遥かな年月

The perfect song to listen to while looking back at your past, and to just let it out.

ぴこのスコア楽譜集vol,2 Key Sound Selections

This is probably the second time I've ordered something from Japan (The first also Clannad merchandise), so it's very exciting for it to finally get delivered.

Except unlike the first delivery, I had to go to my local post office to pick it up. The post office where it was delivered to was near King Edward and Main, so it's not that far of a walk, but I did go on a rainy day, because I was impatient.

So after an hour of walking to and back, I get home and open my goods; it is a "Book of Music" and "CD".

 

Let's take a look inside. Open it and we see a list of all the songs in the book (Basically most of the songs from the Clannad OST).

Also a bonus page of cartoon sketches of the Clannad cast:

My favorite song is also the hardest to play; from now on I make it my life goal to be able to play all the Clannad songs in this book! Although it may be easy for those of you who have had years of experience, I consider myself music illiterate.

It also comes with a CD with all the songs so even if I can't play them I can still enjoy their piano rendition.

All this cost about 6100円 with shipping, which is around $65.00, so I'm happy with the purchase. My first purchase was a official DVD of Clannad, and that cost over $100.00. The only reason I bought that (seeing as how Anime is very easy to obtain for free) is that the special edition came with the Dango Daikazoko Music Box. Is it worth that much? To most, of course not. To the fanatic, it's a priceless gem.

同じ高みへ / 時を刻む唄

Remixes are wonderful things. In the world of Touhou, there are hundreds of remixes of the same songs that ZUN composes in his games. Remixes are generally either played with different instruments, or in a different kind of genre.

But today's song is a piece from the Visual Novel / Anime Clannad. Here is the original piece:

同じ高みへ (To the Same Heights):

And now the remixes, first a piano rendition:

A more upbeat, techno, version (also used in the anime):

This song is so amazing that they remixed it and used it as the second season opening theme (Clannad After Story) 時を刻む唄 (The Song that Passes Time):

Lyrics

落ちていく砂時計ばかり見てるよ

Ochite iku sunadokei bakari miteru yo

さかさまにすればほらまた始まるよ

Sakasama ni sureba hora mata hajimaru yo

刻んだだけ進む時間に

Kizanda dake susumu jikan ni

いつか僕も入れるかな

Itsuka boku mo haireru kana

きみだけが過ぎ去った坂の途中は

Kimi dake ga sugisatta saka no tochuu wa

あたたかな日だまりがいくつもできてた

Atataka na hidamari ga ikutsu mo dekiteta
僕ひとりがここで優しい

Boku hitori ga koko de yasashii
温かさを想い返してる

Atatakasa o omoikaeshiteru

きみだけをきみだけを

Kimi dake o kimi dake o
好きでいたよ

Suki de ita yo
風で目が滲んで

Kaze de me ga nijinde

遠くなるよ

Tooku naru yo

いつまでも　覚えてる

Itsu made mo   oboeteru

なにもかも変わっても

Nani mo ka mo kawatte mo
ひとつだけ　ひとつだけ

Hitotsu dake   hitotsu dake

ありふれたものだけど

Arifureta mono da kedo

見せてやる　輝きに満ちたそのひとつだけ

Misete yaru   kagayaki ni michita sono hitotsu dake

いつまでもいつまでも守っていく

Itsu made mo itsu made mo mamotte iku

肌寒い日が続く　もう春なのに

Hadazamui hi ga tsuzuku   mou haru na no ni

目覚し時計より早く起きた朝

Mezamashidokei yori hayaku okita asa

三人分の朝ご飯を作るきみが

Sanninbun no asa-gohan o tsukuru kimi ga

そこに立っている

Soko ni tatte iru

きみだけがきみだけが

Kimi dake ga kimi dake ga

そばにいないよ

Soba ni inai yo

昨日まですぐそばで僕を見てたよ

Kinou made sugu soba de boku o miteta yo

きみだけをきみだけを

Kimi dake o kimi dake o

好きでいたよ

Suki de ita yo

きみだけときみだけと

Kimi dake to kimi dake to

歌う唄だよ

Utau uta da yo

僕たちの僕たちの

Boku-tachi no boku-tachi no

刻んだ時だよ

Kizanda toki da yo

片方だけ続くなんて

Katahou dake tsuzuku nante

僕はいやだよ

Boku wa iya da yo

いつまでも　覚えてる

Itsu made mo   oboeteru

この町が変わっても

Kono machi ga kawatte mo

どれだけの悲しみと出会うことになっても

Dore dake no kanashimi to deau koto ni natte mo 

見せてる　本当は強かったときのこと

Misete yaru   hontou wa tsuyokatta toki no koto

さあいくよ　歩き出す　坂の道を  

Saa iku yo   arukidasu   saka no michi o

Source: http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/clannadas/tokiokizamuuta.htm

Adding lyrics to an instrumental piece can really give it a new flavor of life. 

And now we go to remixes of this remix. Here are two Mario Paint Composer remixes. I personally prefer the first one, just because it uses the Symphony Soundfont, but I have always been a fan of balloon303 (the second one's composer):

バンブラDX remix:

Here's a bonus (And my personal favorite):

 

それは風のように

それは風のように ~ That's like the wind.

My new year's resolution? Create a blog and post everyday.

I've always wondered why people created blogs. Was it to share their ideas to the world? Most likely.

For me however, a blog is merely an archive for your own information, which is freely accessible to others who wish to read it. You do not write a blog for others to read; you write a blog for yourself to read.

It is a perfect test of not only composition of text, but also of time management. Much dedication is required to post everyday. Not only must you free up time to do so, but you also must have content to discuss. Obviously what is discussed and to what depth depends on the day and time of year, but if I can do at least one post a day, that is enough for me.

What is this blog about? Nothing in particular; that's like the wind. Always free to move about; a calm breeze.

So is the origin of the blog name. それは風のように (Sore wa kaze no you ni)

A more in-depth origin would link to a Key Visual Novel, CLANNAD:

 

Kyou Fujibayashi's (藤林 杏) theme was always my favorite of the Clannad girls, but personally I'll always prefer the Nagisa end. If only we could all have a Nagisa end, the world would be a better place, but sometimes we just have to take the Tomoyo After route (Not to say that the Tomoyo After is worse, but it's just a matter of preference). A really obscure metaphor that only those who've played or watched Clannad will understand.

Saturday blog posts will most likely just be a song video, mainly because my Saturday's can get hectic (My "homework" day for a lack of a better term).

But with still a few more days until Spring semester starts, I can ramble on for a bit longer.

Why do we celebrate the new year? Why do we say "Happy New Year"? I've always been a pessimist, so for me, there is nothing "happy" about a new year. Just another year full of 絶望　(Zetsubou; despair).

But we all have our "fix"; our raison d'être. If you don't, there's still plenty of time to find one. If you've lost yours, remember this:

The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long.

That is enough to escape a world of despair.