"Boom!" Maia Hirasawa
Music is a vehicle for changing or magnifying
people’s feelings. The music that influenced me the most is Maia Hirasawa’s
“Boom!” I heard this song after the earthquake hit my country last year. This
cheerful song healed my feeling and made me look forward after the terrible
tragedy.
“Boom!” was used
for music of a commercial which advertised opening of shinkansen (bullet train)
in Kyushu, Japan. Although the commercial went on the air on March 4th,
2011, broadcast of this advertisement was suspended one week later, on the March
11th, when the big earthquake hit Japan. After the earthquake, all
songs we heard in TV and radio were sad and gloomy music because all stations
voluntarily refrained from playing cheerful music. “Boom!” was one
of the songs that were interpreted
as “too happy to play in mourning after the tragedy” by TV stations.
However, this
music became very popular on youtube. Its cheerful sound induced Japanese’ strong desire for the positive view of their
future. The song cheered them up and helped them recover from sense of loss and
deep grief. I remember the day I heard the song for the first time. It was two
weeks after the earthquake. My friend told me about this song and I saw the
youtube video. At that time, I was very depressed because I heard terrible news
about the aftermath of tsunami and the nuclear disaster every day. The song was
a catalyst. It made me cry first, and then smile. The wonderful happy song
taught me that we Japanese have to keep up hope for the recovery.
It is fascinating how music can influence the whole nation at certain period of time. This proves that music bounds us all especially when we are vulnerable and sensitive. Sometimes we are not aware of music’s importance but moments like this once again prove that music makes the world a place with no boundaries
返信削除We also had a serious earthquake in China. After the earthquake TV stations only broadcast news related to the horrible catastrophy, no music, no entertainment shows, no commercials. I think it was a little ridiculous for this because if people want to mourn for the loss, they'll do it. After such a serious disaster, what people need are things that can cheer them up. Things can give them confidence to live a better life. Music is such an important element in such a hard time for people to rebuild confidence.
返信削除Music is really soul-stirring. I believe that you and your country must be encouraged by this song after the catastrophy. Your singer was also trying their best efforts to help their own country. It's just like why every big sports events has a theme song. The song loads the spirit.
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