How Michael Jackson made his unique sound －マイケル・ジャクソンはどうやってあの独特な歌い方を作ったか－

I have never been a big fan of Michael Jackson, the so called “King of Pop.”

But I was listening to some of his songs on Spotify recently, and I was reminded how many great hits he had – Thriller, Bad, Smooth Criminal and Blame it on the Boogie, to name a few.

What you also notice about Michael Jackson is his unique singing style.  He punctuates his singing with little squeals and funky noises, which are a bit like high-pitched coughs.

“Ah-hnng – Stop pressuring me!  Ah-hwyygh – Stop pressuring me – Glagh – It makes me wanna scream – Whoo!”

Listening to the great variety of little noises he made while singing, it made me wonder how he came up with his unique singing style.

After much consideration, I decided that probably he was performing in shoes which were two sizes too small for him.  One day, he must have ordered a new pair of shoes, and put them on just before the concert started.  They were too tight for him, but the concert was just about to start and he had no time to find another pair.  So he went on stage and started singing and dancing, all the while in a lot of pain from his tight shoes.

“You know I’m bad – Aoow! – I’m bad – Eek! – I’m really, really bad – Ouch!”

The audience loved his new sound.  And Michael wore those tight shoes for the rest of his career.

 

Vocabulary:

to punctuate A with B – to mark A with regular little breaks of B.  For example, “He was very unhappy.  He told me what had happened, but he punctuated his story with cries and sobs.”

a squeal (verb: to squeal) – a very high cry or sound.  For example, “The piglets (baby pigs) squealed to get their mother’s attention.”

 

Are You a Cat Person? －ネコ派ですか？－

 What a wonderful thing it is to have a pet!  When you feel stressed or down, they are a great comfort.  And in times of crisis, they can help in other ways. 

I am more of a cat person than a dog person.  Here are some thoughts I had about the usefulness of pets in a crisis.

 

The Long Siege Swing 

Well, hungry honey, let me whisper in your ear:

Everybody wants to eat a cat,

Because a cat’s got meat and fat,

If you know where it’s at.

Notice: everyone’s picking up on that feline meat,

‘Cause even the dogs are obsolete.

 

A rat with a tail

Makes your jaw muscles fail,

When they chew the plague.

With a ‘roach in a pot,

Though with mustard, and hot:

It will taste quite vague

Cha-cha-ba-dum-bo-day

 

Who wants to catch a lark, or bony stuff like that;

When everybody wants to eat a cat?

 

Vocabulary:

a siege – a military operation to surround an enemy or group, and prevent them from accessing food or supplies

feline – of cats or related to cats

obsolete – no longer produced or used; out of date

a ‘roach – a cockroach (a kind of insect)

a lark – a kind of bird

 

An Olympics without Fans －ファンのいないオリンピック－（ジャパンタイムズに記事が掲載されました）

I wrote an article about the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  You can find the link here:

ウィルのジャパンタイムズ掲載記事リンク（2021/05/10）

 

The Olympics usually has exciting moments, such as underdogs surprising everyone by winning their event.  But will the Olympics be exciting without the atmosphere produced by fans in the stadiums?  How exciting can a 100 meter sprint really be, when it finishes in only ten seconds?

 

Vocabulary:

an underdog – a person who is expected to lose in a competition or contest

A Four Year-old’s Idea of Death －４歳児が持つ死のイメージ－

How do you teach a four year old about death? 

Thankfully, my four year old son has never had to see any people die.  But he nevertheless got into some kind of panic about the concept of death recently. 

The trouble started when he got confused about the connection between getting older and getting bigger. 

“When I’m five,” he asked, “Will I be as big as Mummy?” 

“No,” I answered.  “Maybe you’ll be bigger than Mummy when you are 16.” 

“And when will I be bigger than you, Daddy?” he asked.  “Will I be bigger than you when I am 100?” 

I laughed.  “No.  When you are 100, I will be dead.” 

He didn’t seem upset at the time, just a bit confused.  He had never experienced death as a problem for humans.  Perhaps the only time we had previously discussed death in front of him was when we bought poison in case we had any trouble with cockroaches. 

But a few days later, when I was about to brush his teeth, my son suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably.  “I don’t want you to die, Daddy!” he said. 

“I’m not going to die for a long time, don’t worry!” I said.  “And anyway, when I die, I’ll go to Heaven.  It will be great in Heaven.  Maybe I can meet God there, and I can ask him lots of questions.  And when you get very, very, very old, you can meet me in Heaven again!” 

By the way, as I see it, there are no cockroaches in Heaven.  They go to their own afterlife, I think. 

I thought I had solved my son’s tears and panic about death.  But I think I talked about Heaven just a bit too much.  A few days later, my son started crying again.  “I want to go to Heaven now!” he said. 

No wonder people came up with religions, in order to have an easier answer to give to these sorts of questions.

 

Vocabulary:

to sob – to cry noisily, making loud gasps for air between tears