INDEX
Sense of Endearment in Natsume’s Songs
Natsume: “Are you trying to tell a story through your songs? I think I have succeeded if I have created a story format and if the audience can grasp the characters in the story. There are dramas that run for dozens of episodes, but the characters are not drawn at all.
On the other hand, there are films like Aki Kaurismäki’s or Hong Sang-soo’s that don’t have a flashy beginning and end, but the characters are so well-developed that you want to meet them and talk to them. I hope to create a 3-minute pops version of that kind of thing.
-I think that’s exactly the kind of character that often appears in your songs. It’s kind of like you can’t help but love the characters depicted in your songs.
Shibata: I understand! I can really feel the love in your songs. Your sincerity toward people is amazing and gentle.
Natsume: I depict a lot of foolish people (laughs). But that is what makes them more human, isn’t it?
Shibata: I think that must be the true heart.
Natsume: When I decided to go solo, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to portray. To be honest, as long as everyone was happy and healthy, that was all that mattered. I thought it would be interesting to create a character who is foolish and pathetic.
–A track like ‘Daikichi’ concludes with the nonsensical line “She was really hot,” yet there’s a profound sense of endearment embedded within.
Shibata: Really. I think it’s cool that people can think like that.
Natsume: In the end, I want to be like Kame-Sen’nin from “Dragon Ball. I want to be like that guy who gets nosebleeds when he sees panties even when he is an old man. When I talk about this kind of thing, most people will say, “What is he talking about?
I am also aware of the fact that I am at variance with modern values, but I believe that the love of humanity is also present in such things. How can I reconcile that with sincerity? That is my theme, and I am thinking about it seriously.
Shibata: I think that the club music-like atmosphere of the current Summer Eye fits well with that kind of atmosphere.
Natsume: I’m glad to hear that. Old house and dance music records used to just repeat simple phrases like “Love is something” all the time, didn’t they? When you are dancing while moving your body in a trancey state, if a simple phrase is thrown in, you instantly feel like you understand it as it travels through your body.
When you get to that state, you don’t have to sing about specific episodes as if they were stories. I want to bet on that possibility.
