Why are humans imperfect, unlike hermits?
I’m a Japanese artist and I collaborate with talented artists from overseas. I am making stories for songs, so I would like to introduce the concept and story of the song I made with them. This “Transformation album” is based on the theme of “traditional Japanese ways of thinking”. The keywords are “Waka”, “Impermanence”, and “Kunoichi”. Exploring these themes, I searched for the connection between old and modern Japan and expressed my feelings about these worlds. The title of this song is “Transformation” and the keyword is “Impermanence”. There is a bandcamp link at the bottom of this article, so please listen to it.
＜Summary>
An immortal hermit with mysterious power over a sector of mere humans is laughing at them, as he holds their fate in his hands. Human life is impermanent and constantly changing, however we can find beauty in this transient existence.
＜Concept＞
The “Hermit*1” is the ideal divine existence in Taoism*2, originating from China. In Japan, a “Hermit” is depicted as an enlightened immortal who is admired by mortal humans. In this story, I imagined that the “hermit” sometimes peeks into the human world and decides the fate of people; as if saying, “Okay, let’s send this person to heaven today!”. Humans are considered to be imperfect; with apparent bodily and emotional imperfections – unlike hermits. Humans can find beauty in their “imperfections”, however, namely ageing, parting and their likes and dislikes. I personally like moments when I can meet and bond with loved ones in this constantly fluctuating world . I wrote this song based on the theme of “the beauty of change”.
＜Story＞
The hermit who lives in the heavens controls and manages the lower human world. The hermit uses mysterious power and enjoys watching the lower human world. Since the hermit controls humans, they will die depending on the hermit’s mood. The hermit is in perfect harmony with the “Yin and Yang*3” in the body, but humans are not. Therefore, humans suffer from “transformation”, namely aging and dying. Fortunately, humans can salvage a state of life with the sense of “ Wabi Sabi*4,5” and “a state of beauty, because it is impermanent.”
＜Direct translation of Japanese lyrics＞
A voice came from the sky
A person dies because of his whims
He should manipulate his magical techniqus to see the end of the lower world today
Using the techniques of alternation and hiding*6
Two opposite spirits of yin and yang
“Rust” that moves between the yin and yang*7and does not stop
Fate going to die
People are connected to change momentarily
It’s an insubstantially beauty
<Meaning of Japanese Lyrics>
Can you hear the cries, or the laughter, calling from the sky – warning rapture.
Sweeping up our lives – flashed before our eyes.
Scheming our demise. Oh, the bastards! Dieties from on high wrote our chapters.
Holding all our hopes; life seems set in stone.
Ying-yang of mankind, conflicted inside,
Pleasure and pain demand that you pick sides.
One’s great fear and pride, from which one can’t hide,
Is that one can chose one’s fate throughout life.
Temporal life and times bind folks of all kinds.
Some see the beauty, some see the dark side.
Hermit*1 : This is a general term for Chinese original gods (excluding Buddhism) and those who have become close to God after training. A word that refers to those who are immortal and have learned a mysterious technique. The point that the drawn “Hermit statue” is different from China is emphasized not by immortality but by being in a world different from the human world.
Taoism*2: A polytheistic religion that occurs naturally in China. The main idea among them is “Shinsen thought” is a thought that human beings can become hermits when there are immortal hermits.
Yin and Yang*3 : Starting from China’s thought, it is an idea that all sorts of things in the universe are classified into two categories of yin and yang from various viewpoints. Yin and Yang are two spirits with mutually opposing attributes, and the change called the production and annihilation of everything is said to be caused by this diligence.
Wabi Sabi*4: “Wabi” ; Satisfaction even if there is something missing and “Sabi*5 “;the expression of lightness and quietness, has come to mean that states like quiet and loneliness are beautiful, although they are simple.
Sabi*5: The original meaning is that “internal essence” oozes out. The contradictory elements of old & withered and rich & splendid attract and interact with each other in one world and are activated in that world. The beauty of the dual structure, resulting from the work of the mind, which is so activated and dying. It expresses the consciousness of finding value in lonely and imperfect things and finding beauty in an old-fashioned.
The techniques of alternation and hiding*6: Techniques used by hermits. The replica creates the same human being as her and makes her appearance appear elsewhere and shows several figures at once. There are two ways to hide one’s figure and hide one’s figure like a transparent person.
Yin and Yang*7: Originating in China, it is an idea that all sorts of things in the universe, and all sorts of things in the universe, are classified into two categories of yin and yang from various viewpoints. Yin and Yang are two spirits with mutually opposing attributes, and the change called the production and annihilation of everything is said to be caused by this diligence.
https://pntksvssr.bandcamp.com/album/transformation
コメント
コメントを投稿