英語に歌っている歌手ご注意ください

英語の言葉「Wow!」の発音は「ウォー」じゃありません。そのおとは「Whoah!」と書きますよ。「Wow!」の発音は「ウアーォ」ですよ。

日本人の歌手はこれから歌詞に「Wow」を書いたら、「ウアーォ」を歌ってください。もし「ウォー」と歌たら、CDのジャケットに「Whoah!」を書いてください、ね？

日本に住んでいましたアメリカ人の皆から、お願いいたします。

Commentary

I had a dream last night that I logged into my blog administration panel today and there was a lively discussion on my last couple of posts via comments that were stuck in the moderation queue (i.e. waiting for me to approve them before they would appear on the page). Then I woke up. Weird. I guess I wish I had more comments, but most of the comments I get these days are via facebook. Ah Internet, never stop changing.

2008, Live

2008 was a fantastic year for live concerts in Southern California – I experienced Yeasayer’s [myspace.com] indie-meets-Bollywood-meets-prog (twice, even), got energized by Saul Williams’ [saulwilliams.com] righteous anger, and was blown away by The Bravery’s [thebravery.com] incredible crowd rapport. I ran my normal speed of about 15-20 concerts yet again, and I’m happy to say that the recording industry is still getting it wrong – the magic happens when I get to see my favorites up close and loud. Almost every artist worth their salt connect to their fans in a live setting. When you get away from the studio and the possibility of tweaking that one sound just a bit more, you lay to bare not just an artist’s competence, but their confidence. When they really love their music, something comes across that no amount of production or studio time will ever convey. Any of the concerts I mentioned above had this in spades and could have easily sauntered away with my best concert nod most other years.

However, every so often I find myself at a concert where it hits me like a ton of bricks: This, Joseph, is why you go to concerts. Soak it up, you lucky bastard. Like when I saw Alanis Morissette [wikipedia.org] at 328 Performance Hall in Nashville in August 1995, just as “You Oughta Know” was breaking, hiding underneath a pink wig and brandishing her serrated lyrics at the audience like a knife. Or like when, in the summer of 2002, I witnessed Matsuura Aya’s [wikipedia.org] utterly obsessed crowd flow and ebb like the tides at her command. And, like I saw at the Music Box in Hollywood on November 1st, 2008 [youtube.com]. Being in that crowd when the chorus hit was like taking part in the creation of a swirling musical hurricane. That’s right – Yelle not only managed my nod for single of the year, her live show validated my ridiculous penchant for attending concerts by the dozens, year after year. Her energy was beyond infectious, her music beyond danceable, her crowd beyond energetic, and her presence beyond overwhelming.

I’ve often told anyone who would listen that there’s nothing sexier than a woman on stage. For hours after the Yelle show I tried to pin down what made her stand so far apart from other female artists in terms of stage presence. While our pop culture is comprised of female artists employing their sexuality as a weapon or a tool, Yelle’s sexuality just existed, without pretense or motive. It wasn’t threatening, intimidating, or manipulative. In fact, it was refreshingly energetic and magnetic, seemingly formed by her personality rather than defining it. Yelle didn’t have even the smallest hint of road-weariness or jaded disinterest in her fans, despite her incredible success (I mean, really – imagine having an incredibly successful US tour on the strength of a French-language album!). I can only pray that success doesn’t change her.

And that she keeps her promise and comes back to play Southern California again. Soon.