Heart-wrenching melodies

One of the things I like about listening to non-English and non-Tagalog music is that I am able to focus on the melody of songs rather than the words. There are times when I don't want to put effort in comprehending the words because it feels so redundant and exhausting in a way.

Lyrics are important in a song because they SAY what you mean. It's kind of like iconism in that aspect. But I think the melody is what gives the song SOUL, if you get my drift. For me, the beauty of a song is in the melody that shows the barest of emotions, and if the melody is "sincere", I think that is very effective. A sincere melody gets you and keeps you listening not because you're forced to, as in a lot of catchy melodies, but you want to feel the emotions in that melody. It is what gets your attention and keeps it there.

Sometimes, I'm listening to a song and at the crescendo I feel my chest constriting painfully, and there's a feeling in my stomach like I'm at the edge of a really high cliff. There are songs that do more than give me goosebumps. At the risk of being a little emo about it, these songs rip my heart out and squeeze it dry until the tears fall freely...

Ah. Too emo.

Here are some songs that gave me that feeling.

This is DBSK's "Love in the Ice" (Korean), from their latest album, "Mirotic". There's a Japanese version of this song, but I kinda like this one much better because of one little point: Micky Yoochun's part in the bridge is more powerful when he shouts out "O~~~H!" at the end of Junsu's line than in the Japanese version where the way he sang 'too~~' was a bit mid-level and safe and thus, quite anticlimactic. Also, I like the blending of Yunho and Jaejoong's voice here at the last part of the second chorus. Maybe it's the YunJae fangirl thing, but compared to Yunho and Changmin and Yunho and Junsu's harmonies, I really like YunJae blending best. But, in all fairness, I think Yoochun and Jaejoong's blending in their line is second to the YunJae blending.

This is Nakashima Mika's Oborozukiyo~Inori. I like this song because it feels dreamy and Nakashima's vocals suit it well. Oborozukiyo is actually an old song, but they added the Inori part (chorus), which made it even more heart-wrenching. My favorite part here is the instrumental bridge with the violin, which builds into a crescendo and the last chorus.

This is "Death Wish" from Gackt's third album, "Moon". I meant to post another song, "Saikai~Story" that I like better than this one, but I couldn't find it on Imeem. Gah. Anyway, "Death Wish" is a really close second, and no, it's not because the title is so Ra-damned emo, but I really like the sound of this song. I particularly like the intro and the choruses here where there is more depth to Gackt's vocals because of the second voice.

So there. I just wanted to post those three songs, actually.