What does a French classical composer from the 1920s, an American singer from the 1950’s, and a Japanese DJ from the 2000’s have in common?

They all helped make my favorite song of all time: “Aruarian Dance” by Nujabes.

I talk about this song a lot. I love it so much. You should listen to it before reading this. You should listen to it while reading this. That’d be fun. I’m listening to it while writing this.

Something about the song makes me feel sad. But a good kind of sad. It’s bittersweet and nostalgic. I have wonderful memories attached to the song, but I don’t think that’s why it’s nostalgic. I’m aware that’s the definition of nostalgia, a longing for a past associated with personal memories. But I believe if someone were to listen to this song for the first time, without any memories attached, it would inspire something within them. It would make them long for something they didn’t know was there.

Or maybe I’m overdramatic. I’m definitely biased. I love this song. I never get tired of it. Let me tell you how I found it. Let me tell you why I love it so much.

I can’t tell this story without talking about anime. I’m aware this might deter most readers.

And I must admit something before moving forward: I watch anime.

For those of you who don’t know, anime is Japanese cartoons. The word is a Japanese term for animation. Anime is extremely popular in the west. To the point that it has become over saturated and cliché. And mostly hated. Oh god, is anime hated. Inevitably hated. Anything popular receives hate (Bing!).

In another post, I could explain the history and culture around the western obsession with Japan. I could go to great lengths explaining why anime is so polarizing, but for now here’s a summary:

Most anime is trash. Some anime is good. Most fans of anime are rude and aggressive which causes people to hate it. I watch it in much the same way people watch ABC’s The Bachelor or CBS’s Big Bang Theory. Anime is a guilty pleasure of mine.

What does anime have to do with “Aruarian Dance” by Nujabes?

In college, I watched an anime called Samurai Champloo, a show about hip-hop samurai. Anime is wild, I know. I loved the show. It was only 26 episodes and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It moved me. The characters, the story, the animation. What impacted me the most was the music. It was bluesy, jazzy, and satisfying. It was cool and I needed the Samurai Champloo soundtrack on my computer. I looked up the artist list and found Nujabes (Bing!).

I could write an entire book about this man. Maybe I will. But for now, just know he was a legend. Nujabes inspired an entire culture on the internet: lofi hip hop culture. He single-handedly changed hip-hop and the way we listen to music. There was no one like him at the time, save rapper and producer J Dilla.

There were four soundtrack albums produced for Samurai Champloo. The second album was named Departure and contained the song “Aruarian Dance.” I was immediately attracted to this song. I listened to it while I studied. I listened to it while I took a shower. I listened to it while cooking dinner. I couldn’t stop listening to it.

I decided to research how the song was made, where the guitar samples came from. My research took me on a path that made me love the song even more. I started with guitar samples and ended at famous classical composer Maurice Ravel.

Let me start at the beginning.

Maurice Ravel was considered the greatest French composer during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

In 1899, Ravel composed a song called “Pavane pour une infante defunte” which translates to “Pavane for a dead princess.”

Pavane: a stately dance in slow duple time, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries and performed in elaborate clothing. A piece of music for a pavane.

Google Dictionary

Ravel described the song as “an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court.”

The piece became very popular.

In 1939, Peter DeRose and Bert Shefter, two American jazz and pop composers, adapted Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte” to compose their song “The Lamp is Low.” The song was made famous by Native American jazz singer, Mildred Bailey, and later by his highness, Frank Sinatra.

In 1969, Brazilian jazz guitarist Laurindo Almeida covered “The Lamp is Low” on his album Classical Current.

In 2004, Nujabes uses Almeida’s version of “The Lamp is Low,” a song adapted from Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte,” to record “Aruarian Dance” for the anime Samurai Champloo.

Phew!

Are you freaking out yet?

I was.

If you’re not freaking out, picture this:

A guy from France composes a song 120 years ago. It was amazing. Everybody loved it. Two dudes from America adapted the song 30 years later. A Native American lady sings it. It became a hit. Arguably the greatest musical artist of the 20th century sings it. It became even more of a hit. 40 years after that, a guy in Brazil covers the song on his guitar and a DJ in Japan, 105 years after the original song was created, mixes the Brazilian cover and creates my favorite song of all time.

4 different countries, 4 different musical cultures and styles, 7 people across a century of music all collaborated to make this profoundly sad but wonderful song.

I think music is the only medium equipped with this degree of collaboration.

I could not find an official definition of the word Aruarian. I found a definition on urban dictionary which I hardly categorize as official.

Aruarian: A cavernous love you feel for someone, without any remote reasoning.

Urban dictionary

Despite the urban dictionary definition, I think it’s fitting.

Maurice Ravel stated that “Pavane pour une infante defunte” was not meant to reference a particular princess in history, but rather to show a nostalgia for Spain. Ravel loved Spain. He stated that a painting by Diego Velasquez inspired the song. Therefore, the song is inherently nostalgic. It was meant as a longing for old Spanish customs and sentiments. The feeling in “Pavane pour une infante defunte” impacted people across the world and still resonates more than 100 years later.

So no, I don’t think I’m being over dramatic when I say “Aruarian Dance” will inspire something within you or make you long for a memory you didn’t know you had.

But then again, according to Ravel, I am being overdramatic.

Because Maurice Ravel also said that the song didn’t mean anything and that he hated it. This crushed me when I read this. When Ravel was later asked about the title of the song, he practically admitted the Spanish nostalgia stuff was fake. He said, “Do not be surprised, that title has nothing to do with the composition. I simply liked the sound of those words and I put them there, c’est tout.”

C’est tout translates to “that’s all.”

What am I trying to say?

“Aruarian Dance” is a good song.

C’est tout.