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FANS' good article sharing
From @mind_writing_mind (source)
This time, Chow Kwok Yin's song has completely stolen the limelight from SiuHak's lyrics on the first listen. In the three series of eight songs, when listening to the songs, the images always come out first along with the lyrics, and each time you listen to them, the images are slowly embellished in your mind.
The lyrics are still very descriptive and thought provoking. What's even better this time is that the lyrics don't have a chorus, which is a big challenge for the singer (is this part of the reason why Willow gives out the f word when she receives the lyrics? At first, I thought it would be easy to listen to and sing along with, but then I realized that the "ripples" that Zhou Guo Xian and SiuHak mentioned in their article were not only in the lyrics, not only in the arrangement, but in fact in the whole song.
The first thing I'd like to say is that when I watched Chill Good YT channel's LIVE reprise of 'The Rules of Parting' a few days ago, it was clear that Ryu's vocals had improved, with his key changes to falsetto being more rounded and less strained than before, making it sound better than the recorded version. The lyrics of SiuHak's song also match the rhythmic changes in the words used, and Lau's vocals are often modified with falsetto. I remember from reading physic in the past that ripples are actually a kind of waveform, with a delicate upward and downward bend, which is very beautiful; there is also a so-called constructive interference and destructive interference, where specific positions intersect to create a stronger effect, but can also cancel each other out. A slow and sad love song, the finished product feels like it will become epic.
You'll find a full range of meaning in the lyrics of Kurt K.'s songs, right? I'm not going to say much more. No, let's talk about the most touching part.
"May you cross in person
Frontiers of Spiritual Meat
Not yet solved May you be grateful for life
It's great to be alive
Who forgives you for a lifetime of self-imposed failure
This Universe Has No Boundaries
She will hold you in her arms in the afterlife"
When I listened to this passage, I was strongly reminded of the narrative of the Wind Spirit and the Sand Vessel, especially the last line, in which the male protagonist ends his life, but in fact their destiny is not over, but continues with another kind of destiny.
The prequel to the Tales series (according to Sheila Tse in the premiere), the sadistic series can be seen as a prequel to The Swarm, and the whole story is well rounded, almost like a concept novel. （The main character is a 'life form' who travels (or reincarnates?) through time and space/multiple universes (a popular term these days). I've been thinking about it for a while now, and it's getting a bit hairy. A friend asked, "What about MM7? What about MM7? Is that the beginning and the end? But the feeling I get from "The Stars" is that it's an epiphany after a bit of confusion and depression, a step into the "transcendental state" of MM7, which is actually undivided.
When I think of this, I think of the German drama "DARK Dark" on Netflix. When I talk about this drama with my friends, I think that the writers are "stupid" and how their brains are constructed.
P.S. I know I'm overthinking it 😅, but I'd like to pay my respects to the creative team, the songwriters, the supervisors and the singers for every song!
FANS' Good article sharing - JER 3 years 10 songs full series
From @mind_writing_mind (Source)
I've been thinking back, if it was a singer who had been on the scene for a while, a series like this might not be as shocking; if it was a new singer, it would feel very amazing, and we would have to wait patiently for three years. It's hard to know what will happen in three years.
I've been looking back at these interviews and trying to see if there's something in it, whether it's this "ambition" in the first song, "Water Torture Story", or if it's a fully integrated concept that only emerges at a certain stage in a certain song?
I am a very late comer to the scene and the lyrics of "Group of Stars" have given me a picture and impact that has never diminished to this day. At the time of the archaeological project, Ryu had the audacity to ask SiuHak to write lyrics for him, as he liked 'Soul to Soul'. The first draft of "Water Torture" was submitted as a love song, but Lau, a newcomer, turned it back to him and asked Uncle Carl to pass on the idea of using the film "Aquaman" as a concept.
"Ryu offers a clearer idea of the song he has in mind, something like the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water: a mute woman falls in love with a strange mermaid who has been captured and shot at while fleeing, and she and he sink into the deep. It humbles my heart, for you are everywhere. The poem suggests that 'great love' is with us, never leaving, never giving up, transcending life and death.
