"Senpuuki" by Nogizaka46 (2013)

For the music video, please click here.
For the English lyrics to the song, please click here.

About Nogizaka46

To date, this is the only "new" song featured here in this blog. So why am I writing about this song? What do I remember about the past that I am relating to this Japanese pop (Jpop) song?

But first, some introduction:

• Nogizaka46 was created as an "official rival" group to the world's biggest female group AKB48, which also has the same founder.
• Nogizaka46 debuted in 2012, the same year AKB48's "queen" "graduated", in other words, departed from the group.
• "Senpuuki" is Japanese for electric fan. The word sounds cute, right?

The keyword for this post is electric fan.

Member Saito Asuka "speaking" to an electric fan. She is the center of the "Senpuuki" music video

The past involving an electric fan or two

The ceiling fan was the kind of fan that I grew up with, as far as I can remember of my childhood. Every time I went to sleep or took a nap, I would stare at it, watched it turn its blades around. I used to have a fear that it would come off the ceiling and fall on me, either wounding me or killing me.

Ceiling fan

The time came when my family decided to own our own house. We moved to the province and stayed for a while at a house owned by one of my mother's relatives. My father thought about buying the house and its lot because he liked the idea of living closer to the beach.

The house had no ceiling fans, so a relative lent to us her standing fan. A standing fan? It was the first time I ever saw such type of fan. As someone who was accustomed to ceiling fans, I found the invention strange. I can't remember if we returned it to our relative after we bought our own electric fans and moved to a permanent home.

So at our permanent home, we moved on with life. We went to school, our parents took up some farming and fishing, and two years later, my mother went to the capital for work. Her employers sought her out, persuaded her to work for them again. She was allowed vacation. At times, she brought new electric fans home.

Standing electric fans

Electric costs: the suffering

Like every other family, we struggled with rising electric costs and broken electric fans. My father managed to fix them, so we would not have to pay a repairman or buy new ones. But we were powerless against rising electric costs.

I don't know but I seemed to be the most affected about electric costs than anyone in my family. The situation (or perhaps fear or worry) got hold of me, pushing me to make sacrifices. I was forced to forgo the electric fan. It wasn't easy at first for me to live life, sleep, or do things under the sweltering heat. I urged or appealed to my siblings to forgo the electric fan too, but they weren't ready to make such a sacrifice. My insistence led to quarrels.

Desk fan

I felt that my sacrifices would be for naught. We did see some decrease in the electric bill but my sacrifice weren't worth it, especially that my family did not support me much. But the best thing was that it helped me endure the heat, get along with the warm weather. I am now used to hot nights.

I am now used to life without electric fans. Family and friends would ask if I use one at my place. They even tell me to buy a portable fan, the types sold at stores that sell China-made goods. But why buy when I have a hand fan (the one given away by politicians during elections)?

Oh yeah, the portable fan. A classmate once donated a portable fan to my class as our classroom was the only one without an electric fan. Speaking of donations too, the parents of one schoolmate donated a big electric to their sons' class and even got a recognition for it at the closing and recognition program 13 years ago.

Think about everyday household items that bring back the memories.

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"Lucky" by Britney Spears (2000)

Catching up on the year 2000

The year 2000 was a year lost due to my lack of concern or awareness for a few things: Comic books, movies, and music. Thanks to the Internet (particularly Wikipedia and YouTube), money, and my almost photographic memory, I am slowly catching up on the year that I wasted.

Comic books I have. I have bought some Marvel titles of the 2000s from people who sold them at rock bottom prices. Movies, I have watched loads after my mother bought our family's very first VCD player.

Music, I have cassettes and MP3 files. These possessions make me feel better about my lack of both high school and college romance and experience hanging out with young people.

Late love for Britney Spears, pop princess

So let's talk about songs. One of the songs that defined my summer of 2002 was the song "Lucky" by Britney Spears off her record-breaking second album Oops!... I Did It Again, released in 2000.

"Lucky" single cover

One song leads to another, if you ask me. Listening to the album's title track (and thinking it to be a James Bond song) and a trip to my grandmother's place (before she passed away) lead me to "Lucky" in the time when pop music still reigned my consciousness.

In my life, 2002 was a Britney Spears year. I even recalled watching one of her concerts on the day before school started. I later bought two bootlegged cassettes and a CD, all blaring Britney Spears. "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" from her third album Britney (2002) was the hit that time but in my mind, it was "Lucky", "Stronger" and the title track of the second album, which is my most favorite Britney Spears album. In my mind, things was the year 2000, a year lost.

Screen capture from the music video

From Britney Spears, I then caught up on Westlife, Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC. I later bought their respective 2000 albums (Coast to Coast, Black and Blue, and No Strings Attached), either original or bootlegged. I got my hand on a few music magazines from that year too. I would also gather clippings of 2000's music scene and years later, expand my knowledge with the help of the Internet. I took myself back to 2000.

In my book, 2000 was one of the best years in music. Too bad I wasted it. I was late for the experience. But better late than never.

"Boom" by P.O.D (2002)

Classmate's blunder led to P.O.D

I first learned about P.O.D by mistake. My classmate was supposed to record me NSYNC songs, but recorded songs of Linkin Park, System of a Down, P.O.D, The Calling, and other rock acts instead. But I wasn't angry. It gave me something to listen to other than pop songs. It helped open the door for me to listen to other genres.

"Boom" by P.O.D single cover

Christian or not?

