富士山下

Recently, I started listening to Eason Chan’s songs (influenced by Pop Pop Music’s blog). Some of them are pretty good stuff, especially the Mandarin albums.

Then I came upon the song 富士山下 (fu si shan ha; At the Foot of Mt Fuji).

As I was searching for the lyrics, I stumbled upon this site:
jessemok.mysinablog.com

攔路雨偏似雪花　飲泣的你凍嗎
這風褸我給你磨到有襟花
連調了職也不怕　怎麼始終牽掛
苦心選中今天想車你回家

原諒我不再送花　傷口應要結疤
花瓣鋪滿心裡墳場才害怕
如若你非我不嫁　彼此終必火化
一生一世等一天需要代價

＊誰都只得那雙手　靠擁抱亦難任（為）你擁有
　要擁有必先懂失去怎接受
　曾沿著雪路浪遊　為何為好事淚流
　誰能憑愛意要富士山私有

　何不把悲哀感覺　假設是來自你虛構
　試管裡找不到它染污眼眸
　前塵硬化像石頭　隨緣地拋下便逃走
　我絕不罕有　往街裡繞過一周　我便化烏有＊

情人節不要說穿　只敢撫你髮端
這種姿態可會令你更心酸
留在汽車裡取暖　應該怎麼規勸
怎麼可以將手腕忍痛劃損

人活到幾歲算短　失戀只有更短
歸家需要幾里路誰能預算
忘掉我跟你恩怨　櫻花開了幾轉
東京之旅一早比一世遙遠
Repeat（＊）＊

你還嫌不夠 我把這陳年風褸　送贈你解咒

The curious blogger decided to dig into the meaning of the lyrics.
I’ve always been a little intrigued by the meaning of this song, and I find this song to be quite poetic and deep (well, sort of…). However, I was never curious enough to try to interpret the meaning of the song.

The blogger did a pretty good job deciphering the meaning. I find it amusing that it sparked a long discussion in the comments section with some people putting in their opinions and a few slamming the song for being a complicated burst of fart. LOL!

And one dude even commented that a certain spot at the foot of Mt Fuji is a place where many broken hearts end their misery by taking their own lives. This little info makes the song even more interesting because it gives the song some context to understand it better.

There are songs that are very literal. And there are song that are metaphorical. And there are some that are poetic. Some even weave between between being literal and metaphorical and poetic from line to line… or even more canggih: a combination of all. This make explaining a song very difficult.

Such as Desolation Row by Bob Dylan than a Mainland Chinese friend asked me to help interpret. It was talking about racism and 3 men were lynched in the process. I would have to understand what the context of the song is based on. Why certain well known characters (e.g. Einstein, Robin Hood, Cinderella) are used in the song to represent certain group of people. How the event unfolds in the song. My gawd, you literally have to have a wide range of knowledge to even begin to appreciate how well (or ridiculous) it’s written.
I couldn’t even explain to my friend half of what the song is trying to convey.

BTW, credit to the lyrics writer 林夕. The dude is a mad genius. =D

The Idea Of North in Alexis Bistro

Absolutely fantabulous!
We had such a great time in Alexis Bistro last night. They are way better than they sound in radio or the CD. You guys who missed out due to some lame-ass excuses — rain, too late at night, girl not coming & what not — you really should have come.

They dropped by Alexis Bistro before heading out to Penang Jazz Festival this weekend. My initial plan was to journey north to Penang and hear them out. But the plan fell apart due to lack of participation… a blessing in disguise! One and a half hours of The Idea Of North (compared to 30+ minutes in Penang Jazz Fest)! Ahhhh… pure musical orgasm!

The Idea Of North in action. Nick (did I get his name right?) singing the melody part.
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By the time we arrived at 9.40pm, the place was already pretty packed. The seats were all booked, so we were left standing in some awkward corner behind a partition board. At least we had quite a good view. They were very funny and entertaining, their antics and all that. They crowd couldn’t get enough of ’em! We couldn’t get enough of ’em! I couldn’t get enough of ’em!
Did I say they were real good? Shame on you for not attending.