In this film, Ryu also gave Koike the words 'water', 'light' and 'wind' as elements of three songs. This was followed by The Story of the Water Torture, The Story of the Returning Light and The Story of the Wind Spirit, a trilogy of songs that echoes the words "water", "dying" and "wind". He said that when he got to the third song and looked back on it, he realised that the three songs were a process of "death and rebirth".
This is probably the genesis of The Story series.
In the "Rebirth Series", Harker said he was going to choose three novels as song titles to go with New Age, Reincarnation and various Zen religions, plus Ryu suggested "Sorry, Please Forgive Me" from "Zero Limits". Incidentally, it wasn't until 'Maniac' that Siu-ke entered the group and communicated directly with Ryu, who would prepare 50 reference photos and a thousand-word essay to let Siu-ke know what he was thinking.
MM7 has always been described as an interlude between the two series, and Ryu even said that if he were to give a concert, one of the six previous churches would need to be shaken up a bit.
The "Parting Rules" appeared, and Ryu said in an interview that he heard fans' voices wanting him to sing love songs, so the "Sadistic Series" appeared. I remember, but I can't really recall, whether it was in the interview of "Away" or "Self-Destructive Procedure", Ryu actually mentioned lightly that the "Sadistic Series" was actually a prequel, but I didn't really care about it at that time, probably because I didn't understand it.
The first nine songs of the series, which do not seem to be a strong story line, can only mean that the themes of the trilogy are related to each other, involved and intertwined, until the last song "Resting and watching the rising clouds" appears, which ties up the whole series. Did it start with 'Water Torture'? Did the idea for The Rebirth Series take shape when it was conceived and decided to present it in this way? Or was it the evolution of 'destiny'? Or was it a moment of "free will" and a stroke of God? If not, perhaps we will have to wait many, many years before the three CORE creators write their memoirs to find out (although I don't know if they will).
And finally, will there be a name for the whole trilogy?
Pardon me if I am over curious.
Correct me if I get anything wrong or miss.
JER@ MIRROR "Resting and watching the rising clouds" video shoot in Kyoto
From Touchwood @touchwoodtv (Source)
Jer has been working with SiuHak and Carl Suk for the past three years on 10 songs, forming a jigsaw puzzle, with 'Sit and Watch the Clouds Rise' being the last piece.
The title of the song is based on a line from Wang Wei's work "The End of the Road", "When the clouds are rising," Jer adds, "In fact, this year's trilogy is based on the Japanese garden art of decorating dry landscapes. He's at a dead end and can't let go of his emotions at the end.
Jer continued, "Resting and watching the rising clouds" is really about what God wants to say to the hero, about how the world is so big and life is so long, so there is no need to turn the corner. Even if he passes away, he will be blessed from above. But there are so many choices, and in the story, the hero chooses to jump back into the abyss at the end.
This year's three songs are a prequel to the Story series, about a man who jumps into his own abyss, a dead end after a relationship, and the last one is under a dark whirlpool abyss. The final song is really moving, and the project we've been working on for three years is a great success, and we can see a big picture," Jer says, adding that all the pieces fit together like a series for fans to follow.
Speaking of the music video, Jer chose to shoot in Kyoto, Japan, because it was the last piece of the trilogy and he wanted to go back to the place where the lyrics of the song are about the dry mountain water in Japan. As for Jer, who is not familiar with water, the most difficult part this time was the diving part, because while shooting a diving scene in a river in Apchuan, the water in the stream was so cold that it was like taking an ice bath. I felt dehydrated after the two scenes, and I felt a little dizzy.
After completing ten songs and three songs in the past three years, Jer said, "We want to release these ten songs into one album, so that we can have a complete artwork. Jer also said that he hopes to try music that he hasn't tried for three years next year, so that fans can see another side of him, especially since he was a band musician before he started his career.