Mugi Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I've always been curious about this, but haven't ever actually brought it up to anyone. Ever since I was a kid, I've always liked Japanese music just as much, if not more (in some cases) than English music. I think it really started with FMA's second opening, "Ready Steady Go". I mean, I liked other songs before that, but I think that's where I really started to get into it. Maybe it's because it's another language, and that in and of itself was fascinating to me as a kid, and it just stuck with me all these years? Or would it be weird to say that I can still feel the emotions put into the songs, despite not understanding what they are actually saying? It's really making me want to learn the language, and I think it would be the biggest source of my motivation, even more so than VN's. I think being able to understand a whole 'nother cultures massive library of music would be more amazing than anything I could ever read or watch. BookwormOtaku and Erogamer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleshogun Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Not really. I mean even without subtitle, I think the tune and voice is the one that you should enjoy imo. Although the Japanese music that I enjoy mostly from translated VN Opening anyway. For example euphoria OP, which as I was said several times the violin remind me of Shimomura Yoko, and yes I realized the premise for euphoria is very messed up to said it lightly. About FMA, I used to enjoy all of the opening from Brotherhood, and I think the first OP is the most memorable to me just because I hear it back when I had watched it once on television, although for the best I think 3rd Opening. 2nd OP is not too good imo. And yes I think I prefer Brotherhood over 1st series, although of course I would not hate anyone who like first series, because 1st series also had some charms for the fan and good point too. Before some of you turn this thread to FMA discussion (Sorry, couldn't resist my memory about FMA OP and I kinda want to tell my story here), once again it's not weird if you like Japanese music without understand anything, although if you understand it there would be also plus too. And come to think of it Symphonic Rain song is very enjoyable, if you ask me whether I'd ever heard other than VN OP song. I also used to enjoy Fairy Tail 7th OP, too. That's all from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 not really, I like some korean songs and I don't even know how to say hello in korean, I love rammsteins and I don't understand what they are saying but I still sing the songs xDAlso if you are going to learn Japanese to understand lyrics bear in mind that is a really difficult thing (depending on the lyric) most of the time lyrics don't make sense or are phrased in weird ways that you wouldn't normally encounter, I still have hard times understanding some lyrics. For example the other day I wanted to translate this song and at one point I gave up, just as the english parts don't make much sense the japanese parts don't either.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NSgWSxHIYPraise it. The stream blood is sacred liquor.Only the death is supremacy of beauty.砕けてゆく雑音(ｵﾄ)に 重なるレクイエム救いの空は深紅(ｱｶ)く渦巻く惨禍と翳(ｶｹﾞ)に殉(ﾄﾅ)う 太陽さえももう時間(ﾄｷ)を刻まずに ただ緩やかな悪夢を...キミノ唄ガ 嬲(ﾅﾌﾞ)るatonality 衝(ﾂ)キ刺サル堕ちて逝く 慄(ｵﾉﾉ)き叫び崩れ(Deus)終焉の果て (Deum)最誕の声 暗黙の黙示録運命を咎(ﾄｶﾞ)める時間はない(Dei)怒りの日には (Dies)下されるだろう歓喜と嘆き 全て君の掌(ﾃ)に 委ねられたdedicate, The scream to be frightened is the dearwarble.Melody that Doesn't get tired.裂けてゆく心臓(ｺｺﾛ)に 絡んだモノフォ二―歪んだ現実は漆黒(ｸﾛ)く煩い賛歌と祈り唱(ﾄﾅ)う 偽善者たちよ縋(ｽｶﾞ)る術しか知らずに 与えられたホスティアキミノ声ガ 舐(ﾈﾌﾞ)ルaccarezzevole 抉(ｴｸﾞ)ラレル狂いだす 戦慄(ﾜﾅﾅ)き怯え踠(ﾓｶﾞ)く(Deus)罪の傷跡 (Deum)救いの宴 沈黙の瞬間(ﾄｷ)純白(ｼﾛ)く気まぐれな散鬱(ｻﾝｳﾂ)で戯(ﾀﾜﾑﾚ)る(Dei)怒りの日から (Dies)何かが変わる？賛美と懺悔(ｻﾞﾝｹﾞ) 繰り返すmaso-egoを ブチ壊せ！廻りだす 近づく闇と光(Deus)天使の救い (Deum)悪魔の誘い 審判の時刻(ﾄｷ)きたり暴虐に裁かれるくらいなら(Dei)自分でこの身 (Dies)引き裂くだろう洗礼と罠"今"がある限り 容赦はない堕ちて逝く 慄(ｵﾉﾉ)き叫び崩れ(Deus)終焉の果て (Deum)最誕の声 暗黙の黙示録運命を咎(ﾄｶﾞ)める時間はない(Dei)怒りの日には (Dies)下されるだろう歓喜と嘆き 全て君の掌(ﾃ)に 委ねられた Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronIsCrunchy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) I know pretty fragmented Japanese, and yet the range of emotions that I can feel when I listen to artists such as Gackt, Buck-Tick and Yanagi Nagi is practically indescribable. With that being said, if your motivation for learning Japanese will come out of music, do it :sachi: Regardless of where it comes from, motivation is motivation is motivation.With bands like Dir en Grey, understanding the lyrics can bring a whole new dimension to the music (albeit quite frequently a terrifying one), whereas is your thing is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu then I really don't think a knowledge of the language matters.ポンポンポン！ Edited November 12, 2015 by AaronIsCrunchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Music is music, after all. Not really needed to understand text to like or dislike the song itself. For example I liked Rammstein when I was in college, but I know dunno, maybe 10 words in German. So songs are all about how you like the sound, text itself is usually not so important (as in other case classical poetry with music would top the all charts :)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melo4496 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I don't think that's weird (because I was the same lol). Se---veral years ago I started with memorizing the lyrics of Dan Detective School's OP without knowing what it means. Then I continued to memorize and sing OP's I love such as Special A Class, Ouran HSHC, Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn, Shugo Chara, etc. What drove me to do this was the uniqueness of their language and music, and I think it's cool to be able to sing them.If you want to learn japanese for understanding songs, you can strengthen your (audial) vocab (and maybe grammar as well) through anime. The thing is that, instead of concentrating on just reading the subtitle and watching the scenes, you should focus a lot more on listening to the dialogues of the characters. Doing this made me understand japanese songs and love them more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbus Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 It's not weird at all.I'm particularly fond of instrumental music, especially that from countries like Japan and China. That music has no lyrics whatsoever yet I can still feel the emotion behind the songs and their performers. Music like this is a language in and of itself so there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy music with another spoken language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I like techno but I don't understand the wub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebhra Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I dont know most of japanisu lyrics, but i still like songs, vocal is just a part of music, i dont really care about what it means (in most cases) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Music knows no borders. Not knowing what the song is about means nothing, the raw emotions you get from them are much more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 No, I have a bunch of Glay on my mp3 player as well as tracks to various Ah My Goddess shows. I'd actually love suggestions for more J-Rock to listen to. My natural assumption is that most artists sing about normal things anyway, so I don't often worry about the lyrics as much as the music and the delivery of the lyrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverLi Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If you aren't an English native speaker you had this dilemma when you where young. YOu don't understand English but you like the song. Two of my favorite songs when I was young was The Offspring - The kid´s aren't alright and Bloodhound Gang - The bad touch. When I realised what they were about I laughed. So it is nothing special. If you enjoy the music and voice it is more than enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If you aren't an English native speaker you had this dilemma when you where young. YOu don't understand English but you like the song. Two of my favorite songs when I was young was The Offspring - The kid´s aren't alright and Bloodhound Gang - The bad touch. When I released what they were about I laughed. So it is nothing special. If you enjoy the music and voice it is more than enough.I can see laughing at "The Bad Touch" but "The Kids Aren't Alright?" You know the song's about a person noticing how things went wrong with his childhood friends, right? It's one of The Offspring's more serious songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverLi Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If you aren't an English native speaker you had this dilemma when you where young. YOu don't understand English but you like the song. Two of my favorite songs when I was young was The Offspring - The kid´s aren't alright and Bloodhound Gang - The bad touch. When I released what they were about I laughed. So it is nothing special. If you enjoy the music and voice it is more than enough.I can see laughing at "The Bad Touch" but "The Kids Aren't Alright?" You know the song's about a person noticing how things went wrong with his childhood friends, right? It's one of The Offspring's more serious songs.Yes I know that. That's the funny part because you don't give a damn about it if you don't understand it. If it sounds good you