Quote:
Originally Posted by justavisitor
@BetoJR
I just hope you are not responding from my post lol because I never say non-japanese heritage shouldn't be allowed to express their opinions about songs in polls just because they don't understand it
I don't understand a single Japanese word..I just say understanding lyrics help a person like a song more...I like the sailormoon op much more once I understand the word "sorry" in Japanese and I can't describe my joy when I can actually listen to the singer say "sorry" in the first sentence 
I really hope your anger does not come from my post |
I'll just jump in and point out that Beta's "anger," if there is anger, is aimed at C.A. and Banishing for the suggestion that non-Japanese speakers can't understand Japanese music. Or more specifically that non-Japanese can't understand Japanese music. It's like saying that we non-Japanese can't possibly understand what Diamond Crevasse is about because we don't speak Japanese. I mean, I figured it was about love and loss and all that, but I guess I'm wrong.
Now, I can understand the point that without understanding Japanese one would miss any Japanese linguistic tricks in the songs. That does not, however, mean that the meaning of the song is lost in translation, as a good translation would also include notes on anything missed. To be honest though, I doubt any piece of Macross music would be written in such a way that it's meaning could be lost on anyone not Japanese, because that's just not how Kawamori or Yoko Kanno roll.
Now, defending Seikan Hikou as some kind of brilliant piece of music that we non-Japanese just don't understand is silly. It's a pop idol song, the song writer says it's a pop idol song, so therefore it follows that it's not going to be so terribly deep, meaningful, and culturally Japanese that no one else can properly understand it.
For an amusing non-anime reference, this is a bit like claiming that non-Elves can't understand the real meaning of the parts of Tolkien's works that involve Elvish.