Super Mr. Children Fantasy
Today is a good day. New Mr. Children song releases through digital download (not my favorite of their songs but it’s nice) and the announcement of their next studio album which drops in December called, ready for this? Supermarket Fantasy.
Now, my first reaction was WTF FTW? but after the initial surprise abated the album title started to make sense. Sakurai has talked about how the next album will be a continuation of the theme HOME and when do we feel that “nicjiyjou” that “everydayness” more than when we go to the supermarket?
It’s ritual. It’s routine. It cements us to a place and concept of who we are. Buying food in such quantities is a promise that said foodstuffs will be prepared and served at some point thus preserving the HOME. So the question is then what does the word fantasy have to do with it? Does he mean ”kuusou” as in daydream or “gensou” as in illusion/delusion? I would tend to think he means “kuusou” as in daydream. And I’ll tell you why.
We are so in the moment when we shop for food, we become cognizant of the expectations upon us (i.e. someone has to prepare the food, or the food is being prepared for someone presumably) In such a moment it’s easy to see what’s important in your life but also what is missing.
I like to think of those times when you’re standing in the checkout aisle, and you’re confronted by celebrity scandal or glamour and you start to daydream about the fabulous lives of others and in a way what could have been or may yet be in your own life.
Perhaps the Supermarket Fantasy of the album title is about having a moment to reflect upon who you are, and what matters to you.
Or maybe Sakurai has visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. =P
Sugar plums buying discounted Ivory soap and Scotties tissues at Shop Rite.
Comment by Victoria — October 4, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
[…] Oke, sekarang kita langsung saja masuk ke review album mereka. Kita mulai dari cover album yang kayak bungkus permen ini. Cover album yang berwarna-warni ini terus terang membuat saya heran. Soalnya sebagian besar single-single mereka berkesan sedih, manis atau haru (kecuali エソラ [ESORA], tentunya). Hmm… apakah warna-warni ini melambangkan keberagaman mood dan nuansa lagu-lagunya? Ataukah hanya sebagai representasi dari single promo album ini, エソラ [ESORA], saja? Soalnya, PV エソラ [ESORA] yang saya tangkap berkesan riang dengan adegan-adegan yang belum pernah saya lihat sebelumnya dilakukan oleh para personel band ini. Hahaha. Perasaan saya baru lihat si Sakurai dkk melompat-lompat dan tersenyum kayak gini. Hehehe… Oh ya, utau-inu.com punya pandangan menarik tentang cover dan nama album ini, silakan di lihat di pranala berikut http://utau-inu.com/?p=115. […]
Pingback by Mr.Children (3) « manz: hidup ini — December 13, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
translation?? lol
Comment by admin — December 13, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
It’s in Indonesian so let’s see if I can translate it - this would be literal translation because there is quite a difference between the language spoken by Malaysians vs Indonesians. Anyhoo, here goes:
“Okay,why don’t we go straight to the album review. Let’s start with the colorful cover. The bright colors used made me wonder. The thing is, their singles are centrally themed or tinged with sadness, sweetness or melancholy (with the exception of ESORA). Does the juxtaposition of colors represent the various moods and nuances of the songs in the album? Or, it is just a representation of the single that is used to promote this album i.e. Esora? My take of Esora’s PV is that it’s fun and happy with the band members displaying emotions and actions that never been seen in previous pvs. For instance, I think it is the first time that I noticed Sakurai jumping around with a big smile on his face like this. By the way, utau-inu has an interesting take on the cover and the title of the album, go and see it here….”
(then the author goes on to review individual tracks in the album)
Comment by Ijahamran — January 11, 2009 @ 2:59 am