not going to be easy.
Even if I could, I'd only be able to write the melody. I can't write the lyrics very well."

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 situations that are different from your usual ones.
Rather than trying to write lyrics straight away, it's good to try and put your feelings into composition.
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 write lyrics is to pick out words from that.

"to be continued"

*Back issues can be viewed here .