Someone shared this incredible video on Gab. It’s not often when such a simple video will grab me like this, causing me to re-watch it numerous times. This young man plays “Memories of Green” by Vangelis on some old piano on a sidewalk which appears to be somewhere in the UK. The passing traffic only adds to the melody, emulating the ambience of the Blade Runner movie soundtrack.
Whether this was a spontaneous moment or deliberately planned, this simple moment captures such incredible beauty, evoking a wave of nostalgia for my favorite movie. As others have said in this video’s comments section, it’s a pleasant surprise to see that someone so young would even know this tune.
It’s amazing how such a video can be so profound, striking a chord like this in my heart. As one commenter on this video put it, “This video restored my faith in humanity a little.” Amen.
You may not have ever heard of these two girls from Scotland, but Strawberry Switchblade made a HUGE impact on Japanese pop music and culture in the ’80s. Resembling something like dime store doll versions of Siouxsie, these two girls harmonized wonderfully to make cheerful New Wave pop music, infusing bubblegum sweet melodies with lyrics of melancholy. That android from Robot Carnival immediately comes to mind when I see their clothes. When you watch them, you can see their impact on ’80s J-pop and Harajuku fashion echoes their cute, punk rock doll aesthetic to this day. I see where Strawberry Switchblade heavily influenced the J-pop singing duo Wink in the ’80s. I can definitely see how their fashion aesthetic was a precursor to the “goth loli” fashion which sprang out of Osaka 20+ years ago.
While I was building the KUKQ playlist I mentioned in my previous post, their video for “Since Yesterday” kept showing up in my recommendations on YouTube. I finally clicked on it and loved what I heard. Then the more I thought about it, I unlocked a forgotten memory. I remember hearing a song by them on KUKQ when I was in high school, which was probably this same song. I remember hearing the name of the band and thought that they were so cool, but since I didn’t write it down and I never heard them again on the radio, I forgot all about them.
Their song “Since Yesterday”:
What’s up with the weird people under the stage?
“Poor Hearts” (I particularly love the chiming guitar in this song, and it reminds me of a cross between Siouxsie & the Banshees and Kitchens of Distinction.
A brief history on Strawberry Switchblade:
Interviews on Japanese TV:
Super neat stuff. I bought their CD, and hopefully it will arrive sometime this week. You can see how deeply they inspired the J-Pop band, Wink.
I’ve been on a retro music odyssey for the past month and a half, going back to so much of the music I loved in high school. I’ve bought CDs from R.E.M., The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tears for Fears, and Echo & The Bunnymen. I’ve already gushed about my love for this old radio station and its impact on my teen years in my various Greg’s Life essays, so I won’t reiterate all that here. But these are the bands that were played on this legendary AM radio station. I found a few KUKQ playlists on YouTube. One was good, while two others were very short and limited (apparently one was a huge Cranberries fan). I was inspired to make my own playlist. At this moment, I am just short of 400 songs. Of course, there are no songs by Pearl Jam or Nine Inch Nails.
I snagged the KUKQ bumper audio from a file provided on the KUKQ fan page.
I’d sing my precious little daughter to sleep every night with this song when she was a toddler. Now she is 15, and she still remembers me singing this to her. However far away, I will always love you. However long I stay, I will always love you. Whatever words I say, I will always love you, my precious daughter.
Well, June has only just begun… Hang in there! It’s Groomer Awareness Month, when degenerates making a mockery of womanhood hijack virtuous platitudes like “inclusion” to use it as a means of advancing their pedo predilections by shoving their junk into kids’ faces and literally promote evil with imagery of Satan and guillotines, like what happened at Target stores recently. It’s when Corporate America’s pandering becomes smokescreen for the indoctrination and the mutilation of children at the behest of Big Pharma, and we’re supposed to be happy about that. These corporations really couldn’t care less about the well-being of these people; they are only concerned about exploiting them for profit. Children are instinctively attracted to colorful rainbows, after all. They are being preyed upon by people who want to enslave them to pharmaceuticals for the rest of their life. Disgusting. So make this song your anthem for the month. Play it loud, run around your room, burn some calories, knock over some furniture if necessary. Lyrics are included. If you don’t know this song yet, TRUST ME, you’ll thank me for this. This based, politically-incorrect song is therapeutic and thrusts a big middle finger to debauchery and depravity. I’ve just listened to it for about the 30th time in a row now. God bless The Ramones.
This is one of those songs that really resonated with me during my college years. I would play it on repeat and listen to it over and over again as it spoke to my mood so often. Being a lonely soul, surrounded by thousands of other souls I could not connect with, living underground and not living in proper communion with each other. And of course, the futility of it all, since often my poor attempts at communication were misunderstood, prompting an urge to flee from others. My loneliness was always at odds with my desire to be alone. I wanted to have deep friendships with others, but did not know how to do so with “normal” people. A constant juggle between empathy and apathy, not knowing the type of person I wanted to be. I wanted to be a caring person, yet I’d developed a cynical attitude as a defensive mechanism… pushing others away, yet resenting them for not being closer to me; for not understanding me. Resenting myself for my failure to help them understand me. Convincing myself that everyone hated me, so that when it proved to be untrue, I could then set myself to be artificially happy by setting my expectations too low. I could never properly express myself verbally; only through writing. I hated myself for that. So I just set about recording my life in journals, writing about my life, thinking that someday I would be able to share those journals with the girl I might marry someday. Then the irony of me being married a girl who has had no desire at all to read the multiple volumes I have written thus far. All of those feelings and experiences, the joys and the heartbreaks, will just be kept to myself forever. I suppose it was silly to think that I would someday freely share them with anyone other than myself.
