I was in a chat room a few weeks ago and a discussion got started on what kinds of music everyone there listened to. I mentioned that I had recently developed a liking for Japanese Pop and Rock music thanks to a few of my friends who are younger than me. The person who had asked the original question asked me if I spoke Japanese, when I told her no she asked "How can you enjoy the music then?". This question didn't really bother me but it did make me start to think about whether or not I could honestly answer yes to this question. My answer to that question during the chat session was short and to the point because there were other things going on in the chat and I didn't see the reason to give a detailed answer to that question. Now that I have the time to sit and write out my thoughts on this I feel inspired to do so.
Music can be inspirational, uplifting, comforting and so much more. It can inspire a range of emotions from joy to deep sadness often in the same song. But, do you really need to understand the lyrics being sung to experience any of this? In my opinion the answer to that is "No". When I listen to music it's not always the lyrics that make me like the song or effect my emotions. Sometimes it's the voice of the singer or the rhythm of the music itself. There are even times when I don't even like the lyrics of a song but I enjoy the music so much I will listen to it when the mood strikes me. With most of the Japanese music I have found so far that I love I have often wondered what they were saying but I do not have a strong need to know it's more just knowing for curiosity's sake than for better enjoyment of the music.
An example of a Japanese musician who's music I enjoy is Gackt Camui. Very little of his music that I know of is sung in English but I still love it. Most often when I am feeling down Gackt's music cheers me up better than any other music in my CD collection. There is just something about his voice that soothes me regardless of what the words in the song mean. Maybe I'm just odd but I really feel that music should not be just about the lyrics. It's not that they aren't important it's just that they are not all there is to any song.
