Fanon Soundtrack Project:

Can't quite call Belle & Sebastian "starting off with a bang". But a very precise songcall and one of the most instantly memorable melodies ever, cinematic even before the strings and vaguely Ennio Morricone-ish trumpet/twangy guitar come in.

I fought in a war, and I left my friends behind me
To go looking for the enemy, and it wasn't very long
Before I would stand with another boy in front of me
And a corpse that just fell into me, with the bullets flying round

* And I reminded myself of the words you said when we were getting on
And I bet you're making shells back home for a steady boy to wear
Round his neck, well it won't hurt to think of you as if you're waiting for
This letter to arrive because I'll be here quite a while

I fought in a war, and I left my friends behind me
To go looking for the enemy, and it wasn't very long
Before I found out that the sickness there ahead of me
Went beyond the bedsit infamy of the decade gone before

* repeat

I fought in a war, and I didn't know where it would end
It stretched before me infinitely, I couldn't really think
Of the day beyond now, keep your head down pal
There's trouble plenty in this hour, this day
I can see hope I can see light

* repeat
(close notes)

Picks up that guitar line and runs - no, strides with it, right down the center of the street, hand on hilt and patterned sleeves fluttering in the wind. Unarmed civilians are getting out of the way. Like something Quentin Tarentino might drop in a samurai flick if he were less than concerned with historical accuracy, which he likely is (less than concerned, I mean).
(close notes)

Basically an instrumental version with more synths and a programmed drum track. The track is reprised later on with vocals, because if there were a theme music to PMK in my head this would be it. Ambush and murder on a spring night; the scent of blood mingles with that of crushed sakura.
(close notes)

Eerie, syncopated calm; uneasy beauty. "The dance of ninjas in the moonlight." Ayumu and Susumu.

I'm sure it is bright
but you left so early that morning

It's known for its light
It's not very far
Come back to me

For the moonlight

It's so dangerous here
Love takes my time
Love makes me worry

But it ain't so far
to where you are
We still can meet

In the moonlight
In the moonlight
(close notes)

A right turn and a side approach to Souji's mindset. For Kristin's HijiOki high school AU/futurefic (^^;) - rather, what I would write for it if I were writing, which I'm not, because this is one of those songcalls that do the business of a fic.

(English translation follows the romaji)

dare no tame ni koko made kita no
dare no tame ni matteru no
dare no tame ni kono ai wa aru no
futo kitzuite tachidomatte
tooi hi wo omoidashita yo
kawaranai koto kawatta koto
dochira mo daiji
amaku setsunaku kagayakumono wa
kowareta guitar to onaji
kaeranai oto wa kokoro no naka de
narihibiku eien ni

watashi ga anata ni agetai mono wa
kazoerareru mono ja nai
sono mune de te de kokoro de tashikamete
kono shunkan ga
kowarete kako ni naru mae ni

kako ni ikeru ooku no hito wa
genjitsu o shinjinai hito
toori suginakereba mezamenai hito
machigau koto wo osorenai koto
machigai wo wasurenai koto
ima wo mitsumeru koto no hou ga motto daiji
ashita no yume to sabireta kioku
tashikana mono nado nai
dakedo anata ni furisosogu ame wa
genjitsu to iu namida

watashi ga anata ni agetai mono wa
kazoerareru mono ja nai
sono mune de te de kokoro de tashikamete
kono shunkan ga
anata wo dakishimeteru uchi ni

***

For whom did I come here
For whom am I waiting
For whom does this love exist
Realised in a flash, stopped in my tracks
I remembered a day long ago
Things that changed, things that haven't
Which are more important?
Sweet and sad and brilliant things
Are like a broken guitar
A sound that won't return
That calls out in one's heart, forever

There's no way of counting
The things I want to give you
Make certain of it with your body
With your hand, with your heart
Before this instant breaks and becomes the past

People who live in the past are mostly
Those who don't believe in reality
Who can't wake up until it's passed them by
As for not being afraid of making mistakes
Or not forgetting those that have been made
It's more important to be looking at the here and now
Dreams of tomorrow and the unfrequented past
Aren't solid or anything
But this rain that pours down on you
is made of tears called reality

There's no way of counting
The things I want to give you
Make certain of it with your body
With your hand, with your heart
In this instant, while I'm holding you close
(close notes)

Tak Matsumoto is the dreadfully famous guitarist of B'z, and... gosh, if this weren't so Asian it'd sound like Dire Straits. Instrumental fretwank, as befits a lead guitarist solo project, but lovely uplifting background music. Matsuri fireworks-watching in SIPM vol.6 and such.
(close notes)

Tetsu, and Tatsu, and... Ilfracombe is some small town in Ontario, I'm betting, not England. ^^; It would be somewhat simplistic to call this a weird song association produced by gawking at Kurono's modern-dress character scribbles; rather it's out-and-out AU, the kind where you can see the other world through a glass, darkly - dream it, perhaps. Not as happy a song as it seems at first.

