So as you know, or rather you probably don't know because I don't talk about my music choices a lot other than Kike...but I really like the music of the Nozuka brothers, well the whole family actually. But I digress. I was introduced to the music of Justin Nozuka first; his voice is soo smooth, full of soul. Then I discovered his brother George, who does r&b, which I don't usually like but he does well. Both have that same smooth voice. But what really gets me is the lyrics for some of their songs.
Anyways, their songs deal with real life issues that are not usually sung about; most songs are about universal themes of love gained and lost, angst, betrayal, cheating partners, etc. Three songs standout as unusually mature in both nature and delivery by either Justin or George.
The two songs by Justin are Lullaby and Save Him.
Save Him is about a couple stuck in an abusive relationship.
At first, everything is sparkles and rainbows, a young couple in love:
She loves him more
He loves her more,
Seems like they won't ever let each other go,
Laughing and kissing it's a match made in heaven
But then we see a darker side to their marriage, one that is not noticeable in the light of day:
Deep at night I'm awakened from my dreams,
Next door, yelling cries mercy she is begging please
"Don't end my life you're all I need and darling I will never leave"
I will leave the rest of the 'story' to be discovered but the way Justin delivers the lyrics with such emotion in his voice, we have to wonder if Justin ever witnessed this type of scenario in his own familial relationships. (I think not because even though their father left, it was never described as abusive.) But the maturity and believability in which Justin delivers the haunting vocals is just chilling. It is also refreshing in comparison to the more shallower lyrics found in music today-this is real life, something that occurs to millions of women. In a way, Justin is giving a voice to those women in similar situations.
George has a similar song, a departure from his more upbeat songs, entitled Hurting Child.
This could be a companion song to Save Him, as it is from a child's perspective of familial relations.
In the middle of the night,
no one heard the boy
who cried himself to sleep
didn't care about himself cuz he
hurt too much, he was hurt too much
In the middle of the fight
no one saw the girl who thought it
was her fault, didn't know about her pain
though it was right there
no one said they cared
Both perspectives look at the affects of difficult family relationships, such as divorcing parents, abusive parents, single parents, have on the children, something that is often forgotten. George sings with such sincerity and truthfulness, and this time, he apparently reveals why:
sing for the children, dream for the children,
cry for the children now
so I sing for the children, dream for the children,
smile for the children
...I was that hurting child
Whatever the validity of George's lyric, he makes sure that a child's perspective is not lost; it confronts the listener with the potentially hurtful truth. Many times, we prefer to avoid to the truth to avoid unnecessary pain, emotional pain. Both songs by George and Justin force the listener to confront these painful realities, but at the same time, the listener can remain unattached, for one can easily stop listening nor is one forced to go out and try to change the world. Rather, I think that they hope that by providing these perspectives, they can raise awareness of the situations that people find themselves in, as well as provide comfort and acknowledgement to those in similar situations.
Lullaby I'll do later when I get more sleep/don't have a paper to finish.
