When age holds no boundaries
February 13th, 2009
Firstly, I wish everyone a happy Chinese new year. I wish everyone good luck, good health and prosperity.
When I was a kid, I could hang from bars even after eating a sandwich which inevitably caused indigestion. But indigestion or any blister couldn’t force me to not play on the playground…except if I wasn’t wearing a hat. Then I’d get schooled by some teacher to tell me to play in the shade. Funny enough today (two weeks ago), I was at the beach with some mates then we decided to go to the nearest primary school because my mate wanted a “workout” (don’t ask, I don’t even know). Realising that you’re not 8 again came quite quickly as I fell from the bars after four rungs. My friend discovered he was quite bigger than when he was young when he got stuck going through tyres. Nevertheless, the stuff we did back when we were kids, we couldn’t do at our age. While the playground wasn’t built for 19 year olds, our physique and age weren’t on par with our ages a few years back.
Perhaps the amount of physical exercise is disproportional to your age as well as a number of things. But one thing that comes to mind which isn’t disproportional to your age is your favourite bands…well to a point perhaps. I mean I probably couldn’t listen to some heavy music like Dir en grey when I’m like 60 since I’ll probably think it’s vile and should only live in the depths of the planet. Same could be said about rap, soon these kids who like this kinda noise broadcasted on the radio would move onto more mature likes of music. But think about it, bands like Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin or X Japan bring crowds of the older generation to their concerts these days. Could the same happen to our generation if our favourite bands did one last concert in the future? While I can’t see myself dancing to Dschinghis Khan to my children, I would love to listen to Berryz in the future just to reminisce on the stuff I listened to back then and then think “Hmmm, how much heroin did I inject into myself when I decided to listen to these girls?”
Chatmonchy’s latest single; “Last Love Letter” pictures the girls 41 years from today performing “Last Chatmonchy” or rather, their last concert. While it pictures the girls in their older years performing a concert, it also shows the crowd aged as well. The obvious hilarity of seeing elderly people jumping around to a pop/rock concert and doing things which…we, the younger generation would do before/during a concert is just priceless. Despite me laughing, if there was a concert just like that with nobody younger than us to alienate us, I would probably do exactly the same…but preferably less jumping as it would probably make my knees cave in and possibly the loss of the use of my legs.
But another thing that strikes me is how the concert in 41 years time symbolises the unity and strength of these girls to stay together as a band. I doubt this was one of their crazy ideas, but after watching “Somaru Yo” and understanding their background, it’s not hard to picture these girls doing such a thing. But it’s not just the concert which symbolises their friendship and their unity; their unity of their hands, them walking together, them joking with each other, their relationships with other people’s families…it’s all there in the open showing how tight these girls really are. Their fanbase may have diminished, their bones may be aching of arthritis, their teeth worn out but they can still rock it out, physically pending but definitely in spirit.
I wonder if this is the proper timing where people say, if you put your mind to it, you’ll achieve it.
While the name of the song “Last Love Letter” produces vivid images of a calm love ballad, it’s anything but calm. The girls of Chatmonchy have delivered a surprisingly short but tasteful yet typical of their style for a name of a song that breathes images of sorrow and grief. Kumiko’s creative drum fills throughout the song shows her depth and understanding of her accompanied instrument and definitely the highlight in this song. The quick fire fills during the introduction signalled this wasn’t just another love ballad but it was going to be an adrenaline filled love ballad which is far from the norm.
But unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a step-up from “Somaru Yo”. “Somaru Yo” was just amazing. Just the first few seconds were more than an indication that these girls want to move away from the poppy harder rock and come back to their “Chatmonchy has come” roots. “Somaru Yo” digs deep shown by the increase in dynamic of Ecchan’s voice as it approaches and throughout the chorus, which is true in “Last Love Letter” but to me it doesn’t hold as much of a sentimental factor as “Somaru Yo” does. “Last Love Letter” has a pulsating chorus which oozes out in energy but the verses are a direct contrast. While the energy of the verses are substantially lacking, it symbolises a difference between the younger and older Chatmonchy. The characteristics of the chorus clearly relate to the younger chatmonchy or rather, the younger generation in general. In contrast, the verses feel more laid back, much like how the elderly are like.
I’m starting to feel this song was purposely made for this PV. While “Last Love Letter” is immensely more creative than “Somaru Yo”, the briefness of the song is quite a letdown as the song had a lot of potential but sigh…
Whether it’s the birth of spring or death in winter, the spirit remains the same.
Chatmonchy are also due for their third album this March entitled “Kohuhaku”.
Tags: chatmonchy
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