* This summer i'm gonna get us a motorbike
To ride us up to Ilfracombe
And over to Ravenscliff

And it won't be the fancy kind
Ride good for the easy wind
Be with me in the corners careful to hold on tight

And we would never highway ride
We'd take the quiet roads beside
And park along a corn field
When it suits us right
suits us right

* repeat

And my brother would be terrified
He's had some friends that nearly died
I said that I'd be careful and try not to ride at night
He said, that's what they always say
Then a transport truck gets in your way
I want you holding flowers there at my wedding day
Wedding day

* repeat

And when the fascists lock the city down
And the riot police gather all around
Will we laugh, will we laugh, will we laugh
That once we romanticized
We practically fucking fantasized
About the downfall of a city
About the downfall of a country
About the downfall of a lifetime

This summer i'm gonna get us a motorbike
Something with some saddlebags
That we can pack a picnic in
This summer i'm gonna get us a motorbike
Something cheap on gasoline
To get us into town and back
(close notes)

Oh lud love me, the tambourine!... But if anyone in this series were jangly conflicted indiepop it'd be Tatsunosuke. Tatsu and Ryouma: it's not you, it's me, etc.

I can wake up to a bad day
I know how to go from there
But you I can't handle

It's not that you're not welcome
You're amazing in my eyes
It's me that change too much around you

You are one of those people

I can think of a million reasons
And times when I should shut my mouth
But I feel like a fool around you

You are one of those people
that just ain't good for everyone
I have nothing against you people
But I don't like what I become

We will never know each other
It's not much to cry about
But why I get so strange around you
might be something to work out
(close notes)

Jazzy, somewhat reminiscent of Sade. One of the songs I had on repeat while writing "Haru no Tsuki". Most of that playlist didn't make it here, due to the overwhelming solipsism of "This reminds me of the series because I was listening to this while ficcing the series," but the following lyrical association is compelling enough. Even if it's morbid as hell to be thinking of Souji in his sickbed.

(English translation follows the romaji)

Ame ga hashaideru michi
Kuroneko odoru
Kinou atta kodomo no kao
Tottemo akai

* Karada ga mata naiteru
Hadaka no mama neru no
Ashita ga kuru made
Soramimi bakari ne

Migakisugita yoru no yuka marude kuroi umi
Umaku hodoita te to kawaita hada to

* repeat

Karada ga naiteru
Hadaka de matteru
Anata ga kuru made
Soramimi bakari ne
Kaze no ashioto uwasa no oto
Yoru no ashioto anata no oto

***

Rain frolicking in the road
A black cat dances
The face of the child I met yesterday
Was very red

* My body weeps again
I sleep naked
Until tomorrow comes
I'll be hearing things

My over-polished night bed
Is like a black sea
Hands well apart and thirsty skin

* repeat

My body weeps
I wait, naked
Until you come
I'm just hearing things
Footsteps of the wind, sound of rumours
Footsteps of the night, sound of you
(close notes)

Ah, and now the original version... This is batshit-insane post-Ikedaya kuroneko!Suzu, of course, speaking of morbidity. In the last three interviews with Robert Smith I read he claimed the Cure are not and never were goth; don't ask me how he'd classify this (and note that as Cure albums go The Head On The Door qualifies as an accessible pop effort).

A nightmare of you
Of death in the pool
Wakes me up at quarter to three
I'm lying on the floor of the night before
With a stranger lying next to me
A nightmare of you
Of death in the pool
I see no further now than this dream
The trembling hands of the trembling man
Hold my mouth
To hold in a scream

I try to think
To make it slow
If only here is where I go
If this is real
I have to see
I turn on fire
And next to me...
It looks good!
It tastes like nothing on earth
It looks good!
It tastes like nothing on earth
Its so smooth, it even feels like skin
It tells me how it feels to be new

It tells me how it feels to be new
A thousand voices whisper it true
It tells me how it feels to be new
And every voice belongs
Every voice belongs to you
(close notes)

It's been said before, but... if only Ayu could have sung worth a damn back then, because the songwriting on her first album was tops. ^^; Acoustic piano take; lovely, and very sad. Ref. Souji in winter.

