koe.

Many of you know that I'm a big fan of Hatsune Miku. Shortly after I returned from my mission, I discovered a song that had been written back in 2012 by my favorite group that uses the Vocaloid program. The group is called supercell (with a lower-case 's'), and they were made famous through using Miku's voice. The group leader, Ryo, leads the band and writes most of the music and lyrics. 

Since supercell's beginnings in 2007, they have used several live vocalists to sing their music. However, Ryo likes to surprise the community by releasing songs sung by Miku every once in a while. His latest song, Odds & Ends, has a very touching story. It is a self-portrait of Ryo's life as he has become big through his music using the Vocaloid program. This song is a tribute to the medium and singer that helped him shine. Please listen, and then I'd like to talk about it a little bit.

Odds & Ends

by Ryo

Lyrics translated to English

You've always been hated
Unlucky, you're made to do things
And at last, get caught in the rain
The wind blows away your favorite umbrella
Saying "good work"
The stray over there steps on your legs

As usual, you're hated
Pushed away without doing anything
Even though you tried
The reason is "vague" and
You're both confused and sad

So, you should use my voice
Some people say it's incomprehensible
And a dissonant
Bad-sounding voice
But I'm sure it will be of use to you
So please let me sing
With your own, your very own words

Spell them out and put them together
Because I will scream out those words
I won't let anyone touch
The ideals and feelings that you paint

And so the voice of a piece of trash echoes
Awkwardly connecting the truth
A loud voice raised to full volume

Eventually, you became popular
I'm also proud that you're recognized by so many people
But eventually, you changed
You became colder, but also seemed lonely

There are plenty of voices of opportunity
"I am myself." And so
You then uncontrollably
Began to hate me
Behind you, someone said
"Even though he's just pretending"
You must have been crying all alone

Can you hear? With this voice
I'll drown out all the insulting words
I understand, you really
Are kinder than anyone else

And so the voice of a piece of trash sang
For no one else, but for your sake
Overcoming the grating and squeaking limits

Together, surely we came up with
A lot of words
But now, we cannot come up with anything
But I understand everything
"I see, this is a dream.
A dream that I'll never wake up from, where I met you"

Wearing a happy expression, the piece of trash
Won't move anymore, no matter how much how many times it's called for
In the conclusion that should have been desired
You cry out. "It must be a lie. It must be a lie."
So you cry out

"I'm powerless.
Unable to save even a single piece of trash"
The emotions turn to tears
And run down those cheeks

At this time
The world immediately
Changes color
Happiness and sadness
I know that everything is
One and the same

In this world where words turn to songs
Once again, I begin to run for your sake
Putting intent into my voice
Now, feelings resound

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I love this song. The instruments sound great, and Miku's voice sounds a lot more natural than she does in most of her songs. I love Ryo's use of piano and electric guitar.

What I love more about the song, though, is its story. Vocaloid was created to give song-writers a vocalist that could adapt to any singing situation. Or, I'd like to think in Ryo's case, he was such a small-time artist that he didn't have the means to get a decent vocalist behind his songs. He could make all the music using his own keyboard and some friends that could play instruments, but there was never a voice to it.

Then he discovered Miku. He discovered his voice.

Through Miku, Ryo became big. He became famous. His songs were all over the Internet. They made it into video games and concerts. People wanted more, and he gave them more. He moved on to hire a beautiful young voice named Yanagi Nagi (whose voice I also adore). She was also a no-name musician until supercell found her and made her their lead vocalist. Supercell now has a new lead singer, but I'm honestly not a fan of her.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that during his time with Nagi, Ryo got kinda big-headed. At least, that's what the song implies. He wrote this song to remind everyone – and himself – of where he had come from, and how he got there.

What I love most about this song is its message of how we never triumph alone. We could never have come this far by ourselves, and we needed the strength of others along the way. I'm not saying Ryo's ladder to fame was made possible solely because of a computer program, but he stuck to a medium and to people that he enjoyed and made a name for himself with them.

It makes me wonder whose "voice" I'm using, or will use, to come out of the dark...