José Cruz: It’s kind of an interesting thing for my students to listen to, I think. They um, they, just like you, probably find the contrast between what it is that they see on MTV or Space Shower TV or whatever and uh, and you know you see Beyoncé doing her thing. Beautiful woman, now you know, no no, nothing off the top against her or Lady Gaga dressing herself up in meat and and tits that sh-sh you know spark off fireworks and stuff, (Hehe) and then they and then they listen to this song and they go, “Holy cow, now I actually have some room, some visual auditory margin to actually sit down and listen to the lyrics because I’m not being assaulted every which way by… you know…

Mike Berg: Ah! “Assaulted” is the right word actually I- I think you you nailed it'(to) nail it' is roughly equivalent to 'you hit the nail on the head' both of which mean, 'you did it exactly/perfectly' (0:41) right there. Assaulted is au- video and you know… Assault is the right word.

José: I I- I’ve always thought of it that way. You’re being almost attacked and almost in a sense that you want to be because that’s what you’ve gotten used to.

Mike: Mm. Yeah. And I think that what ends up happening is these videos just end up… having to- because we’re so bombarded with all this kind of visu- visual stimulus (mm-hmm) it’s like you have all these videos and artists end up having to compete for your attention, (mm-hmm) and they just have to get more and more (mm-hmm) glamorous and off the top. And it’s…I mean it’s it’s terrible for the listener because suddenly we’re just like woo-oo!'woo-oo!' Mike is imagining the sound of music fans demanding or yelling for what they want: attention-grabbing music (1:16) If it’s not- if it’s not huge and attention grabbing it’s like, it gets lost in the noise really, you know.

José: I get uh, this is part of uh, this song is presented to a lot of my students as part of a writing class and when they have a chance to write about it they say that “it makes me want to listen to more music like this” probably because it is something rare for a lot of them. Uh it it It’s rare to find a student who actually, or a young person even, who knows a lot about… Well maybe I’d- I’ve never talked to themaA lot about um, their tastes in Japanese music because I have no way to compare but I don’t think young people listen to music like this as much as they used to.

Mike: No, and that’s a shame actually, You know, because…

José: Kind of a shame, Yeah. Yeah yeah. Because like you I I love music that’s high-energy- super high-energy. Uh, when I run I listen to rock uh when I drive I listen to different kinds of music, but…

Mike: Yeah it’s… and you know I I personally I have uh uh an appreciation for anything acoustic like acoustic guitars and stuff to me are above and beyond'above and beyond' means at an extremely high level of quality.(2:13), I mean. I guess I guess in a way I respect it a little bit more than a lot of the music that comes out today that’s kind of just uh, made on a computer, you know someone hit play, took a sample and did something to it. (Yup) Produ- produced the crap out of it (Yup) and then it’s just- whereas this guy, you know spent five,10 maybe 15 years learning how to play this instrument just so that he could bring this to you. There’s a- there’s a certain amount of, or respect I have for that which I think is lost.

José: Oh it’s it’s- Uh, I completely agree with you. And it’s not only that he knows his technical craft. This song couldn’t be written by anyone who hasn’t lived the life and and had the experiences that let’s say a Jimmy Buffet'a Jimmy Buffet' placing 'a' before a (famous) name means 'for example, a person like'(2:55) or, you know just go back to the other side us of the spectrum, let’s say um, Eric Clapton. There’s a guy who’s lived an absolutely blues life (mm-hmm) and even though he’s he’s super produced. He’s produces himself, Phil Collins produced him. His producers are incredible. And he’s completely plugged in. He’s a rock god, as they say (Yup, yeah) there’s no way he could write the songs that he writes, without having lived… I mean, If- I I don’t think a lot of Japanese people know how crappy Eric Clapton’s life really was until he got straightened out, you know…

Mike: Huh! Yeah, yeah kind of like, or uh, Johnny Cash would be another one!

José: Oh Johnny Cash, yeah!

Mike: Right? Johnny Cash would kind of be the quintessential example really you know. Like… the guy’s had, the ups and downs and the drugs, and the you know, people dying on him and, and then you listen to his voice you know, and it just- it all kind of comes out and this… his voice reflects kind of all that pain and stuff he’s had over the years, right?