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03. ソウルメイト

Posted by H!P46, 31 October 2007 · 1341 views

あやみき
ソウルメイト 作詞大友民男 作曲編曲安岡洋一郎

Song Credits

大友さん is a bit unknown. How unknown? Well, this is the only song I can find credited to him. We're talking rookie here, thrown in at the deep end. But that's not a problem because he can swim (and I always believed being thrown in at the shallow end was much more dangerous anyway!). Google hits are low and taking 「ソウルメイト」 out of the equation leaves twelve results. TWELVE! Of those, I'm not even sure how many relate to this 大友民男! However, from those twelve I've found two things in particular that look interesting because they're both to do with music so I thought it could possibly (but not necessarily) be the same person. The first is a credit for the Squaresoft game 「ロマンシング サ・ガ2」 under "sound staff". Not sure if it's the same guy but like I said, music related... could be. The second is much more interesting. An 大友民男 is in charge of finding new lyricists for 「グローブ・エンターブレインズ」. Not a rookie then? 安岡さん has a bit more concrete pedigree, but not much. In 1998 he composed the music to 「回路」 (circuit) which was the ending theme to the anime 「なるたる ~なるたる」. More recently however, he composed and arranged 「月色」 (Moonlight's Radiance) from 安倍なつみ's mini-album 「25~ヴァンサンク~」.

Title

One look at the title and the word that immediately comes to mind is "ballad". Yeah... not quite what I was expecting. More on that in the Musical Style part. But everyone has their idea of what a soulmate is. 「ソウルメイト」 is a little unconventional but coming down to what a soulmate really is, it doesn't really deviate all that much.

Opening Thoughts

Do I believe in soulmates? Sort of. I believe that some people are truly meant to be together, not necessarily romantically but together nonetheless. I think Aya and Miki are two people who were are meant to be together. They've suggested they were husband and wife in their former lives and I'm not going to argue with that. Whatever the mysteries of life, I also believe that there is one person above all others that would fit so perfectly with someone else (like Aya and Miki). However, through the wonders of time, a person's soulmate may have already lived or may not even be born yet. Not everyone gets to meet their soulmate but those who do. Of course, my beliefs may be mistaken but once again, it's impossible to disprove!

ソウルメイト
Soulmate

今回は もうダメかも」と きはらした 女友達
The weeping (girl)friend's face that cried, "That might it it this time"
年下の のいいところ このは してたのに
Despite having spoken of the merits of a younger boyfriend before now

電話もない」とか「素っ気ない」なんて
Stuff like "Not even a call" and "Curt"...
本当うと には どうでもいい そういうものよ
If I'm honest, I don't really care!

ほんのし あともうし のことを じてみると
If you tried trusting him, a little, just a little more
すがる気持ちくらいは るんだけど 恋愛 またあるよきっと
You would know that feeling of reliance
But you'll definitely have something similar
ジョークばす不謹慎? わせるのは 苦手なのB
Am I wrong to joke?
I'm a B-type, not great face-to-face
一緒いてるだけが 友達じゃない! そうよたちは ソウルメイト
Crying together, we're not just friends
That's right! We're soulmates

彼女から しぶりのメール あのから になっていたわ
I'd been worried since that day she sent that mail from the blue
ずいぶんいて でもまだきで 毎日を したんだね
You cried quite a bit but you still liked him and
Went over each day again and again

「バカバカしい」って いた
I heard you talk of "stupidity"
れたようで かったね 意外と タフかもね!?
It's good you got that off your chest
It's surprisingly tough, right!?

