This straight woman who has zero interest in marriage herself has been giddy, smiling, and crying all day from sheer happiness. Today the world became a bit less sucky!
Bit of a silly post while it's fresh.
It's about the most brutal tip-of-my-tongue loop I've ever been caught in.
I essentially see every major Kpop release (and a ton of other stuff) as it happens for the purposes of maintaining kpoppy. Every once in a while there will be some riff or melody that recalls some other song I've heard. Usually I can place it quickly or it's too common to matter. Then this happened:
On May 11th, Kpop legend BoA released the MV for Kiss My Lips:
And a bunch of factoids are in the BoA folder. The MV track stands out compared to a lot of other stuff right now. Interesting guitar and details. I consider BoA to be one of the best stage performers in Kpop ever, despite not loving the tone of her voice and her styling choices and how much she has changed her face since debut and how this choreo is way sub-par for what she's capable of. The background lighting reminds me of JYJ's Backseat... particularly Junsu's scenes. Which makes me think of when BoA supported a tweet that lashed out at Junsu post-lawsuit and how that made me lose respect for her outside of performance. And the heavy use of projections like Ra.D's As Always I enjoyed so much last year and how frequently they're used now. The backup dancers are the team that also worked on TVXQ's Spellbound and JYP's recent and ridiculous Who's Your Mama and they're fuckin' awesome. Best backup team in the industry.
And this is the kind of narrative that runs through my head for anything Kpop related because I've just been invested for that long. The Kpop folders are currently very deep and accessible. AND NONE OF THAT IS RELEVANT.
Because the part that made me glare at the screen, brain wandering somewhere else entirely, is the first TWO SECONDS OF THE VIDEO. That little synthesized crescendo kinda thing. I have no idea what that is. It's the vibration after banging on a piano sounding thing.
And I damn near lost my mind, because I know that sound. It is the opening two seconds to some other song I know. It's.... eh... by.... uh... OMG... WHAT IS THAT SONG?!
And for THREE WEEKS I could not think of the song or the artist or the context of it for the life of me.
I knew:
It was a song I had heard many times
I liked it very much
I could not recall any part of the melody or lyrics
It might be a female vocalist
The sound wouldn't be exact, but close
And I kept getting a very subtle brain-nudge that it was related to Jrock
THREE WEEKS of this thing ruminating in my brain every day.
And all I really had to go on was that feeling every time I listened to the first seconds of the BoA song. That instinctive feeling when you have a playlist running in the background and the first notes of a song you like come on and catch your attention and perk you up.
Was it actually Jrock? Was it a Kpop song? Would my parents have any idea if I played it for them? What if I posted it to reddit? I WAS THIS DESPERATE.
A few days ago I was up way later than I should have been. Up through the night into the morning. I played the BoA sound again at like 7am to my very sleep-deprived brain. Again that feeling of knowing with certainty, but unable to grasp anything concrete. Again wracking my brain for Jrock artists. Was it something Miyavi? Or maybe An Cafe? Or... still seems like it should be a female vocal... but who would that be? That wouldn't be Jrock. Fiona Apple? Or A Fine Frenzy? Or... ?
Even listened through a bunch of my itunes library. No luck.
But in one moment, something clicked with Japanese and female vocalist. That felt right.
A pop artist then? Ayumi? Nakashima? Namie?........ UTADA?!!!
Utada hit some bundle of nerves that made me consider briefly that I was thinking of Passion with it's weird reversed audio.
But I think what it really did is pull up just the right folder from the deep recesses. The folder for Japanese female vocalist rock/pop from a certain time period before I grew an interest in Kpop at all. The only female Jrock artist I listened to at the time.
And it was like I could physically feel when the neurons lined up.
ZWEI. IT'S FUCKING ZWEI.
Then everything made sense. Unable to recall specific lyrics because they were Japanese. Female vocalist, but not very feminine. Jrock, but obscure and outside of the mainstream. So obscure that I doubt anyone could have helped me with it.
Quickly shuffled through the handful of Zwei songs I knew... Dragon, Denny, Hikari, Fake Face...WATASHIGAI...... YESSSSSSSSS.
And there it was. That sound. The opening seconds of the song.
SWEET SWEET RELIEF.
So old and obscure that this is the best available Youtube video.
After three weeks I was thinking I was completely delusional and hopeless.
But it was motherfucking Zwei.
It has probably been literally 10 years since I last heard this song. Or very close to it.
So obscure.
Made it more satisfying to finally make the connection in all that obscurity. ROFL.
And I checked out my old favorite of theirs Dragon to see if it held up.
Dude, still such a jam.
29 is a proper adult age.
I am not a proper adult.
:/
I had recently found this old drip/spray watercolor thing I made 20 YEARS AGO. One of those grade school art projects that I always kept packed safely somewhere because I liked it so much. Since I was about 8 or 9 when I did the drippies, it felt appropriate to make a little self-portrait for my 29th and fuse the two.
My real hair was nearing ass-length. Overdue for a cut. Had my mom hack off about 7 inches today.
Felt like a good birthday thing to do.
