"Treading through thorns and bitterness to find peace / Treading through the wilderness, my feet are muddy... Ah starry / Accompany me on the night walk to give me light / Ah starlight leads the way / The words of the wind listen gently / With enthusiasm / I want to find the ideal / The ideal is peace"
At the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Shinji Tanimura served as the ambassador for Japan promotion of the World Expo and sang his famous work "Star" at the opening ceremony. Today, the beloved Japanese singer has set foot in the stars. It is reported that on October 8, Shinji Tanimura died of illness at the age of 74.
In 2017, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of his acting career, he held a concert at the Shanghai Grand Theatre to express his good wishes for the friendship between China and Japan for generations to come. This article was originally published on the cover of the Sunday Glow-in-the-Dark Cup in June 2017. We are confident that he and his singing voice will not be forgotten.
A chasing light hit the side of the stage and shrouded an empty chair. The prelude to "The Corner of the Restaurant" sounded, and on the other side of the stage, Shinji Tanimura, a Japanese national treasure musician wearing a suit and silver hair, picked up the microphone and said: "Next, I will sing a set of narrative love songs for everyone..."
"Narrative Love Song" is the singer-songwriter's unique view of music. On the evening of June 1, at the "Shanghai Station Concert to Commemorate the 45th Anniversary of the Normalization of Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Relations - 2017 Tanimura Shinji Performing Career" held at the Grand Theater, the 69-year-old musician "explained" the ins and outs of creating this song at the beginning of each track by chatting with the audience.
That night, his fans showed up on the beach. Regardless of age or gender, only when Shinjifu Tanimura appeared and the prelude to his masterpieces such as "Star" and "Flower" sounded, the audience cheered to salute the singer, and then listened quietly...
The day after the concert, Shinji Tanimura sat in front of reporters and gave an exclusive interview to this newspaper -
Songs that tell stories move people the most
A group of five "narrative love songs" section began, and the audience erupted into applause. This paragraph implies a pattern. Tanimura connects the ups and downs of love with the woman's mood and the man's perspective, just like a love short film.
"When you sing 'Restaurant Corner,' you see an empty chair and inevitably look forward to it, am I waiting for someone important?" He continued: "The back of the chair once left the warm breath of the lover sitting on, and now it may be cold..."
At the time of this statement, it was the day after the concert. He sat in front of reporters for an exclusive interview, wearing a well-fitting dark suit, a brooch pinned to a soprano symbol and a bright yellow scarf. He spoke in a soft, slow voice. If you don't prick up your ears to tell carefully, his voice may even be muffled by the wind of the indoor air conditioner. This kind of expression is as romantic as the "narrative love song" on stage. His style formation, influenced by French chansons, "narrated songs, which move the heart the most." ”
What moves people is not only the way he expresses and sings, but also his subtle observations about music and life: "For me, music is the same as life, music is like breathing—you don't think it exists, but in fact it is such an important existence." Therefore, even the concert repertoire, choreography, lighting, etc., were planned and supervised by himself.
The show is divided into three segments. EXCEPT FOR THE SECOND PARAGRAPH, WHICH RETRACES HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THE ROCK BAND ALICE, THE FIRST AND THIRD PARAGRAPHS ARE BOTH NARRATIVE LOVE SONGS, THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE SONGS IN THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ARE MORE POPULAR AND MOVING. Among them is "Flower", which was covered by Leslie Cheung as "Crossing Together". When Leslie Cheung's side face was projected on the entire canopy, the audience sighed. When his masterpiece "Star" sounded, the sky was decorated with stars and lit up the theater.
In fact, he said, the repertoire is also arranged according to the order of life ups and downs and the emotions of ups and downs. The first part naturally has the hesitation and ambition at the beginning of "Boyhood"'s life, and finally there will be a starry reverie like "Star": "A person's daily life must be ups and downs, but every day will not be stuck in these emotions and feelings." Life and music have something in common. I want to reflect the ups and downs of life in music... The melody on the stage, even if it is occasionally sad and lost, must be passionate in the end! ”
Hopefully, 100 years from now, children will think that these works are still classics
To commemorate the "two 45th anniversaries," Tanimura also released a new set of three albums called "Standard," each with 15 songs for a total of 45 songs. The first album is a classic masterpiece selected from the songs he composed; THE SECOND ALBUM IS TAKEN FROM HIS EARLY WORK DURING THE ROCK BAND ALICE; The third album is a classic Japanese song he sings. His criteria for choosing these tracks to enter the album were: "In 100 years, children can think that these works are indeed classics." "In the concert book, the most striking photo of Shinji Tanimura shows him laughing, and he is smiling like a child.
