blue night radio - 150115Ā
a letter from listener ājā
(the letter) āafter listening to blue night every night, iāve finally found the courage today to write in. iām one listener (of many) who falls asleep with jjong-dās ācome take a rest tomorrow tooā farewell ending each night. to tell the truth, i have synesthesia. itās a disability that makes you visualize sound as a certain color. as a result, i find it difficult to go places where i can hear too many peopleās voices, or too many noises.
when i walk the streets, i usually go around with my earphones plugged in, listening to a song iām used to. but i still trip over often. itās become an old habit to close my eyes whenever i listen to music. in middle school, i first heard jjong-dās music through a recommendation from my sister. it seems like just yesterday when i first thought, āso, there are voices that look like autumn sunlight, too.ā but now iām about to graduate university, and iāve moved to a quiet neighborhood where iām listening to blue night now.
these days, i fall asleep watching a golden voice swaying and rippling from the radio. so, i wanted to say, thank you. iām not sure how to conclude this. every night during your farewell i would think, i hope you get some rest too, jjong-d. my song request is epitone projectās ācactus.ā thank you for reading thisā
(response to the letter) jonghyun: so, you see ee my voice as the color of gold. how difficult it must be to bear, really.. i get the feeling that it would be confusing to hear many peopleās voices and perceive them as colors. and it seems like you avoid those kinds of places because itās hard to bear, and that you normally try to shut those sounds out a bit. iām so happy that i can give strength to someone like you through radio, and i hope that, at least during the time youāre listening to the radio, youāll feel comfortable and your day will end glittering with gold.
ā
(jonghyun then shared a telephone call with ājā.)
jonghyun: to say my voice is the color of gold, first of all iām so thankful to you for (saying) that. you expressed it in such a luxurious way.
ājā: ah, well since weāre on the phone nowā¦, your voice really is that color.
jonghyun: what color?
ājā: on an autumn day with really clear skies, (the color of) sunlight reflecting on the ground and sparkling. itās that kind of yellow color.
jonghyum: ah, really?
ājā: yes. so itās really, yesā¦, itās nice to see.
jonghyun: (laughs) thank you. please keep listening to blue night. letās see, today, wow, thank you so much for saying such nice things today. i think it was a really fun time for the blue night family, and i hope it was a, how should i put itā¦, warm and pleasant time for ājā nim too.
ājā: yes. ah, could i ask you for a favor?
jonghyun: yes, yes!
ājā: please continue singing (for us) lots in the future.
jonghyun: ok. iāll sing diligently
(s/n: jjong was very respectful throughout the call. at the start he asked ājā to clarify how they should describe her condition (e.g. whether they should refer to her condition as āsuffering fromā synesthesia, or as simply āhavingā synesthesia. she said the latter). when ājā momentarily seemed hesitant to answer a question he immediately assured her she doesnāt have to answer anything if sheās not comfortable.
the listener shared many things about her synesthesia during this phone call, such as the fact that she usually sees piano as a gray tone, and violin as red if performed well. jjong asked how the colors appear to her, i.e. if they look like a kind of haze, or perhaps lines. she says the colors can appear as different textures depending on the source, such as a haze, or bubbles, or even āsilkā a friend of hers happens to play piano in such a way that it looks like a āsnow-like powder falling through the air.ā) (source: sullaem)