Keigo Oyamada, the musician better known as Cornelius, is often regarded as one of Japan's best rock music exports. But his prolific career was marred with a bit of controversy after a couple of interviews he did in the mid-1990s when he confessed to having bullied and assaulted students with intellectual disabilities when he was in school. Oyamada has issued a few apologies in the two decades since then, including one notable instance in 2021, when he resigned as a composer for the Tokyo Olympics. (He later claimed that some of the alleged bullying incidents had been blown out of proportion.)
On Tuesday Cornelius shared an upbeat new post-rock song called "Glow Within." It's a collaboration with HERALBONY, a Japanese organization that aims to spotlight talented artists living with intellectual disabilities. The song comes with a video depicting some of those artists at work. Both Oyamada and HERALBONY have published statements about the song. Here's Oyamada's, translated from Japanese to English:
This song "Glow Within" was born from a letter I received from Matsuda of HERALBONY.
The words in the letter brought to mind something that had been bothering me for a long time. In the past, I made inconsiderate remarks about people with intellectual disabilities and was criticized for them. Since then, I have been thinking about how to deal with this issue in my own way.
Shortly after that, I was invited to visit the HERALBONY exhibition.
As I faced the works at the venue, I was drawn to the lines and shapes that seemed to express their inner selves. It felt more like they were spilling out from within, rather than being drawn with an intention to do so. The letter also mentioned the concept of a "routine record." I felt that the
idea of focusing on the sounds that reside in the repeated actions and behaviors of people with intellectual disabilities in their daily lives was naturally familiar to me. I also felt that the distance between me and people I don't usually have much contact with changed a little.
I created this song with the idea of turning such expressions and fragments of everyday life into sound in my own way.
And here's HERALBONY's statement, also translated into English:
We conveyed to all employees our desire to "turn the 'everyday sounds' spun by people with intellectual disabilities into music together with Cornelius Keigo Oyamada," and there were both for and against.
However, I was confident that the best music would be born, and that we could overcome the prejudices, walls, and feelings of sufficiency that lurk in society through music.
So, I followed my acquaintances and delivered a letter.
Keigo Oyamada responded to our passionate wish, facing the facts of the past head on.
I believe that everyone walks through this ambiguous and complex world, carrying mistakes and wounds that they cannot speak of out loud. Is there really such a thing as a "pure and innocent" life in this world?
We twins also had a middle school time when we were humanly broken. We don't intend to make the past into a heroic story, but I believe that we can accept the past and change the future.
"Hmm," "3rd," "No," "Silent."
My brother Shota, who is four years older than me and has severe intellectual disabilities and autism, continues to chant mysterious words over and over again today.
I have no idea if the sound itself is pleasant, or if there is any meaning or intention behind it. All I can say is that it is a pleasant sound to me, and I really like it. However, outside, it transforms into a sound that is looked at strangely.
The strange behavioral characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities and autism have been sublimated into music by Cornelius.
Please listen carefully to the sounds of everyday life that they play, and the sounds of premonitions of a changing future.
Check out "Glow Within" below.
