Nakata Ryo, leader of funk band Osaka Monaurail, talks about the potential of protest songs and the role of musicians in relation to the war.
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I was fifteen, and it was
an unforgettable summer. -
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That's when I first heard
Ray Charles on the radio. -
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The way he sang "hey,"
"whoa," it was electrifying. -
0m 17s
I thought "man, that's my jam!"
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"Australia Tour
May 16–24, 2022" -
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That was our fifth or
sixth time visiting Australia. -
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Osaka Monaurail, a funk orchestra formed in Japan in 1992.
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Highly regarded overseas, especially in the London funk scene.
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The band has released 8 albums.
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At every show, we said a few words
about peace, ending the war, -
1m 33s
stopping Putin, and
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the lives of the Ukrainians.
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That was part of our message.
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After Sir Waldo Weathers' session,
some guy from the audience -
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came up to us and said,
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"Go, freedom fighters!"
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It was so encouraging,
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and even Weathers was moved.
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"February 24, 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine" -
2m 26s
"What Japanese artists think"
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Terrifying.
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It's just terrifying.
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The antiwar voices could be
louder compared to the Vietnam War, -
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but they aren't.
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It's easier to protest now,
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there are more tools
for expressing opinions. -
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But those platforms don't
actually unite people. -
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They don't seem to be
working in that way. -
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We are all victims of fake news
and information warfare, though -
3m 50s
I think
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we're confused
not by malicious content, -
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but the oversupply of information.
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The problem seems to be that
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we don't really have serious discussions.
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We say all these things online,
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but it's more important that we
talk with the people around us, -
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at the level of community,
prefecture, nation, -
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and then government policy.
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That's the most crucial thing.
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This song is called
State of the World. -
5m 08s
It's about globalization,
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social inequality,
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the unbridled growth of big business
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and war, you know,
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all the signs that lead to dystopia.
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The song isn't about solutions,
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just the problems.
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Putin isn't the only dictator,
not now, or historically, -
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which is incredible, right?
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It doesn't matter what
their motives are, be it -
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money,
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power, or just
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keeping their position.
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But millions of people die
because of arbitrary actions. -
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It's nothing new,
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but why does it keep happening?
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It's an inexplicable pattern,
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and now we're seeing it again.
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In 1967 and '68, the genre of
African-American music called soul -
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changed significantly.
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Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated in 1968, -
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a year after he publicly
opposed the Vietnam War. -
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Back then, soul music was mainly
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love songs and pop arrangements
of gospel music. -
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But those styles weren't enough
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to express people's anxiety,
their distrust of authority, -
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and impatience at
the drawn-out war. -
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Soul music had to find a style
that spoke for the people. -
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And so funk music was born
in the late 1960s. -
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The difference was, simply put,
a departure from love songs. -
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It focused on rhythm, and the words
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were like speech. No nice melodies,
no chord progression even, -
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just a kind of constant flow.
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Protest songs reflect
the world's situation, -
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and there are
common messages. -
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We say "wake up."
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"WAKE UP"
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Each of us has to wake up and
act, together. -
10m 51s
No one would act
on your behalf, right? -
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You must wake up and
do something for yourself -
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and other people.
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Then we say "move,"
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"MOVE"
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meaning that each of us
has to make an effort -
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to move forward, together.
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"UNITY"
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Then we say "unity" or "unite."
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It's a key concept in the
protest songs that grew out -
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of the late 60s
and early 70s. -
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There's real strength in numbers.
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I expected people
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to come together against
this war, but no. -
12m 01s
Many say that America is
behind things, so it's -
12m 07s
pointless to speak up.
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Others say that Putin
isn't the only bad guy, -
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that Zelenskyy is also wrong.
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We're a lot less united
than I thought we'd be. -
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That's a huge problem.
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In soul music,
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they usually don't mention
concrete matters. -
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Artists like John Lennon, too,
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they kept singing about love,
peace and equality, -
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but that didn't end the wars.
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So I used to think
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that abstract messages had
no power to stop a war. -
12m 57s
Chanting "love" and "peace"
may not stop wars right away, -
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but now I believe that they
haven't been said enough. -
13m 11s
The messages must be passed
from generation to generation, -
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and it's my duty to do so.
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"What Unites Us"
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Before this invasion,
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we hadn't thought much
about what peace meant. -
13m 49s
I think we weren't prepared
to react to the outbreak of war. -
13m 57s
It's a question of mindset.
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People think Ukraine is so far
and somehow unrelated to us. -
14m 10s
But we're a part of them,
of the conflict. -
14m 17s
We ought to take an
active role in it. -
14m 22s
We are all...
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a part of it.
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That's what I want to
express through my songs.