でもねし ほんのしは きな気持ち ってるはず
But a little, just a little of that attraction remains I expect
がってみたって お見通しだよ 記憶はすぐ デリート出来ない
That's you whistling in the dark!
You can't just delete your memories
だからは またをする きできで たまらなくなる
That's people fall in love again
You'll go crazy for someone again
恋愛相談はいつでもるよ だからこれからも ソウルメイト
I'll always give you a helping hand in love
That's why we're soulmates forever

ちょっと かったり
He'd be critical
イライラさせられたり
Make you irritated
全然 趣味うけど
Your interests were completely different but
ってるんだ いつもいつも
You always depended on him

ほんのし あともうし のことを じてみると
If you tried trusting him, a little, just a little more
すがる気持ちくらいは るんだけど 恋愛 またあるよきっと
You would know that feeling of reliance
But you'll definitely have something similar
ジョークばす不謹慎? わせるのは 苦手なのB
Am I wrong to joke?
I'm a B-type, not great face-to-face
一緒いてるだけが 友達じゃない! そうよたちは ソウルメイト
Crying together, we're not just friends
That's right! We're soulmates
みちびかれるように
Be guided...

Lyrics and Translation

I wish it was a sign of the times that I find it much easier to understand the Japanese than the Englis but that's not quite the case. The reality is that the English in the song isn't really that great. It's so hard to make out what is being said that the best I can get out is that it's probably something along the lines of 『Don't you wanna, don't you wanna be your always? I don't wanna you cry anymore』 which doesn't make much sense so I think it may have been meant to say something like 『Don't you want me, don't you want me to be your always? I don't want you to cry anymore.』. If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be more than welcome to share because I must have listened to the song 30 times by now but still can't hear it!

This is the first song where we have irregular kanji. 『女友達』 (girlfriend) is made up of the words 『』 (girl) and 『友達』 (friend), just like in English. It's sung as 『友達』 though. 大友さん obviously felt it necessary to add the 『女』 part to add something. This is something that we don't have in Western songs because we're afraid of hidden messages! :P No, that's not it. Why don't we do it? Because we don't have divergent writing systems and the need for ruby, at least not for our own language. For instance, Dean Kay Thompson and Kelly Gordon could have written the song 「That's Life」 with the opening lyric as "C'est la vie!" with ruby over it to say "That's life!" but we just don't swing that way which is why the kanji system is interesting. Technically, it's not actually correct Japanese but kanji carries with it a certain flexibility for this kind of thing. Back to the point... it's important that this friend is also a girlfriend (in the couple sense, not the cheerleader sense) but she is not the narrator's girlfriend. Younger boyfriends... I'm not too sure about this and I haven't been concerned enough to actually look up in detail but I believe a younger boyfriend is, not really a big deal, but a deal in Japan. It's an issue, but not in the sense of it being wrong or some way undesirable. The same kind of deal as writing with a pencil. It's not really weird but people still note it as particular. Is that the strangest comparison you've ever read or what? :) Ah, got a better comparison. Some people don't have any qualms about it while others do, not with others but with themselves. I'm not big on astrology and don't subscribe to that sort of general classification of people * but if there's one that I would accept, it would be the blood-type one because it's personal. But I don't. Regardless, a lot of women won't date men with blood type B (which was the premise of the 2005 South Korean movie 「B형 남자친구」 (Officially translated as 「My Boyfriend is Type-B」)) and blood-type, like relative age, is something you can't (usually) tell through direct observation. Let that be a tip to any guy who is asked their blood-type; don't say B if you want a longer relationship. Those who ask are the ones that believe the system! A lot of words for a speculative theory, right?

The bridge really speaks to me and tells me that the narrator is a hypothetical Aya speaking to a hypothetical Miki. The reason for this is that Aya and Miki are very blunt around each other. Miki tells it as it is around everyone so the narrator could be her speaking (but there's a problem with that which we'll run into later). So "Miki" has been telling "Aya" about what's going on since "something" happened (we'll come back to what this is in the second verse) and what that all comes down to is a whole bunch of apathy from her boyfriend
Spoiler
. ^_^ We'll call him 『元彼』 for ease of reference. There's no better word than "curt" for that part of the translation which neatly sums up how much of a total [insert insult of choice] the boyfriend is being. Sorry if there are any Curts or Kurts reading but blame your parents! Then the part that seals the deal that it's "Aya" in the song... "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"!
<3 I can definitely imagine that scenario in my head (followed by a trip to the 焼肉屋! - explained in the Thoughts and Conclusion part).