In this half year journey of retrospection and introspection that I have been on, it just makes me regret all the times I distanced myself from others. All of the non-nerd friends I had who couldn’t understand me, yet were still kind to me. I sort of resented them in a way, thinking, “They aren’t like me,” and it would deplete my energy to make an effort to be with these “normal” friends, constantly afraid that they’d make fun of me for being a nerd. Because since I have been reaching out to loved ones in my past, guys and girls who were so dear to me, while some have been pleasantly surprised to hear from me, quite often I’m just ignored. Even a dear cousin of mine who was like a little brother to me. Even those friends who made such an impact on my life. If only I hadn’t withdrawn from them… If only I hadn’t pushed them away… If only I had developed better social skills at an earlier age… If only I hadn’t been so ashamed of myself… If only I had been more positive and edifying to them… Then perhaps they would be delighted when I reach out to them rather than ignoring me. Apparently I failed to leave a positive impression on them. They must only have memories of a brooding, shy, pathetic nerd who was always on the periphery and not of someone who deeply cared for them. Apparently I failed to convey that. As for me, even those who hurt my feelings, even girls who broke my heart, even people who were my enemies who gave me such stress, I love them all and I wish I could have a chance to be a blessing to them and to show love and grace to them if they were to reach out to me.
On a thousand islands in the sea I see a thousand people just like me A hundred unions in the snow I watch them walking, falling in a row We live always underground It’s going to be so quiet in here tonight A thousand islands in the sea It’s a shame
And a hundred years ago A sailor trod this ground I stood upon Take me away everyone When it hurts thou
From my head to my toes From the words in the book I see a vision that would bring me luck From my head to my toes To my teeth, through my nose You get these words wrong You get these words wrong Every time You get these words wrong I just smile
But from my head to my toes From my knees to my eyes Every time I watch the sky For these last few days leave me alone But for these last few days leave me alone Leave me alone Leave me alone
What I love about Slowdive’s lyrics is that you can attach your own memories and just let the emotions ride. This woman used old Super 8 home video footage to convey not so much the story of the song, but the bittersweet nostalgia the lyrics imply. This is another of my Japanese translation attempts. It’s easier to translate from Japanese to English than it is the other way around for me.
You’re so beautiful But you only knew I see But I don’t know where you’ve been But you’re holding back Just holding You say you’re fine Going to America
You made a plan You can’t stay with me America Take me to the place you love Take me to America
You say you’re fine I don’t know anymore Say you’re mine Take me to America You can take it slow Just pack me up Take me to the place you love Take me to America
This song reminds me of a wonderful girl from Ireland I once knew. She was a girl whose kindness had helped lift me from a dark cloud of loneliness and despair, yet I couldn’t do the same for her as she was wasting away from anorexia and became withdrawn. I then found love with another girl, so far away in Japan. But this Irish girl was a kindred spirit, a hurting soul like me. When she transferred to a college out of state, I felt her absence and it made me sad. Although I married the girl in Japan, I wish I could have held onto the Irish girl’s friendship forever. I was always such a lonely nerd, yet I found myself in a love triangle between two beautiful, lovely foreign girls with black hair. This was 24 years ago…
Silly girl You don’t look so good There’s nothing here that makes you feel the way you should The summer’s gone and you’ve lost your way Why hide your heart You know it’s always such a waste Seeing you cry and it makes me sad Makes me think that I should hold you everyday Miss you always Even if you hit the ground Miss you always Even if you’re here someday
Silly girl It’s just a way to go There’s nothing cool that makes my heart stay away I’ve seen you cry and it makes me sad Don’t hide your eyes You know it’s always such a waste Miss you always Even when you hit the ground Miss you always Even when you’re here to play
If you have never heard shoegaze music, it’s not merely something to listen to, but it’s like a warm guitar bath for your soul to experience. It’s definitely music for introverts, like myself. One of my favorite shoegaze bands is Slowdive. I’ve never heard this Slowdive song before until tonight!
Just reading the comments in this video from people whose lives have been touched by this song has moved me to tears. It’s beautiful to read how this song has affected people. One person spared his life from suicide. Another regretted all the time spent in youth feeling sorry for himself and regretted not spending more time with others. Another commenter urges others to become a better, positive part of others’ lives, even strangers. It’s amazing what an affect such beautiful music can have on others.
Here are the lyrics.
I can see you laughing Through dreams of perfect sleep Sleep away from me You know what’s in my mind When you go, I’m crying Dream, dream away from me
Let the Lord embrace you Bow down, spare the reed When I close my eyes Your fate shall be free When I see you drowning I’ll dream, dream away from you
