Emotional states and Shiina Ringo
 

Which Ringo songs do you listen to when you're in certain emotional states?

I'm fascinated by emotions and music, if the music we listen to influences our emotions or if we seek out certain music while feeling certain way.

For example, angry, sad, lonely, happy.

Omatsuri Sawagi is probably one of my favorite "happy" songs, I don't know why but it always makes me feel elated. Something about it so perfectly captures the chaos and frenetic energy of a festival.

Akane sasu kiro terasa redo is one of my go-to when I'm sad. When I was in Japan this year I felt a lot of culture shock and disconnect, and Akane was on my weird emotional playlist.

I'm really curious about other people.

I listen to Gips when I feel particularly in love. I've always felt it is Ringo's best love song.

I am not the type of person that dubs my best and worst life episodes with these silly three minute pop songs. Music is for driving and house cleaning. If you pay too much attention, you're not enjoying it.

There are certain songs that make me feel happy or sad but I've never felt the need to associate what I listen to with my current emotions (at least not consciously).

Konya wa Kara Sawagi and Ryuko never fail to make me happy though.

I listen to Souretsu after getting depressed from listening to Sunny.

I listen to SG after being overwhelmed from Souretsu

I listen to Sunny after wanting more SG

I listen to Soutestu after getting depressed from listening to Sunny.

etc etc

"If you pay too much attention, you're not enjoying it" -is this what all AKB48 fans live their life on?

Maybe this is what explains the divide in fan opinion - what are you listening to the music for? I feel like much of Ringo's catalog though demands your attention, particularly earlier stuff like SS that rewards repeated listens (to this day I'll still hear blips and samples I never noticed before, even if people will accuse tracks of being too crowded). Now she seems more content to write songs bordering on muzak that make good background music. Nothing wrong with either, although I don't really think that paying attention means you can't enjoy the music - mostly I feel it's the opposite, and when I do pay attention I come away admiring her work even more than at first impression. Take KZK, or even a song like Irohanihoheto.

Anyway, back to the topic. I don't rely on music as much when I get emotional, but I queued up Ringo a lot for that reason in college. Early Ringo was a treasure trove of cathartic tunes. Songs like Mellow, Fukou Jiman and Identity when I was pissed off. Songs like Tsumi to Batsu, Tadashii Machi, Akane Sasu or Odaijini when I was angsty. Her more recent stuff is better when you're in a positive mood since it's more upbeat. And SG/Toutaikai is just plain romantic... Shun, anyone?

I think there's more to it than a whole slew of people vacuuming their house to KZK. If all music is to you is a sound to accompany chores then you may as well put a local radio station on. Why bother seeking out a Japanese singer?

I imagine that Inseu's comment (like most of his other remarks) is a tad disingenuous.

I got into music when I was 13, and when I was 18, I have explored most important western bands and got bored of them. J-pop and k-pop are still fun to listen to, but at the age of 87, I no longer feel the same enthusiasm I had for music, surely when I was a teenager, I would listen to Leonard Cohen when I felt lonely, and possibly got a shiver down my spine reading the lyrical sheet of Murder Ballads. Nowadays music just fills the void of mundane daily routines. I listen to music for fun and for fun only, I never feel the need to put on Honnou when I need a girl. Whenever I experience strong emotions, music is never around, Ringo is never on my mind, it is too small a thing to consider, cos there is too much going on in my mind already. Let's be real, when your mother is sick, do you go put on some sad music to smooth yourself first? This topic is ridiculous. And culture shock is for dorks.

As for why seek out a Japanese singer, that's because Ringo is a fine-looking woman that pleases the eyes of Asian men, and secondly I don't understand Japanese so I don't have to deal with songs with annoying lyrics like "Blurred Lines" and all that Katy Perry and Lorde crap on the local ratio. As for KZK, that's my least favourite Ringo album, I don't find it special. I don't need to lock myself in dark room, turn out the lights, close my eyes and give the album full attention to enjoy it.

I mean, different strokes. Everyone will respond to Ringo's music and to their own internal emotional state differently, but just because you respond differently it doesn't mean you can't empathize with other people. Music, like other forms of art (in a broad sense) is a form of self-expression, but can also be intended to provoke an emotional/intellectual response in the listener. If someone is moved by a piece of music I think that's a testament to the power of art. It can be therapeutic, and it's not anything to ridicule. Obviously this doesn't apply to all music.

If my mother were sick my first reaction obviously wouldn't be to put on sad music, but based on my emotional state the music I would choose to listen to would be affected in a subconscious way that I wouldn't necessarily dictate. That's what this topic is about.

Yeah, probably jumped the gun on that one.

You know what would make this forum go a lot smoother? If everyone else just put Inseu on ignore like I do.

I don't hijack his threads so I don't see why he feels the need to do so with mine (which if you look at the history of threads I've created, he ALWAYS does). The only way I know what he's saying is when other people quote him.

And I really don't care how he replies to me, because I don't read anything he writes.

@thespidereggs
Exactly.