au naturel

At first, I did not quite understand why we’re going to spend one session in the church singing with Kimura Sensei’s class. I thought it will just be a plain semi-social interaction wherein you grab your copy and croon along the rest – like a choir in practice.

“Rich country; Strong army” – a very admirable slogan. When it accompanies a country which heeds it ultimately, no doubt the country will have a disciplined way of living. On the other hand, if this slogan is heeded ultimately, oppression is right under one’s nose.

I just wondered what kinds of lyrics were made through that slogan. Was it effective in educating the children? I also wondered how the children manage to grasp the messages of the song. On the other hand, I guess if the kids are nurtured to believe such, they will also grow in accordance to how they are taught.

It was also very creative of the Red Bird Movement to counter such discriminating idealism with the same tactics – songs. It’s like frying the enemy with its own fat. “The Canary Song” is a clear and straightforward comparison of violence and harmony. It showed in the fourth suggestion how one can bring out the best in an individual. When you finish singing the song, a sweet and euphoric feeling will wash over you – compared to the flinching feelings on the first three suggestions.

I love music, but I realized I don’t know it that well. I’ve had music classes in high school – part of the curriculum. We tapped beats, differentiated flats from sharps, and we also discussed its history. It never occurred to me then that there could be more to music/songs that I didn’t know about. I learned that I only cared for the songs due to superficial factors – not its depth.

Looking back in the session, Kimura Sensei asked us if we noticed something with the change of beat. Indeed everybody did, but couldn’t figure out what it meant. When she told us the comparison of the two-beat military march and the three-beat melody that was never used then, I thought how could these people make such a simple thing be a brilliant way to suggest rebellion. I don’t know; I found that particularly amusing and remarkable. The simple addition of one-beat to the usual two-beats used in the songs, made a big difference.

If asked “why do you like alternative music or R&B?” the answers would usually be because it’s cool, it’s hip or groovy. But on the Red Bird Movement’s case, it goes way, way deeper that that. It struck some chords of reality in me– it made me realize how shallow I am. After the session, I thought of the artists I admire… then I tried to enumerate five “valid” reasons why I like them. Then I found out I couldn’t even come up with three.

It made me think again of the “Canary Song” and how the movement tried to make a difference through the children songs that they made. The message of their cause was to bring out the best in the person. As the usual cliché goes, “everyone’s different, and everyone has a role to play”. Whether weak or strong, each individual has a “role to play”.

This is a passage from one of the songs of my favorite band Incubus. The song is called “Warning”.

“I suggest we
Learn to love ourselves,
Before its made illegal
When will we learn, When will we change
Just in time to see it all come down

She woke in the morning.
She knew that her life had passed her by
She called out a warning.
Don’t ever let life pass you by.
Pass you by.”