BLOG (PERSONAL) -- My Music Timeline [Part 3 -- 2001 - 2003]

So here is Part 3 of my Music Timeline. You can check out the last two parts here:

  -Part 1: http://ironixgirl.blogspot.ca/2013/09/blog-personal-my-music-timeline-part-1.html
  -Part 2: http://ironixgirl.blogspot.ca/2014/01/blog-personal-my-music-timeline-part-2.html 

As mentioned in the last two parts, when it comes to music my general line of thinking is this: A song and its singer are two different entities. I can like a song even if I don't like or care about the singer. This can also be applied to songs and TV shows / series.

Overview of 2001 - 2003

So between 2001 and 2003, a couple things happened that greatly shifted my exposure to music:

1. My Music-Vocal class in school had a Musical unit for part of the year
2. I joined the school's anime club

While growing up, I always had a curiosity for musicals, but never had the chance to really look into it until I had to for school. The major assignment for that unit was to perform a song from a musical. Wanting to sing a song I had a strong attachment to, I searched around to find what that song could be.

I listened to musical soundtracks at the public library. I borrowed and watched whatever movie-musicals I could find. I even borrowed sheet music and played the melody on a piano at home. Through my searching, I got particularly interested in Chess. It's a musical that involves chess-playing and some politics. Hopefully I'll be able to see it performed one day. For my assignment, I ended up singing Anthem from Chess.

Joining the school's anime club was a major turning point in my music timeline. Now, I did have interest in anime before joining the club (I had a secret love for Dragon Ball years ago when it first aired on TV). But -- it wasn't a very strong interest. Before joining the club, I only had one friend who liked anime and she was off at another school. 

Joining the anime club was like opening the door to a whole new world. My first friend in the club was a Dragon Ball fan, too, and we had many fun conversations about the series, as well as dreaming up scenarios with our "claimed boyfriend" (she claimed Trunks before I could, so I settled for Gohan -- which actually worked out well for me. Nerds are awesome <3). 

With her and a few other friends, my anime experience was almost like an adventure. We exposed each other constantly to new things -- either talking about any new series we were reading or watching, sharing websites that had such content, or sharing the series' lovely music. Sometimes we would also gather after school and watch a series together. I was exposed to my first shounen ai that way (Gravitation -- That series has such good music). I was also shown shops that carried anime products (back then, anime wasn't so mainstream). One of the shops had a wall full of anime soundtracks, and I kinda went wild on that, even sometimes buying soundtracks for series my friends have watched, but I haven't. I would find out years later that those soundtracks were actually bootlegs. :(

With websites that had download links for anime tracks (please don't judge me too harshly -- I didn't know how else to get the exposure), I decided to download indiscriminately. This meant I sometimes downloaded music tracks from series I didn't even know existed. My reasoning was, Why pass on it and risk regretting that I never got it? This was how I discovered X-Japan. 

It was late one night and I was working on an assignment. I had downloaded X-Japan's song days ago and it was on my playlist. I wasn't really paying too much attention since I was focused on my assignment. But then around the 4th time through, I noticed it: the song was in English! When I heard the actual lyrics, I was hit with this sadness. I don't know how to describe it, but it was an overwhelming feeling -- maybe of loneliness? Whatever it was, I connected to the song and the band immediately.

X-Japan became one of my go-to bands through those few years. I strove to listen to all of their songs, often singing along to the ones with English lyrics. The songs' sadness and pain really spoke to me back then. I think it helped express the pain and sadness I had in my early years, even though the songs' content weren't exactly related to what I went through. The sorrowful music was enough to connect me.

As for "Western" music (music that's known in North America), I didn't expose myself to too many new tunes. I stopped listening to the radio. I was way too focused on exposing myself to more anime music. I did, however, discover one way of still exposing myself to some "Western" music: AMVs! My first exposure to AMVs was in 2003. 

I think that's it for 2001-2003. I was also exposed to a bit of video game music, but I'll get into that during the next entry (whenever that will be). Also, I'll mention a new role I had that increased my exposure to anime music exponentially!

My Playlist

This time I have my playlist split between J-Rock, Anime, Musicals, and "Westerns". And as always, I know I will not be able to fully list my playlist. 


J-Rock
-X-Japan    
    -Crucify My Love
    -Say Anything
    -Tears
    -Endless Rain
    -Voiceless Screaming

Anime
-Ayashi no Ceres -- Scarlet

-Chobits
    -Let Me Be With You
    -Ningyohime

-Dragon Ball GT
    -Dan Dan Kokoro Hikarete ku
    -Blue Velvet

-Dragon Ball Z -- Boku-tachi wa Tenshi datta

-Fruits Basket -- For Fruits Basket

-Gundam Wing
    -Just Communication
    -Rhythm Emotion
    -White Reflection

-Gravitation
    -Glaring Dream
    -Glaring Dream ~secret air mix
    -Sleepless Beauty
    -Sleepless Beauty ~sacred beauty air mix
    -Shining Collection
    -In the Moonlight

-InuYasha
    -Change the World
    -My Will
    -Dearest
    -Every Heart

-Hikaru No Go
    -Get Over
    -I'll Be The One
    -Bokura no Bouken
    -Sincerely ~ever dream~

-One Piece
    -We Are!
    -Believe
    -Memories
    -Souchinosuke
    -GLORY -Kimi ga iru kara-
    -Shining Ray
    -Ready!

-Princess Mononoke -- Mononoke Hime

-Senkaiden Hoshin Engi
    -Will
    -Friends

-Serial Experiments Lain -- Duvet

-Shaman King -- Silent Weapon

Musicals
-A Chorus Line
    -Nothing
    -What I Did for Love

-A Funny Way to The Forum -- Comedy Tonight

-Chess
    -I Know Him Too Well
    -Anthem
    -Heaven Help My Heart
    -Quartet
    -Pity the Child

-Company -- Being Alive

-Fame (the musical)
    -Let's Play a Love Scene
    -I Want to Make Magic
    -The Teacher's Argument

-Fame (the movie-musical)
    -Out Here on My Own
    -I Sing the Body Electric
    -Fame

-Guys and Dolls
    -Luck Be A Lady
    -Guys and Dolls
    -I'll Know

-Les Miserables
    -One Day More
    -Confrontation
    -Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
    -Javert's <spoiler> (I just finish the song title since the last word is a spoiler!)
    -Who Am I? / The Trial
    -A Heart Full of Love
    -On My Own

-Man of La Mancha -- Impossible Dream

-My Fair Lady
    -Wouldn't It Be Loverly
    -I Could Have Danced All Night
    -Show Me

-Once on This Island
    -Ti Moune
    -Forever Yours
    -When We Are Wed
    -Forever Yours (Reprise)

-Rent -- Seasons of Love

"Western" (music that's more widely known in North America) -- For any songs where I was first exposed by watching an AMV, I'll note it like this: *
-Dan Hill
    -Daddy's Song
    -The Night We Met
    -Once Upon A Time

-K-Ci & JoJo
    -Hello Darlin'
    -Tell Me It's Real

-Linkin Park -- A Place for My Head *

-Metallica
    -The Unforgiven
    -Nothing Else Matters 

-Rufus Wainwright -- Hallelujah *

-Sarah Brightman -- Only an Ocean Away *

-Simple Plan -- I'm Just A Kid *   

Sample Playlist

If I could, I would link to more videos here. But then you'd be scrolling through a lot of videos!

X-Japan -- Crucify My Love
The song that exposed me to X-Japan. I don't fully get the lyrics, but it speaks to me.

From Senkaiden Hoshin Engi -- Friends
This song stuck to me more than the series 
(though to be fair, I've only watched about four episodes)

From One Piece -- Shining Ray
I love the light feel of this song.

From Company -- Being Alive
I love how powerful this song is, though I must 
disagree: being alone IS still alive, haha.

From Man of La Mancha -- The Impossible Dream
I used to sing this very often while in the shower, 
though not as moving as this performer. 
I love the lyrics. 

From Gravitation -- Sleepless Beauty ~sacred beauty air mix
Ahhhh... this sounds soooo soothing and nice...

Rufus Wainwright -- Hallelujah
This is the AMV that exposed me to the song. It has SPOILERS to Trigun, 
so watch at your own discretion. This video made me cry, haha.


 

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment about anything. If you'd like to recommend some music to me, please do! :)

Also, happy late Mid-Autumn Festival! For anybody who ate moon cakes yesterday :)