"The album also has a subtitle called 'Breath,' which means 'breath,'" he gently emphasizes, which is the same meaning as he said at the beginning of his "music is like breathing", "and I also want to sing these songs in a natural way as people breathe every day." ”
At the concert, he sang a particularly interesting song, Chinese the name "Woohoo" - not that the "woo-hoo" in the Chinese was finished; It corresponds to a different "ah-". Tanimura has a rich and delicate emotional layering of "ah-": "The title of this song, which is actually two different 'ahs' in Japanese, the first corresponds to the "woo" in "whimper", which means crying; the second 'ah' actually corresponds to 'whew', which is an expression of surprise." An "ah" word, expressed in different tones and intonations, has a variety of different emotions, and in general, the emotion that "Woohoo" wants to express is a kind of "sigh when the feelings in the heart want to be suppressed, but they can't be suppressed." ”
When he explained the multiple emotions of "ah" at the concert, many audience members could not help but nod frequently. We found that he lived more seriously than ordinary people, and his experience of life was richer, delicate, sensitive, and sharp.
In this regard, Tanimura emphasized the "advantage" of music when emotional expression is weak: "Many times it is difficult to accurately express the complex emotions in the heart. Because feelings are intangible and intangible. Although the music has no shape, it has a tone. When you can't express it in words, you can consider adding 'ah' when singing..." Saying that, he sang the B section of "Star", which began with two different scales of "ah, ah..." After his analysis, the first short "ah" seemed to be just an "introduction", for the latter long "ah" to better express feelings and helplessness.
At this point, it may be possible to reflect on why some singers interpret songs far less than he does - full of emotions and at the same time can distinguish the inextricable differences. Have they studied in detail what "aaaaa And what are the emotional ups and downs? Isn't it all an "ah" in the end, and an "ah" in one breath? If Shinji Tanimura's emotional scale between crying and laughing can be divided into 100 parts, then those singers can have a scale adjustment of about 1 to 10, which is already considered "sensitive", right? The reason why "narrative love songs" are moving is that the small fine-tuning and big ups and downs of those emotional scales coexist.
Of the 700 songs written by Shinji Tanimura, 48 were covered by Chinese singers. Covers, in fact, are a "shortcut" for pop songs to take the market - recomposing lyrics with ready-made pop tunes, the success rate is much higher than that of new songs with original songs. However, for being covered, Tanimura Shinji is quite selfless and has a shared philosophy: "Songs are their own only at the creative stage." When it became popular, the song was not mine, but everyone who sang it. Everyone can sing it as they wish. As a result, he also has great respect for the singers who cover his songs.
The most important thing is the inner feeling
"Convey what you want to convey in your own language, so that you can convey it." This is the central idea of Shinji Tanimura when he teaches students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He did not work as a music teacher in Japan, but he fulfilled his dream in Kamito. In theory, the subjects of the upper music class are classical and ethnic music, and do not "need" an expert in the field of popular music. However, the theme of Tanimura's lecture is "how to express music", and you can start with lyrics.
The way he taught was rather Zen – he entered the classroom, put half a glass of water on the table, then pushed the cup over, and the water flowed out. He then asked the students to write the lyrics about it. He then left the classroom and returned 20 minutes later. Most of the students' lyrics are flat and straightforward, "There is water in the cup". But one of his classmates' lyrics impressed him: "The water flows outside, and the water never knows what its shape is..."
"The most important thing is the inner feeling," Tanimura said, supplemented by a reinforced gesture: "There are people, there is me, and if people want to connect with each other, music is the best medium." Music can best enter people's hearts, resonate and move, and hearts can meet. ”
In the past few days in Shanghai, his attitude towards life has also warmed the staff. A little girl kept carrying a paper bag. Only Shinji Tanimura could see that the paper bag was heavy, and every time he met her, he would step forward to help support her. Everyone wondered why Mr. Tanimura always helped carry the paper bag, and after he left, he also stepped forward to mention it, and found that the paper bag was really heavy...
What kind of artist there is, what kind of followers. It is reported that in September, he will also hold another concert in the form of symphonic accompaniment at the Beijing Poly Grand Theater. And we will be in Shanghai, quietly waiting for the return of this Sino-Japanese friendship ambassador, or, let it be. (Zhu Guang)