Force Live & Pablo Picasso -
A Lyrical Analysis
In honor of Shining Live's 6th Anniversary, I thought I would post a write-up on one of the game's first theme songs, Force Live.
You may not know this but the opening line to the song, “I do not seek. I find.” is a quote famously attributed to Pablo Picasso, one of the most influential artists in history. It can be found in a 1936 article titled ‘A Trend in English Draughtsmanship’ by Graham Sutherland, another famous abstract artist who took great inspiration from the works of Piccaso.
Now this is particularly interesting because Picasso also often spoke on how an artist must “steal” from other artists, lest their work become stale. He was also famously quoted as saying “Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.” Which to me speaks volumes about Quartet Night’s rivalrous relationship with each other. They do not allow themselves to be satisfied as they are. They always seek to achieve greater heights. And to do that they find that which they lack in each other.
Going back to Force Live, there is a phrase in the final chorus that ties into this idea - 一つに束ねよう（一つになろう） 足りないエレメント（重ね合って） translating to Let’s tie each other into one (Let’s become one) Our lacking elements (Overlapping)
Speaking on the subject of elements, I actually find it very interesting the specific elements each of them were assigned in this song. Particularly Reiji. It is easy enough to see why Ranmaru would get lines about fire, while Camus gets lines about ice. And Ai even has the kanji for wind in his name. But Reiji was given light as his element. Whereas one would more typically assume earth. This can also lead us back to Picasso, though!
Not only does Piccaso have another famous quote about how an artist can transform a simple yellow spot into the sun, but he also pioneered the concept of painting with light, where one takes a light source in a darkened space and moves it around to draw a picture while taking a long exposure photograph.
Now there are more lines in Force Live that can bring us back to art and to this innovative artist. The most obvious being 歴史（ヒストリー）のキャンバスに描け or “paint on the canvas of history.” To quote Picasso once again, “I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.” And Quartet Night often sing about their fated meeting and the importance of the bond they have built with one another. Despite the times they have fought and quarreled and nearly lost their way, they still always come back to each other. Rising from the ashes only stronger and hungrier for success.
AND ON THAT NOTE- the main lyrical motif in Force Live is them speaking of all their elements as being destructive, but coming together to form something new and better than what they can achieve alone. And to finish out my rant, once again in the words of Picasso,
“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”
And now my own little personal thing (yume warning)- As you can see I find Picasso to be very inspirational and as a yume I have always used another one of his quotes to explain my relationship to others.
Picasso said, "Everything you can imagine is real." Which is a statement I take to heart. Ranmaru might not exist in the way you or I do, but even as a fictional character, he is so influential and impactful. He is real in the sense that he has an image, a voice, music, story, and in my opinion, a soul. Many know him and love him. He has changed lives. Including mine. And in that sense, he is very, very real. No matter how much I may have to "imagine" him.
And since I always used this quote to put things into perspective for other people before Force Live came out, it meant a lot to me to have him quote the same artist. To feel that Ranmaru was inspired by Picasso as I have been. It feels really nice to have yet another connection to the love of my life through song ♡