At first, I thought P.O.D (Payable on Death) was a rock band just like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, System of a Down, Korn, Rage Against The Machine, Incubus, and Slipknot. It was years later I realized they were a Christian act, and they were very comfortable with the label Christian. They were so open about their Christianity, though certain people have doubts about their brand of Christian expression.

To their critics, what's Christian about touring with music acts that despise or mock Christianity? Hmm, I wonder how P.O.D managed to conduct themselves in the secular and sometimes anti-religious music scene. I learned of two rock musicians, one who left his band after converting to Christianity and formed his own (Christian) band and another one who isn't happy about a band mate who mocked his Catholic faith.

What about the R&B group Destiny's Child? Are they still Christian when donning sexy outfit while singing onstage?

The other artist I knew that time to be open about their Christianity was the Christian pop artist Stacie Orrico.

I wonder where would P.O.D position themselves in the same sex marriage debate.

The band. From left, Marcos Curiel, Wuv Bernardo, Sonny Sandoval, and Traa

P.O.D, a band worthy of a listen

I didn't listen much to P.O.D but they have great songs, one of which is the fun, explosive track you're watching right now - my favorite. It seemed that the guys did have some R&R after their regular worship and praise. Why, even Jesus and His disciples needed some rest after a hard day's work among the unbelieving people of their time.

2002 was indeed the year of both rap metal and alternative rock. They had their last glorious stand in the following year, upon the release of Linkin Park's Meteora and Evanescence's Fallen. Their popularity died in 2004, when emo and power pop emerged.

How I wish it was 2002 again.

Here comes the boom!

"Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera featuring Redman (2002)

Christina Aguilera: from sweet to dirrty

The year was 2002. I learned about Christina Aguilera after listening to one of her hits, titled "Come On Over (All I Want is You)". Weeks later, I bought a bootlegged cassette tape of her first album in what was the worst month of my year. Months later, I read about her controversial single and video "Dirrty" and how it spiked sex tourism in Thailand. Next year,my classmate bought me her Stripped album and invited me to his place to watch the controversial video.

"Dirrty" single cover

Man, talk about Christina Aguilera. Talk about memories. After watching her video "The Voice Within", I considered her to be one of the two whitest women in music (the other one was Michelle Branch).

I admit I did not get the best of Miss Aguilera because that time, I was so infatuated with Britney Spears. I missed Aguilera's transformation from teen pop star to sex symbol (due to the image she exhibited during the Stripped period). But it was a drastic or quick change of image, if you ask me.

Aguilera popularizing the "slut drop" dance move

Miss Spears expressed full adulthood and maturity after two albums, reason why I somewhat welcomed her persona after the release of her third album Britney. Well, I looked up to her first two albums to find support for Britney and later albums.

Xtina Aguilera's change of image a shock

About Miss Aguilera, I found just one album, few resources to find support for her drastic change in image. (I am not talking about her Spanish and Christmas albums that Aguilera released before Stripped). It was quick. She had not given her fans - fans of her bubblegum pop persona - enough content to enjoy the best of her. At least, she isn't fake, like Iggy Azalea, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Arianna Grande. But I feared she had alienated her pop fans. Here, I recalled the pop rock band The Moffats.

The looks of Christina Aguilera

The change from something teen and innocent to something sexy and racy was necessary to jump-start her career. It was to give music fans something to talk about, and not just about Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa Carlton.

2002 was one of the best years in music, just three years to go before the music would die, and thugs and whores would take over music.

Anytime, I would pick Christina Aguilera over today's artists. She is way more talented than Iggy, Miley, Katy, Arianna, Taylor Swift, Nikki Minaj, and Beyonce combined.

"Uptown Girl" by Westlife (2000)

Westlife cover is LSS of summer 2001

One of the best summer singles ever (in my list) ranking alongside "Helena" by My Chemical Romance and "Cry" by Mandy Moore (I will blog about this song some other time). This song was really in my head in the summer of 2001 until August 2001, and living through the years ahead, I have never forgotten this song.

10 summers ago, my mother bought me a book about Westlife. The book contains interesting details about the band's beginnings up to the recording of their third magnum opus World Of Our Own. The lads were lucky to land famous supermodel Claudia Schiffer as their leading lady for the music video, and member Mark Feehily had a crush on her. And yes, ten summers ago too, he came out of the closet. Hats off to Mark, one of the gay artists that I truly respect.

Picture time. Westlife with German model Claudia Schiffer (image from Angelfire.com)

Cassette tape memories

I even borrowed the cassette single from a second degree cousin, who was lucky enough to own Millennium by the Backstreet Boys and The A List by A1. It will be a year before I bought a pre-loved Coast to Coast album from a former classmate. To date, I have two Westlife cassettes given to me by my mother, two preloved cassettes I bought from my classmates, and two bootlegged ones.

Years later another old classmate gave me a bootlegged CD of their 2005 album Face to Face.

Ignorance

Due to the lack of access to information (or was it ignorance or people not telling me what I should know), I thought this was a Westlife original. I was wrong. I learned it was a Billy Joel hit few years later. I was not surprised. Westlife did an amazing job with other artists' hits - they made other artists' songs theirs. If there are any artists that can cover original hits, Westlife can do better. The Irish pop vocal band is the king of covers.

Due to the mentioning of the word "backstreet guy", I thought Westlife was poking fun at the Backstreet Boys. I used to believe there was a sort of bitter rivalry between the two. How wrong I was! If I could still remember, Westlife thanked the Backstreet Boys in one of their albums.

Should you listen to "Uptown Girl", Westlife version?

You should. This is a great song. Take it from me.

Westlife is now gone but their memories remain. Their songs still get airplay and are still being sung in karaoke bars.