Maybe it is just me, but certain tunes always remind me of a bygone era. Here I have complied a small list of songs for each year since 2000. Some titles included here may be of rather poor taste and rather embarrassing, yet my memory remains unapologetic.
1997
WANDS - 世界の終わりまでは/Till the World's End
Assuming you grew up in the 90s, your life is not complete without Slam Dunk. I mean it,full stop
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1998
Ricky Martin - La Copa de la Vida
While not a real fan of any competitive sports, I am still able to polymorph into a hooligan every for years for just for the FIFA World Cup. I guess this is where everything started.
Nevertheless, if I could only choose one Ricky Martin song to listen to for the rest of my life I'd go for Linvin la Vida Loca; for HG.
:-D
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1999
Bee Gees - Melody Fair
Dad gave me a (rather flash back then) Onkyo brand CD/MD player for 10th birthday and some albums that only people of his age would be interested in. I had no alternative and ended up listening to a lot of doo-wop, jazz and pop standards, many songs I am still fond of.
By the way, the movie in which the song had an honourable mention was fortunate to have been filmed before the Katakana plague of the 90s set in. While Melody will always be cherished as 小さな恋のメロディ, poor kids nowadays have to watch stuff like ロード・オブ・ザ・リング(I shall refrain from any attempt to pronounce or it might give me a heart attack.).
Another twist of the story is the device itself, which had MD player failures every six months. We had it repaired several times under the warranty but eventually gave up after the third claim. Never bought any Onkyo equipment again.
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2000
Bon Jovi - It's My Life.
This one is especially notable because of the music video above. Admittedly, I have seen no movies back then and it totally blew my mind. It took me years to realise they ripped the idea off Run Lola Run. Well, I can forgive their deadly sins for the music.
Also, I have not met any Bon Jovi fan in years, not a single soul.
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2001
Jay Chou - 安静/Silence
Jay is probably the last M-Pop (no, he does not do R&B) musician I have paid some attention to. He continued to produce exceptional songs in the upcoming years however his second and third album will always be my personal favourites.
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2002
Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi
Fast and catchy, something that suits pubescent teens. It is actually of little relevance to my life but somehow got imprinted into my mind every time I think of 2002. Maybe whoever in charge of the student TV back in BBI played it too often.
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2003
Chisa Yokoyama et al - 夢の続き/Lasting Dream
For some time between 2002-2004, my best friends all belonged to this Sakura Taisen fan club. Looking back it is kind of scary since many of them are Takarazuka fans in heterosexual disguise. I spend most of my time not caring about the theme but talking to whatever normal people present and trolling the lesbos.
To this day people from the group still make up over 50% of people on my MSN contact list, although many of them never appear to be online. I remember one, to whom I had a rather exciting conversation with one day only to find her blocking me from the next day, still have not figured out why but I'd probably blame PMS.
Folks, I don't know where are you or what are you doing, but I appreciate everything you did for me:
Thanks to V-gun for listening to my pointless rants.
Thanks to legato for sending me all the episodes of Last Exile, although I never had time to watch it.
Thanks to toby for cheering me up at the hard times, I wish you will find your dreamed one soon.
Thanks to xephon who kept contact with me till this day. I pass through your city almost every year without stopping and I really hope to meet you again some day.
Thank you all.
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2004
L'arc~en~ciel - Ready Steady Go
My aptitude for Anime peaked around this time and my selection became rather Anime-centric. I would not normally listen to L'arc~en~ciel or any Visual-kei band but this song was in the first FMA anime series. So be it.
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2005
Angela Ammons - Always getting over you
It was a rather pleasant time. I transferred to another school and everything appeared to be on an upward track. My interests also shifted and I was once again, back in love with easy listening mainstream pop.
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2006
Kuribayashi Minami - Shining☆Days
Things were still holding out fine and I decided to give Anime one more chance. Rather than following new series on a weekly basis, I bought several completed series and watched all episodes in one sitting during the winter holidays.
Turns out my selection was rather good: Mai-Hime, Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG, Speedgrapher and Cowboy Bebop. Nevertheless by the end I was kind of turned off by too much Anime goodness, knowing that I will never be the old fully-fledged otaku again. I still watch occasionally but mostly moved on.
P.S. Had to copy and paste that star, why some songs must contain un-typable symbols?
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2007
Groove Coverage - She
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2008
Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
Dr Colin Quilter introduced country music to me, an genre that I had previously neglected. Above all, country music reinforced my reactionary tendencies, and Johnny Cash convinced me that it is feasible to do drugs and get away with it.
Taylor Swift came into the picture a bit later but just like Jay Chou, she is doing a fine job albeit on something different, certainly not country.
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2009
Laura Marling - New Romantic
It was all a blur, all I remember is inebriation, truancy and melancholic British love songs.
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2010
Sukima Switch - 全力少年/Boys with All Our Might
澱んだ景色に答えを見つけ出すのはもう止めだ!
濁った水も新しいひかりですぐに透み渡っていく
積み上げたものぶっ壊して 身に着けたもの取っ払って
幾重に重なり合う描いた夢への放物線
紛れもなく僕らずっと全力で少年なんだ
セカイを開くのは僕だ
視界はもう澄み切ってる
Stop seeking answers in the stagnant scenery!
Right now a new light passes through the muddy water
Destroy the things that have piled up
Get rid of the things that weight you down
Riding a parabola of many dreams
We're definitely always going to be boys with all of our might
I will be the one to open up the world
My eyes also become clear
Finally, getting back on terra firma. Looking back I wish I had done things differently, but it is all of this big thing called life.
In other news, today marks my 9th year living in New Zealand. Still lovin' it.