(English translation follows the romaji)

mou hitori kiri ni shite oite hoshii no
dare mo watashi o shiranu basho e nigetai no
sonna koto machigatte iru to semerareyou to kore ijou
kokoro ga mou motanai ashita wa iranai no

nakitai dake naite mo ii? namida karete shimau kurai
ima nara shiroi yukitachi ga nagashite keshite kureru deshou
nee tasukete

sou koukai nado hitotsu mo shite nai no
itsu mo donna toki mo ima o ikite kita
omokage mo ashiato sae nani hitotsu nokoranai kurai
rousoku ga tokete kono akari kietara

oogoe de sakende mo ii? koe ga karete shimau kurai
ima nara shiroi yukitachi mo subete yurushite kureru deshou
nee onegai

ryoute hirogete kagayaku yuki atsumetai dake na no ni ne
doushite... hakanai...

nakitai dake naite mo ii? namida karete shimau kurai
ima nara shiroi yukitachi ga nagashite keshite kureru deshou

oogoe de sakende mo ii? koe ga karete shimau kurai
ima nara shiroi yuki tachi mo subete yurushite kureru deshou

nakitai dake naite mo ii? namida karete shimau kurai
oogoe de sakende mo ii? koe ga karete shimau kurai

nakitai dake naite mo ii?
oogoe de sakende mo ii?
yuki yamu made

***

I want to be left alone
To escape to a place where no one knows me
That I'm mistaken, that I'm on the defensive
Is all I have in my heart, I don't need tomorrow

Can I cry as much as I want to?
Until my tears wither away
Perhaps the white snow will fall and erase it all
Please help me

That's right, I don't regret anything
I've lived in the present, no matter when
So as not to leave a single image or footprint
If the candle burns down and this light goes out

Can I scream at the top of my lungs?
Until my voice withers away
Perhaps the white snow will absolve me of it all
Please

I spread my arms wide
I just want to gather the shining snow
But why is it so fleeting...

Can I cry as much as I want to?
Until my tears wither away
Perhaps the white snow will fall and erase it all

Can I scream at the top of my lungs?
Until my voice withers away
Perhaps the white snow will absolve me of it all

Can I cry as much as I want to?
Can I scream at the top of my lungs?
Until the snow stops
(close notes)

My pick for "track most likely to turn up simultaneously on someone else's FST". Here it's Yamanami and Akesato, PMK vol.2 - pit of angst, quite right - and I rather desperately hope everyone has heard it already and thus have no need for me to describe the music. (I doubt "like New Order's 'Temptation' on mild sedation" is a blurb that'd fly with most.)

I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you
(close notes)

In Which Tatsu Loses It. For Alex, eheh, both in terms of the music proper and the character association. As I read PMK vol.3 I realised there was much less instinctive extrapolation and much more fact in this songcall than I'd assumed. In other words, A Winner Is Me.

(You'll notice the below isn't precisely what he's singing. I found 2-3 versions of the lyrics online and none of them are it; it's like "Hallelujah" all over again! But close enough will do. =_=)

Once I had my heroes
Once I had my dreams
But all of that is changed now
They've turned things inside out
The truth is not that comfortable, no

And mother taught us patience
The virtues of restraint
And father taught us boundaries
Beyond which we must go
To find the secrets promised us, yeah

* That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when it all gets blown away
That's when I reach for my revolver
The spirit fights to find its way

A friend of mine once told me
His one and only aim
To build a giant castle
And live inside his name
Cry and whispers sing in muted pain

* repeat

Tonight the sky is empty
But that is nothing new
Its dead eyes look upon us
And tell me that we're nothing but slaves

That's when I reach for my revolver
(close notes)

A poetic thesis of lost innocence. Minor-key acoustic singer-songwriter-ness.

When blood sees blood
Of its own
It sings to see itself again
It sings to hear the voice it's known
It sings to recognize the face

One body split and passed along the line
From the shoulder to the hip
I know these bones as being mine
And the curving of the lip

And my question to you is:
How did this come to pass?
How did this one life fall so far and fast?

Some are lean and some with grace, and some without;
All tell the story that repeats
Of a child who had been left alone at birth
Left to fend and taught to fight

See his eyes and how they start with light
Getting colder as the pictures go
Did he carry his bad luck upon his back?
That bad luck we've all come to know

And my question to you is:
How did this come to pass?
How did this one life fall so far and fast?

When blood sees blood
Of its own
It sings to see itself again
(close notes)

Into the playlist of "Haru no Tsuki" again; which is as much to say, foreshadowing. Impetuous, climactic melancholy. There are vocals to the song, and thus lyrics, but its purpose in the mix is essentially instrumental.

Drive with me
Do the things you won't believe
Drive with me
Past the city and down to sea

Crushing dreams
Leave me be, I cannot sleep

Drown with me
Past the city, down to sea
Rush of dreams
Leave in peace, let me be

Oh, it's the pain
It's ingrained in me
Oh, soothe my pain
It's ingrained in me

Drive with me
(close notes)

You're going to have to turn up the volume; no, it's not the mp3, he really is singing that low in the mix. Full circle to the beginning (this is, remember, how the manga starts as well - with the end of the story - not just the reader's knowledge of the historical extratext), and a hellish tearjerker.

These mist-covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
(close notes)