The chorus is a load of encouragement, in the vein of being too good for him but instead taking a different perspective: she'd lost her sense of self in him. Because of that, the advice is tailored to making "Miki" her own person once again to get over her loss. I think the first two lines sort of point out how deep she was in because a little more and she would have realised by herself anyway. Then a "plenty more fish in the sea" line. Interesting how 『恋愛』 is 『こと』. Like I said earlier about 『女友達』, this kind of furigana change is technically not correct Japanese. 『恋愛』 is never read as 『こと』 in the real world. However, 『友達』 can imply 『女友達』 and similarly 『こと』 can imply 『恋愛』. By writing it as 『恋愛』, 大友さん is sort of putting "love" in parentheses. With the English translation of "something", the context tells you what that something is, just like in Japanese. Clever, huh? 『恋愛』 in the lyrics just spells it out clearly for those who missed it! "Aya" then goes about lightening the mood with a blood-type joke. Like I said, I'm not a believer but it's big in Japanese society. B-types are supposedly extremely self-centred and typically individualists, hence not being great face-to-face. Miki is an A-type which is why I said the narrator couldn't be her. However, Aya is a B-type but she pretty much debunks that theory straight off. I guess she is sort of self-centred in that she loves herself (wouldn't you if you were her?) but she's extremely sociable. However, she does have a lot of the "good" traits of B-types such as optimism, curiousity, endearment and, most apparent to anyone watching her, energy in abundance. Then the real love line ends the chorus. The way that she sings the word 「ソウルメイト」 is sort of angelic.

The second verse is our "something" that I mentioned earlier. The timeline has moved on since the first verse and bridge and it's a reflection of something that happened in the past; a previously unmentioned girl sent 元彼 a mail which "Aya" took to be the beginning of the end before "Miki" did. 『彼女』 can mean girlfriend but that wouldn't really make much sense in this case. It would have to refer to "Miki" because she was the girlfriend but then that would have meant the mail was sent to "Aya" because she is on her "side", not 元彼's. The reason that doesn't work for me is because soulmates are tied together to the extent that they'd always be in contact so one by nature couldn't send the other a mail "out of the blue" as I've translated it (but really means "after a long time"). That's sort of confusing, I know.

The bridge and chorus after that are psychotherapy... emotional rehabilitation... sort of like learning to walk again after an accident but mental instead. It starts with the hate, then the acceptance then the slow process of removing the sorrow and then eventually when everything has settled, getting on with life and finding a new love.

The people in the middle eight might actually be any of the three characters in the song because Aya and Miki apparently do ship a bit of an ear-bashing at each other and no doubt can sometimes get on each others nerves (such as Aya's life in the slow lane/Miki's hypocritical insistance on tidyness). However, I don't believe soulmates can really be soulmates if they don't share any interests so that's why I believe it's the relationship between "Miki" and her boyfriend. Basically, despite the fact that they didn't really fit each other, as observed by "Aya", they were together and "Miki" got too attached to the wrong man.

Then it's back to the first chorus for some reiteration and then a closing line which is so very hard to translate. ^_^ It's sort of that "Miki" has come to be guided by "Aya" in this situation but that's just my interpretation. Take my hand and walk a while, let you troubles ebb away... :o No that's not some obscure poem. That's just something I made up. ^_^

The song didn't really need all that explanation but I was just absolutely chaining it to Aya and Miki being soulmates! :P

* Is it worth explaining the peculiarity, that I believe in fate but not astrology or anything else like that? Well, for any who were curious: a train coming is one thing, seeing it coming is another... XD A bit extreme but you get the picture.

Musical Style

Rather unexpectedly it's jazz along the lines of 「オシャレ」 but I'm not entirely sure it is jazz. It starts ballady enough but then it's takes few steps up and becomes really sprightly and has many jazz elements. During the verses there's a really jazzy piano piece in the first half then extremely jazzy chords in the second. Also on the jazz theme, the bass is a performed on a good old double bass rather than a bass guitar. Jazz! :( That weird instrument from 「今はレットイットビー」 is back as well. It's really bugging me. I thought it might have been a theramin but how many people actually play those?! Ultimately, it may just be a guitar fed through an effects processor.

The percussion is sounds sharp (membranes pulled tight to give a more abrupt sound) and there's a lot of metal percussion (hi-hat and cymbals) audible over the bass drum. That helps the song skip along because, to my mind at least, sharper treble percussion sounds less like a song is getting bogged down than with soft percussion where the earthy bass echo is more prominent (unless the bass drum is used with a military effect like 「Seven Nation Army」 by White Stripes). Obviously it helps that the beat is quite fast but the bass drum is really quite in comparison to the rest so that plodding sound isn't there.

The solo in the interlude just before the middle eight sounds like a organ of sorts, like those that the Americans use on sports. However, recording organs is a bit of a specialist thing (I doubt many recording studios have an organ just lying around in the corner) so it's probably an electronic sound (ie keyboard or a synthesizer). I like the feel of the solo though. It's cheery, almost like the American sports atmosphere but something different.

After the middle eight there's some late 80's/early 90's computer game music XD I don't know how many people here can remember 「L.E.D Storm」 back in the late 1980's (Amiga 500 version) but the wavy bit of music in the intro of the theme tune sounds a bit like the interlude in 「ソウルメイト」! :o More people are likely to know the pieces that are called 「Prelude」 from several of the 「Final Fantasy」 games though. It's similar to that in that the music flows from low in pitch to high back to low and so on with a million notes but it's probably just me imagining things. :P

Thoughts and Conclusion

This is the real "awww" song of the album but the thing is, this is exactly what most people imagine would happen should Miki break up with her boyfriend! XD Well, a hypothetical boyfriend. 庄司さん is clearly not an idiot so there's no way he'd be so cold if they broke-up. I imagine he'd be the traumatised one but hopefully nobody will ever get the chance to prove me wrong, not because I don't want to be wrong but because I'd rather things move on without moving backwards in terms of Miki's career, that is be allowed to continue as an idol with a boyfriend. 松田聖子 managed to get married and continue to be successful so why not? This isn't about Miki's career though.

I saw one account that suggested that this was the grown up version of 「友情~カルビ~」, the coupling song for 「がつけば あなた」. It's not a bad way of thinking about it in truth. In 「友情~上カルビ~」, the protagonist is getting over a break up by being with her best friend over 焼肉 and promising that should her friend have a break up herself, it's 焼肉 all the way! It's no secret at all that both Aya and Miki love 焼肉 (although 杉浦希美 (née 辻希美) and 田中れいな probably have a more famous love than Aya) so it's a none-too-subtle hint that it was a hypothetical portrayal of the girls by つんく♂. The other song that was associated was 「友情問題」, the coupling for 「ね~え?」. That song was more about how the girls' relationship resets to a stage of amicability through anything which was again, an observation of the girls by つんく♂. Aya and Miki have said that they have arguments but they react like boys in that they don't take things as personally as girls (hence the die-hard feminists still campaigning for parity these days). At the end of the day all the negative stuff between them is water off a duck's back. 「ソウルメイト」 is about two girls who are tied so closely that they're not simply friends which is exactly Aya and Miki's relationship. :) XD :)

Despite all that, this will probably be the song that sticks least in people's minds. ^_^ It was one of two songs not to feature in the 「ダブル レインボウ」 concert which is a royal shame. Rather than thinking it has anything to do with management wanting to keep references to Miki to a minimum (I'm not quite that cynical), I think it may have been something to do with the strain the song would place on her jaw because they don't want a repeat of last year's cancellations. But then again there's a case not to perform one of 「宇宙でLa Ta Ta」 and 「I know」 to make room for it. Actually, seeing as there were two songs omitted from the concert, replacing both of those would have been better. After all, the tour is 「ダブル レインボウ」 so logically all the songs from 「ダブル レインボウ」 should be in it, right? I don't understand. UFA are quite enigmatic at times. It doesn't stop it sounding like it will top 「進化季節・・・」 though. But yes... a song about Aya and Miki.

