One listen, and this one felt like it went by a lot faster than it did. Mostly switched off. Switched off more than usual, which was great. Not sure how well what I wrote represents the song, but I’m not fussed here. I think what I wrote mostly flows well. Mostly.

Joe Hisaishi’s (藤澤 守) “HANA-BI” is from Hana-Bi, the soundtrack for the Takeshi Kitano (北野 武) film, Hana-Bi.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Strings gentle descend, though perhaps oddly. They are almost smooth. They are rough, but they layer smoothly, and they stir as though dust before settling again. In here there was violence, perhaps. Soon they give way to new sound, something a bit more joyous.

This new space is more driven by beat, and the strings remain there, and there’s something here that’s more specifically urban. More distressed, tensile… and that tension teases before the whole song blooms.

Dramatic, flowing, and without being climactic, though feeling very much so, these sounds carry their steps, walking through a realisation. Shock, and perhaps horror comes forward, and with all the beauty and grace the background of violence can frame, the last note is held by strings before the song ends.