like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If you aren't an English native speaker you had this dilemma when you where young. YOu don't understand English but you like the song. Two of my favorite songs when I was young was The Offspring - The kid´s aren't alright and Bloodhound Gang - The bad touch. When I released what they were about I laughed. So it is nothing special. If you enjoy the music and voice it is more than enough.I can see laughing at "The Bad Touch" but "The Kids Aren't Alright?" You know the song's about a person noticing how things went wrong with his childhood friends, right? It's one of The Offspring's more serious songs.Yes I know that. That's the funny part because you don't give a damn about it if you don't understand it. If it sounds good you like it.Gotcha, I misunderstood what you were laughing about then, it wasn't the song itself.It's funny, even in your native language you can miss the actual meaning of the lyrics until you're told or get older. When I was a kid I always thought "She-Bop" was just a catchy dance song. It's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DimDito Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I'm pretty sure a very huge fraction of international weebos have succumbed to this situation. It's normal. A little tip though, understanding the lyrics to the song can sometimes make you love it even more. It's also a nice tool for learning Japanese and understanding grammar can make the song stick to you quicker. And you can sing the song correctly in your shower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebhra Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) I'm pretty sure a very huge fraction of international weebos have succumbed to this situation. It's normal. A little tip though, understanding the lyrics to the song can sometimes make you love it even more. It's also a nice tool for learning Japanese and understanding grammar can make the song stick to you quicker. And you can sing the song correctly in your shower.This is the only thing what matters Edited November 12, 2015 by Zebhra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkasmus Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 No, that's not wierd.There are also a lot of people who like to listen to english music without understanding a single word (including myself before I learned the language). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyssal Monkey Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Nope, not at all. The vocals is just another aspect of the music composition. I rest my case with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeruleanGamer Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 The best songs don't need lyrics to make an impact to your heart. This is why I prefer instrumental music over songs with lyrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
storyteller Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Personally, I can't quite empathize, but I know plenty of people who like songs they can't understand the lyrics to, so I imagine it's supposed to be pretty normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Personally, I can't quite empathize, but I know plenty of people who like songs they can't understand the lyrics to, so I imagine it's supposed to be pretty normal.If it wasn't normal, R.E.M. would never have made it.Oooooooh, any good Japanese rock bands you can recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shimo Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) That's perfectly normal. Music is music; there's nothing strange about enjoying the sound of a melody in a given language without necessarily understanding the contents.In fact, I find that not understanding the language of a song you're listening to makes it easier to concentrate...once I got closer to fluent in Japanese, I found that listening to songs with lyrics became more distracting than motivating. I keep thinking about what they're singing and can't write in English! Edited November 12, 2015 by Shimo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atorq Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Absolutely not, personally I don't care if the lyrics are about fucking horses, killing old ladies or mowing the lawn, if it soothes my ear it's good music. Of course good lyrics can make a good song better but you will create no masterpiece with only good lyrics, melody is key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okami Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 It is completely normal to enjoy songs even if you don't understand words and put your own meaning into lyrics based on how music sounds to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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