This "Ride" is my first solo acoustic tour since 2023. The 2023 tour was planned as a 10th anniversary project, but I've decided to make it my life's work. I usually perform live with a band, but I think the format of solo acoustics is the easiest way to express the qualities of the songs.
Recently, I rarely feel a sense of accomplishment after a live performance. I think that's because performing live has become a part of my daily routine. This time in Hokkaido, we performed at three locations, but the first performance in Hakodate was hectic because our flight was delayed.
But once I'm on stage, I feel calm. I get nervous before we perform, but once the performance starts, I can confirm that "this is where I belong." All of the venues on this Hokkaido tour were new to me, but that doesn't change even when it's a new place I visit. I think the cooperation of many people has made this a place where I can feel at ease.
I have quite a few love songs myself, but when I think of love songs, the first thing that comes to mind is Van Morrison's "Crazy Love." Van Morrison is known for his loud, shouty voice, but this song on the album is the only one in which he sings in a thin, gentle voice. I think the love songs I like all have a common thread: they're not loud.
When I sing about love, I want to sing as quietly as possible. I get a little scared when I sing about love out loud.
For example, I have a song called "Torch" that I wrote with butaji, and I think that song could be broadly categorized as a love song. We can't fully understand the suffering and loneliness of others, but how can we live in the same world, and how can we find the words to express it? I think that's what I was thinking when I wrote "Torch."
When I sing, I never think of a big story, but rather a one-on-one conversation. That's why I sang "You're the only one who laughed that night" in "Torch." When you look at it from the perspective of two lonely people, I feel like a relationship that can save each other emerges.
The city has already changed
Yuta Orisaka "Torch"
On a night without light or life
It's just you that night
The guy who was laughing so much
The ideal love song is a song of big love that doesn't get paid back
From the perspective of love songs, the song "Untitled 4" by Daisuke Tobari, which a staff member introduced to me the other day, is also really good. The lyrics "I love you" are repeated throughout the song, but all the other songs on the album have an avant-garde feel. However, "Untitled 4" is the only song that has a comforting feel to it. Like Van Morrison's "Crazy Love," I'm really drawn to songs like that.
It's not about getting it back with a big love, but rather it's about a place that only I know, a place that only you are. For me, that's the ideal image of a love song.
The line "I think I love the world you're in" in "Hachisu" (included in the album "Jumon") could certainly be said to be love song-like. Also, speaking of my own song "Douyaku" there's a line in it that goes "As I wake up to a morning where I can't choose, I begin to realize one thing: a kiss for you," and that was a song I wrote while thinking about writing my own version of a love song.
I "love" the world you're in
Yuta Orisaka "Hachisu"
I think so.
In the wind that rustles the lotus leaves
Why do people seek out love songs? Well, I guess... these days, even when I listen to so-called love songs, they don't really move me. When I was in my teens and twenties and in love, I felt like the songs were penetrating my heart, but now I don't feel that way when I listen to them.
I think it's easier to be moved by a story that overlaps with your own situation. As a songwriter, I can't deny that kind of emotional movement, but I've been thinking recently about the dangers of being boxed in by a story.
I think love songs are included in that category, but I think there's an irresistible charm to mundane things. I also borrow that power to some extent when I make music, but I don't want to get swallowed up by the story. I think love is an abstract thing, which is why it generates such great power, but that's why I don't want to sing about love in a loud voice, but rather sing love songs from a small perspective.
In other words, I don't want to leave it up to other people to express love. I don't want to borrow from expressions that already exist, I want to think about it myself. That's what I've been thinking about recently.