I don't have anywhere near enough Aya and Miki pictures (you can never have enough!) but here are a selection of the soulmates, just to emphasize the point!

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image
Posted Image


Romaji (aka anti-Japanese)

Konkai wa Mou dame kamo to Nakiharashita Tomodachi no kao
Toshishitano Kare no ii tokoro Kono mae wa Hanashiteta no ni

Denwa mo nai toka sokkenai nante
Honto no koto iu to Watashi ni wa Dou de mo ii Sou iu mono yo

Hon no sukoshi Ato mou sukoshi Kare no koto wo Shinjitemiru to
Sugaru kimochi kurai wa Wakaru n da kedo Nita you na koto Mata aru yo kitto
Jooku tobasu watashi fukinshin Awaseru no wa Nigate na no B gata
Issho ni naiteru dake ga Tomodachi ja nai Sou yo watashitachi wa Sourumeito

Kanojo kara Hisashiburi no meeru Ano hi kara Ki ni natteita wa
Zuibun naite Demo mada suki de Mainichi wo Kurikaeshita n da ne

Bakabakashii tte Hanashi wo kiita
Fukkireta you de Yokatta ne Igai to Tafu kamo ne

Demo ne sukoshi Hon no sukoshi wa Suki na kimochi Nokotteru hazu
Tsuyogattemita tte Omitooshi da yo Kioku wa sugu Deriito dekinai
Dakara hito wa Mata koi wo suru Suki de Suki de Tamaranaku naru
Ren'ai soudan wa itsu de mo noru yo Dakara kore kara mo Sourumeito

Chotto Kuchi ga warukattari
Iraira saseraretari
Zenzen Shumi mo chigau kedo
Tayotteru n da Itsu mo itsu mo

Hon no sukoshi Ato mou sukoshi Kare no koto wo Shinjitemiru to
Sugaru kimochi kurai wa Wakaru n da kedo Nita you na koto Mata aru yo kitto
Jooku tobasu watashi fukinshin Awaseru no wa Nigate na no B gata
Issho ni naiteru dake ga Tomodachi ja nai Sou yo watashitachi wa Sourumeito


Posted Image


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"Talk my hand and walk a while, let's you troubles ebb away... "
I think you meant "take" o_O

It's a real shame that this song is not on the concert T___T

And ...
"「ソウルメイト」 is about two girls who are tied so closely that they're not simply friends which is exactly Aya and Miki's relationship. :good: :P XD "
3 :P is not enough XD

Make it :P <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 x999999999999999999 XD

"Talk my hand and walk a while, let's you troubles ebb away... "
I think you meant "take" o_O

Oops! I was running late and that was the last thing I typed before I pressed submit so that it would be up on October 31st because I knew I'd be out past midnight. XD Good job I have my trusty 後輩 to proof-read for me! :good:

It's a real shame that this song is not on the concert T___T

I was disappointed but it's still a really good concert to listen to. Next GAM concert maybe? I think I said to you before the GAM tour that 「友情問題」 would have been a perfect duet but it was used in 「進化季節・・・」. 「ソウルメイト」 probably would be perfect... :P

"「ソウルメイト」 is about two girls who are tied so closely that they're not simply friends which is exactly Aya and Miki's relationship. XD :P :P "
3 <3 is not enough XD

Make it <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 :P XD x999999999999999999 XD

Believe me I tried! XD IPB complained that I had too many emoticons so I took a few out of the earlier bits to have at least 3 hearts! I even had to remove one from Aya's voice sounding angelic! XD
thanks for sharing those beautiful picture...

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