Some high ISO photos…
(the host didn’t allow me to take photos near the stage, so I curi-curi tangkap gambar kat belakang. Heh heh!)
[To photo gear-heads, all these are D70s at ISO1000. You don’t see any noise, eh? =) ]

2 crazy fans: Henry + me. Photo by another not-so-crazy fan: Sear Haur.
They’re really friendly. Photo taken during their break time.
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That’s Nick serenading a pretty young lady from the crowd. In fact, he used the name of the lady in the song. That lucky girl…
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I forgot what song was it. But I can assure you it was good.
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This part was really funny. The boys were simulating the trombone. Then Nick’s forgot to pull back his ‘trombone’ and went ‘out of tune’. Andrew (in pin strips) helped pushed Nick’s imaginary ‘trombone’ back into position… making the ‘piiiiiiyekk’ broken-record sound. The crowd went crazy! Really hilarious.
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Nick was singing a song about going to the pub/bar/club and got rejected by an ugly fat lady. Andrew was doing the electric bass guitar sound. While the girls were doing the ‘angklung’ sound when Nick reached the ROTFLMAO chorus. Bwahahahah!
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It was almost the end. Couldn’t make out a single word they sang. But no matter, since they admitted even they themselves are not really sure they pronounced all the words correctly. It was a very fast song with 2000 words. Each of them got a chance to do their thang in between the song. That was Andrew doing his thang — simulating the cello/double bass.

In between those photos, there were other even more hilarious moments and superb performance. Aku terlalu asyik menghayati persembahan mereka, so I just didn’t bother to take any pictures. Siapa suruh engkau tak pergi?

If they drop by KL again next year, please don’t miss it. It’s really worth it, even if I had to pay 25 Ringgit to stand behind a partition board.

Let’s go to Laundry Bar this Thursday

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Rock the Vote! Have you registered to VOTE?
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There’s a local indie gig in Laundry Bar, The Curve this Thursday… Moonshine‘s the name.

I’ve been following the updates of Moonshine for quite some time. But I have not managed to attend any of the gig. Going there alone is kinda weird.

The guy who came up with this gig is Reza Salleh. I heard him sing in one of the Songwriters’ Round (bad idea to go there alone). He’s good. And… his new single is for sale this coming Moonshine, which is on…

Thursday (8 Feb 07)
9.30pm
Laundry Bar, The Curve
It’s free (but I think need to buy a drink lah)

featuring
Neomedicus
Zach Tay
Ash Nair
Reza Salleh
more info, go to moonshinekl.blogspot.com.

I don’t want to go there alone. I’m hoping someone will teman me there. The more the merrier! Drop me a comment. Or better yet, SMS/call me (faster).

Yours Sincerely,
the MUsicFan.

P.S. Yoke Yen, Grace & Julie… you guys wanna meet up? Yes, you do! ;p

Broken Bridges

BROKEN BRIDGES is a big musical with an even bigger story of friendship, love and dreams. This charming humorous and touching musical begins in 1950s Ipoh. The protagonist, Ming, seeks to chart his own destiny despite his father’s plans for him. His best friend, Leong, is the obedient son, perfectly content with life in a small town. The stark contrast between these two characters begs the questions: ‘ What’s wrong with the old ways?’ and conversely, ‘What’s wrong with the new ways?’

Broken Bridges The Musical is going to Ipoh!
It’ll be staged in Taman Budaya Perak, Ipoh; on Nov 24-26.
More details here in KLPAC.com.

I missed the one in KL. [sorry Ky-gen]. Yes, the script was written by Teng Ky-gen and Chuang Yik. Both were UKM students. Those who stayed in Keris Mas, UKM would know who Ky-gen is.

Reviews for the show was very good. Darn that I missed it the last time. I’m going to take a bus to Ipoh to watch it. However, I don’t want to go alone. Anyone interested to go to Ipoh with me? Let me know ASAP! Most probably, I’ll go to the show on the 26th Nov (Sunday) afternoon. [Pan, you are expected to go with me, since you are in Ipoh anyway! Hehe!]

Signing off,
the Artsy-Fartsy Fan.