True Life Seek

I waited and waited and waited to talk about Ash Like Snow. I feel like I should wait some more. I don’t want to write anything bad about the brilliant green. Sure that may not be fair and unbiased, but I am fine with that. My first reaction to the song was that it was uninspiring. My first reaction to the video was that it was blurring the lines between the brilliant green and tommy heavenly 6. In the end, I still feel this way. But something has made me forgive these issues and ease up on my opinion.

And that is Goodbye And Good Luck (Piano Version).

Ash Like Snow bothers me. It is not a horrible song and I find myself listening to it more than I think I realize. However, I stick by my earlier description. It is uninspiring. When I hear the first chords of the song, I don’t get excited at the fact that I’ll be listening to Ash Like Snow for the next 4 minutes. It’s sadly just another song.

In my last post, I talked about evolution vs progression with C-ute. I hate to go off on a tangent here but it needs to be done. Nearly all of my favorite musical groups have gone through an evolution (or multiple evolutions) of some sort. I believe that experiencing this evolution is what makes me hooked as it gives some groups that special something.

For example, many people like Perfume for the music and image that they project nowadays. My reasons for liking Perfume include that but also go beyond those reasons. Before Nakata Yasutaka hit Perfume, they were not a polished group. I’ve seen videos of them where they are badly coordinated and mistime dance moves and lip syncing. I’ve seen pictures where they (especially A~chan) do not look good at all. That “something special” is knowing that the group that is polished is the same three girls that were stumbling along.

Not every development/evolution is the same as that. Kanna Arihara went from, in my world, being an unknown egg known as “Forehead Girl” to the inspiration of this blog’s namesake. The brilliant green went through an evolution in their original run. As the public got introduced to Tomoko, they saw a peculiar personality that was very engaging. Their sound never stayed stale and it matured as they all got older.

But talking about the brilliant green in an overview is for another day, it’s back to Ash Like Snow. The video bothered me. I can’t believe that I have to say that there is something about the brilliant green that I don’t like. There was a fine line between the material of the brilliant green, tommy february 6 and tommy heavenly 6. I appreciated the differences. The three acts had a different image, motivation and purpose. As I watched Ash Like Snow, I couldn’t get out of my head that this seemed like a tommy heavenly 6 video. Now I’ll never be able to separate that association from the single.

This was the scene that solidified it all for me. In a quick moment, Tomoko’s eyes get this red effect. It is way too tacky. Truthfully, I can’t explain the reasoning for why this feels like a heavenly 6 scene. This is how it feels and I struggle to verbalize it.

It’s funny how moments that only last a few seconds capture my interest the most. It was a few seconds that got me hooked on Ongaku Gatas.

This is a positive entry though. For I’ve moved on from Ash Like Snow. The b-side of the single has made it all worth it for me. It’s not original material, but that’s being forgiven. One, it is a b-side. Two, it is not a carbon copy. This piano arrangement for goodbye and good luck is inspiring to me. When I hear it start up, all that will really matter is the 4 minutes that I’m listening to this song. The original goodbye and good luck is not exactly my favorite the brilliant green song. It’s not bad or anything, I just like some other songs a lot more.

Listening to Tomoko in the piano arrangement and the original is a good barometer to judge her own evolution. I just watched an early performance of it that I have never seen before. It is a fine performance. The lyrics are the same in both songs. In the original though (at least in this video), she seems sarcastic. While Tomoko may be saying goodbye and good luck to a friend that is moving, it’s not what she means. On the surface, she is putting on a show as to not upset her friend, but she is truly bitter and hurt that she will be without her friend. In the piano version, as Tomoko herself is much older, she seems to be more sincere. Being a cover actual empowers the newer version in this case. Even if it took 10 years, she has come to terms with her friend moving. Tomoko truly wishes good luck to her friend at this point and looks back on the good times favorably.

I like this b-side so much that I would be fine that if this is the last new material the brilliant green ever records. Look at me, I wait years and years for the band to return and now I am fine with them going off into the sunset. Perhaps this is the end for them though. The 97-08 Singles Collection is now complete with Stand By Me, Enemy and Ash Like Snow. I always got the impression that those songs were considered “anniversary singles,” which is never a sign pointing towards longevity. At this point, I don’t really know what more Tomoko, Shunsaku and Ryo would want to accomplish with the brilliant green.

When the brilliant green first went on hiatus, I was bitter. I didn’t want them to stop making music together. The tommy incarnations were entertaining but they didn’t reach me as much as the brilliant green did. I was Tomoko in the first version of goodbye and good luck. As they prepared their hiatus, I said goodbye to a friend, but I didn’t mean it. I wanted them to stay. Now, years later and after a 3 single trip down memory lane, I think that I am ready to say goodbye. I never stopped listened to their older material, but I don’t look back wishing for those days to come back anymore.

Posted on February 7th, 2008 by broomhead. Filed under Articles.
Tags: the brilliant green