The first time I saw this poem was at Tanigawa's home in Tokyo. Now he is an 80-year-old grandfather, and when he wrote this poem, he was actually only thirty years old. The title "Spring to Spring" does not mean that spring is over and summer is coming, but that the poet himself is willing to die in spring. He wrote "I like living" at the beginning, which reminds me that the same sentence "I like living" can have many texts. For example, some people will say "I have lived", or others will say "I hate living". How many people can say at the end of their lives, "I like living."
This is a state of mind that has been freed in the face of death, and this ease comes from the state of mind that you have lived seriously and done everything you want to do in the limited time you are alive.
When composing music, the melody is almost completed at one time, without any more modifications. When entering the studio to record, the chords and playing methods also retained their original appearance. It's still my classical guitar, and I chose the clear timbre of nylon chord high handle. Many fresh elements were added in the later arrangement, such as conga drum, such as true thunder, which is in line with the sentence "I like anger too much". This song is one of the tracks in the album. In addition to composing the existing poems, I wrote my own lyrics.
Facing the classic works from poets, I feel that my writing style is not very skillful, so I try not to dance with pen and ink, but choose the simplest and plain words to write my lyrics.
For example, this song "I will go with you". I wrote this song under the complaint of my friend. He was confused and didn't know what to do. After listening to his words, I had the idea of writing a song. Everyone will be lonely sometimes, and so will I. When you feel confused and uneasy, what do you want to hear most? In fact, it is not the wisdom of life, but someone tells you: "Don't be afraid, I will go with you."
The original melody of this song was also written on my old partner's classical guitar. Later, after consulting with the arranger Wang, I decided to try pure piano accompaniment. This is a brand-new attempt for me. Because most of my songs are written with classical guitar and accompanied by it as the main instrument. This time, I tried to use the piano to realize the whole song, so I was worried at first, such as whether the emotional color of the original work would be lost because of the timbre of the piano. Later, I listened to the arranged demo, which dispelled my doubts. In the second half of jazz piano improvisation, the rhythm is completely different from the first half, and it also realizes the sense of firmness and trust I want to express.
"No matter how far it is, I will go with you." The lyrics of this song "Dead Wood" also come from poetry, which is one of the works that compose music for the existing poems in the album.
First of all, I'd like to introduce the author of this poem: Tian Yuan, a Japanese poet, translator and doctor of literature living in China, who teaches in the Literature Department of Chengxi International University. He wrote in Chinese and Japanese, and won the 60th Japanese Poetry Award on 20 10. At the same time, he is also a translator and researcher of Japanese national poet Shuntaro Tanikawa in China. His masterpieces include The Birth of the Coast and The Memory of Stones.
After reading the Japanese version of the poem Dead Wood, I was moved by the last sentence: "Dead wood is the only real scenery." Dead wood is the only real scenery. This is strikingly consistent with my aesthetic and worldview. I once wrote a passage like this before: "The camellia I picked a few days ago has withered now. But I think it's beautiful. People in the world prefer blooming flowers to withering flowers. But I prefer the beauty of the latter. I can see life, the world, the flow and the solidification in the withered flowers. "
This is also consistent with the "dry beauty" advocated in Japanese traditional tea ceremony aesthetics. Mori Riky, the master of tea ceremony, decorated the teahouse with the simplest materials, with a thatched roof, which was narrow in space but full of Zen.
Part of the adaptation of this song was recorded by percussion musician Kuramoto (Japan) and xylophone artist Suzuki Unknown Son (Japan) in the Tokyo studio. Thanks to them, the melody of the song changed from slow to fast, and the addition of xylophone and percussion instruments made the dead wood feel a little playful. "My Heart is Full" is one of the non-poetic songs in the album.
In addition to this one, there are three songs: the girl on the road, the moon in the sky, your face, I will go with you. I regard these songs as "sketches" in the album. The so-called "sketch" is to relax and listen to some simple songs between listening to poems.
Because poetry is concise after all, when I compose poetry, I pay more attention to whether this melody can reflect the poet's thoughts, feelings and significance between the lines, rather than the melody itself. So some friends who have heard my first album think that this album is not as good as the last one.
In fact, what I understand as "nice" does not necessarily make people feel relaxed and happy immediately. "Yes, it can also be thought-provoking. The difference between art and entertainment is that good works of art can inspire people, instead of blindly satisfying direct physiological needs.
On the other hand, this song "My Heart is Full" was written in the early spring of 20 14 in Tokyo. At that time, I had just come out of the design room. I lived alone in this foreign city and talked to myself every day. Naturally, loneliness will come to us. But if you think about it carefully, this "loneliness" caused by the surrounding environment may not be absolutely credible. I found that I can talk to birds and see a plant, and my heart can transcend the environment and enrich itself.
So I wrote this song. I want to say, when you are alone, talk to your heart more. Train is the work of Turkish poet Tarangi. I came to compose music from China, a version from the poet Yu Guangzhong. I always feel that it is more interesting for poets to translate poems than translators. Because poets know how to grasp words better and how to be more poetic.
20 13 Tokyo read the poem "Train" in early spring. For China people, the image of the train seems to have a deeper meaning. Every Spring Festival, hundreds of millions of people migrate from the south to the north, or from the north to the south. And the train is the most commonly used means of transportation to carry this migration. So people's impression of the train seems to go far beyond the vehicle itself, but a kind of distance, affection, parting and missing.
What moved me most was that the poet said, "Why shouldn't I wave a towel? Passengers have something to do with me. " Reading such a sentence will warm my heart. Yes, if the poet hadn't reminded us, we would have forgotten that the blood flowing in our bodies is the same as that of human beings. We often argue about interests, beliefs and national boundaries, but poets always have a higher perspective to remind those human beings who have become blind because of their entanglement with good reality, and remember mutual tolerance and friendship. Because we are the only humans on this blue planet. Can we all send each other a blessing: "Go ahead, I hope you have a safe trip, the bridge is strong and the tunnel is bright."
When I wrote this song, I chose to use a polyphonic flute to compare the high whistle of the roaring train and the rolling bass to compare the powerful rolling sound of the wheels. And the rest, just give it to a classical guitar. The whole piece looks heavy. Listen carefully. In fact, there are only three instruments to complete it. I think this is the right attempt, because the final effect will come naturally, and everything is just right. I think the key point of artistic creation is the degree of mastery. The so-called folk orchestration is relatively simple, not really simple, but simple after selection. Because that's enough, what you want to convey has been conveyed, and there is no need to add it. A good work must be introverted and thoughtful, and unscrupulous modification and rhetoric are not good for the work.