ItalianoGACKT turns the dark side lurking in his heart into something beautiful in his new song 「Tsumi no Keisho ～ORIGINAL SIN～」
GACKT’s first single of 2017, 「Tsumi no Keisho ～ORIGINAL SIN～」 was released on March 22. He told us a lot about the deep thoughts about the pursuit of human nature that was embedded in the song, and he also revealed the changes that happened to him when he moved overseas.
■My newest song 「Tsumi no Keisho ～ORIGINAL SIN～」approached the darkness in my heart
「The theme of my newest song, 『Tsumi no Keisho ～ORIGINAL SIN～』, considers the existence of humans as a sin in itself, and it’s a sin that endlessly repeats itself. From here, those on the receiving end can freely judge for themselves but for things like your own personal trauma or emotional scars, I think those are something like the “parts of sin = Pandora’s box” of human nature. But there’s no need ot hide that or deny it. What’s important is figuring out how you’ll face that Pandora’s within you and continue living」
「It’s being used as the ending theme song of the anime 『TRICKSTER -Edogawa Ranpo 「Shonen Tanteidan」 Yori-』, and the song expresses the “darkness that a person holds in their hearts”, like what the character I voice, the Fiend with Twenty Faces (a criminal whose nationality, gender, and age are unknown) has. When I started writing this song, I wasn’t consciously thinking of the content of the anime, and I simply followed what sprung up from within me. But in the end, I created a song that might be the key to unlocking the mystery of why the Fiend with Twenty Faces became a the criminal of the century」
■An expressionist who can bring the “aesthetics of madness” to life
「Regardless of what the theme of the song I’m creating is, my preference of having a beautiful melody will definitely never change. While writing the song or recording it, the more I change it the more difficult it gets, and there are even times when I end up with a song that’s impossible for me to sing (laughs). Then I’ll continue until I can sing it, so it’s always never ending.
I always hold onto the “aesthetic of madness” in the music and works that I create, and in my way of life too. I can’t get myself to like things that aren’t accompanied by that. Especially since music is not something that you can see with your eyes but instead something that is captured as an image in your head when you listen to it in each ear and imagine. Depending on the listener, there are people who can see a beautiful image although the sounds are filled with madness. In the music video for this song, there’s a scene where the girl drenched in blood smiles so I think that expresses the “aesthetics of madness” that I’ve mentioned」
■ I “think” to be me
「As an expressionist, it is important for me to know what I prefer as I live. Those who aren’t particular about anything take in whatever is given to them without resistance, and live by reacting to external events without thinking. Because thinking is a tedious act so it’s easier and more relaxing to live without thinking. But I try not to pour too much information into myself. I look for the information that I want to know about on my own, and I look for the things that I want to look at on my own. I choose the information I want to take in but, that’s why I’m me」
「Within myself, I don’t care about what is judged as good or bad in this era. What is considered good now could have been considered as bad 50 years ago anyway, and depending on the era and the setting, the judgement of whether something is good or bad changes. So, is it meaningful for yourself to do it or not, do you like it or not? Through that, you go with your way of life with the standards that you keep for yourself. It’s rigid to think about something according to the judgement of good or bad that was decided by those around you, and in the end, you’ll only be able to live according to someone else’s way of life. That’s why, since whether someone is unique or not is in the end decided by the people around us, I don’t care about it at all (laughs). There are rules in society but in terms of thinking, people are free. There are many who struggle to balance between the side of them that stays with the rules of society, and thinking freely」
■I came to understand the true meaning of “elegance” for the first time when I moved overseas
「I understood, for the first time, the meaning of the word “elegance” when I started to live overseas. It’s actually extremely difficult to be elegant, and even when want to spend 3 hours elegantly, everyone soon starts to fidget with there phones. It requires courage and effort to drop everything that you have at that moment and create space in your mind. Until now, I’ve always thought that I can’t spend time like that simply because I’m busy but in reality, when I tried to stare at the scenery from my home overseas for 3 hours, it was extremely arduous (laughs). There was no space in me at all, and I realised that I couldn’t enjoy the location at all. When I was a student I was able to spend time zoning out at the river side but I’ve become completely unable to do that at all now, it’s like a modern day illness. Compared to my school days, both the amount of money I have and the environment I’m in are different, and at a glance I may appear to be more elegant now but, that’s not the case, and if I can’t recover that, I’ll go up in smoke」
「I still hold a lot of respect for a woman I used to date though, and when we went to the beach together, she would always be reading a book in the shade of the trees, and when I looked at her, I’ll think 『How elegant』. I tried to read a book next to her too but, I didn’t know what to do with the time on my hands at all (laughs). I would soon want to start training, and I feel like I have to move.
Even though I think that I’ve picked the information that I want to receive, when I realise that I, myself, have not actually chosen anything and have become unable to move in a number of directions, I’ll feel scared. I suppose this is the most uncool type. Now I’ve become able to create time to empty my heart and my mind, and again what I feel is changing. When I was living in Japan, I couldn’t really do it but I can wander around a department store while enjoying my freedom. Because it became possible for me to create the state that was essential for me, I hope that you’d look forward to GACKT’s works from here on too」
Source: headlines.yahoo.co.jp
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA