"Top of the world", "Yesterday once more", "Close to you", "Please Mr. Postman", and other great songs from the duo gripped my heart, although at that age I did not understand the English lyrics very much.
I fell in love with the voice of Karen Carpenter. The vocal qualia is a given gift. The particular form and strength, dynamics of Karen's vocal chord must have produced the sensuous qualia that my consciousness receives when she sings.
20 years passed, and I was about 30, when I went to a Karaoke room with my best friend Yoshi Tamori (mathematical whiz kid).
I discovered that Yoshi liked the Carpenters songs, too. To my utter bewilderment, when he sang, his voice sounded a bit similar to Karen's. It was a shock discovery. Karen and Yoshi look so different. And Yoshi is a man. Karen was so delicate and thin. Yoshi is, ....well.....
I have kept the enlightenment by this mysterious coincidence as a secret, and have not told anybody, until today that is.
Now Yoshi has something to boast apart from incredible rose origami.....
Myself (left) and Yoshi Tamori at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
so cute..your morning essay
ReplyDeletebut sorry my e-mail is garbage
you have mentioned about universality in these days.
"Once the root of one's spirit is reached, one finds there what is universally human."
"ありのままに自分を見つめて、その底にある根っこにぶつかれば、そこでは人間である以上誰でも同じだから、自分の感性を追っていても、みんなが感動する普遍に到達できるのではないか"
"一般化されてはじめて、問題の本質が見えてくる"
when i visited South Africa, i had an opportunity to go to safari,
i observed universality in many ways
I always sympathize with your selection of songs.
ReplyDeleteI love "Top of the world","Yesterday once more" and I love "DancingQueen","Chiquitita"...Oh,sorry,these are ABBA's songs.
The Carpenters and ABBA were good rivals. As it happend, they had to stop their activity in the same year,1983 for their own reasons.
But,their songs are immortal.
As representation from Japan, I love Yuming, Miyuki Nakajima and Yutaka Ozaki. But, what? Who is he? I didn't know the singer,Yoshi Tamori. I would like to listen to his song someday....
So, I'm listening to the CD "Twenty-Two Hits of The Carpenters" after a long separation.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Karen's voice reaches me, and I feel a note of lament in her elastic broad voice. I couldn't recognize it before.
" To my utter bewilderment, when he sang, his voice sounded a bit similar to Karen's. It was a shock discovery."
No, it is not strange. I have felt that he may have one foot in the celestial field since I first read the article on him.
The mathematical whiz kid has angelic falsetto, doesn't he?
When I entered the university, I could not find the lover of The Carpenters and felt as if I had been in a different generations.
ReplyDeleteSo I thought the lovers of their songs are older than me.
But you are younger than me, Ken.
It is surprising that only 10 years old boy can fall in love with the voice of Karen.
I loved their songs.
Even though my voice is not similar to Karen's, I got my English pronunciation from them unconsciously.
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ReplyDeleteDr. Ken.
ReplyDeleteEveryday I'm looking forward to read your journal.Thank you.
My parents like Carpenters.So when I was a child, I repeatedly listened to their songs.
I like "You're The One." That chord is very jazzy.
I think that it happens by the moderate pressure to vocal chords.And the amount and the speed of the breath control it.
When you relax, and a lot of breaths are vomited, such a sound might be emitted.It becomes easy by focusing your mind to listen to your voice rather than singing.
Next time, please try ♪
first of all, i wish to thank you very much for your coorperation.
ReplyDeletewe could enjoy shooting the PR message movie for "Karajan music for brain" with you.
i adore you.
you are sooooo amazing.
btw
i woke up with this song yesterday.
i was singing in my dream.
day after day
i must face a world of strangers
where i don’t belong
i’m not that strong
it’s nice to know that
there’s someone i can turn to who will always care
you’re always there
when there’s no gettin’ over that rainbow
when my smallest of dreams won’t come true
i can take all the madness the world has to give
but i won’t last a day without you
so many times when the city seems to bewithout a friendly face
a lonely place
it’s nice to know that you’ll be there if i need you
and you’ll always smile
it’s all worthwhile
touch me and i end up singing
trouble seems to up and disappear
you touch me with the love you’re bringing
i can’t really lose when you’re near
when you’re near, my love
if all my friends have forgotten half their promises
they’re not unkind
justhard to find
one look at you
and I know that i could learn to live without the rest
i’ve found the best
when there’s no gettin’ over that rainbow
when my smallest of dreams won’t come true
i can take all the madness the world has to give
but i won’t last a day without you
i think my voice has certain qualia like Karen.
i hope we can go karaoke in future.