okay so I was hoping to get my newest case study out by the end of March but I'm gonna be away the weekend that I would film so it'll likely be out sometime in early April in the meantime I thought I'd try resurrecting a past video you might remember back in October 2018 I made a video on spirited away and its main theme I liked it you all seem to like it Studio Ghibli did not and took it down now this is not a condemnation of them I respect their work it's their IP they can decide what does and doesn't encroach on it but I still wanted it to be available to all of you so I read it to the point where I think it should be okay under fair use for those of you who have seen it it's essentially the same video except most of the film audio has been removed which makes it more in line I think with other essays about it on YouTube for anyone who hasn't seen it enjoy [Music] change is inevitable that's something that most of us have heard at some point in fact it's ironic that one of the biggest constants in our lives is that there are very few constants in our lives and yet change is also something else it's painful a move to a new place a loss of a loved one growing up learning from your mistakes finding your place in the world all of these are necessary for personal growth but they rarely go how we expect them to these changes are what helped define us as people they impact the things we feel and do and in many instances they're what we make music about which leads to today's question is there a way to express the process of change through music sure there are songs about changes and heck of music itself is in a sense the art of tonal and rhythmic change but is it possible to channel the pain the beauty the spirit of change and growth in music itself in today's case study let's talk about a piece that does just that spirited away is the breakthrough picture at least in the Americas of Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli the film was directed by legendary director Hayao Miyazaki and it remains one of the most critically acclaimed films not only in the studio's filmography but in all of animation also in case you haven't seen it spoilers Pham the story follows Chihiro a young girl moving to a new place with her family while trying to take a shortcut to their new home the family encounters a mysterious tunnel chihiro's mom and dad decide to go in though Chihiro herself is hesitant at the end of the tunnel is a massive field and a lavish but empty town while exploring chihiro's mom and dad decide to sit and chow down on some random food and she heroes all like hey guy stop hogging all the food and her parents are like would you stops whining and then she wanders around and finds his bath house and this guy's like if you don't get out of here you're gonna be so screwed so night falls and she goes back to her parents and she's like you guys look pretty Pig u.s. I am so sorry what follows is a twisted tale involving shadow people twin witches dragons worker mothballs roasted nuts sludge boys giant talking babies implicit themes of consumption and the loss of identity in a capitalist system trains and so much more but before we get into the movie I want to talk about what's considered to be its main theme one summer's day by Joe Hisaishi one summer's day begins with four chords that set the stage for the rest of the piece you [Music] now if you're anything like me those first three chords weren't too surprising in fact if you simplify them it's a 4-1 flat seven progression but then you add the extensions in major sevens and it becomes a bit more complex still understandable though and then that fourth chord hits this strange C sharp minor chord what a weird left turn and yet it's perfect for the opening the first three chords establish a comfortable if loose sense of tonality in C major and that last chord subverts those tonal expectations the musical equivalent of say exploring a new place only to find it overrun with monsters and parent pigs and a reminder that the environment the piece presents is not as it seems the a section continues with chordal chords moving in parallel motion and a solo piano melody [Music] again the notes used in the melody and chords imply C major or a minor but the way the chords move creates this vague uncertain feeling [Music] in fact it's worth noting that hisaishi is a composer was heavily influenced by claude debussy as well as the impressionist movement in general if you want more historical context to his icees work I highly recommend sideways as video on the same topic the section repeats with the same melody and additional extensions within the chords which helps Center the piece and C major though it doesn't ground it fully rubbing seconds are everywhere creating tension in otherwise normal chords [Music] the second repetition however moves into an eighth measure transitionary section that might be my favorite eight measures in the whole piece [Music] it's the most conventional section so far at least when looking at it through the lens of Western music theory [Music] performance intensity takes a dip for the B section which takes the conventional tonality from the last section and adds this gorgeous melody [Music] that said the ends of phrases hold some surprises the key is centered they're not set in stone and these odd turns remind you that the sense of tonality is not certain also this brief Tana cessation to F minor that extends the second phrase and just as the second phrase is about to end on an authentic cadence the same chord that started the a section comes out of nowhere the piece goes through another transitionary section with some of the most unique progressions heard so far this rapid movement gives the feeling of transporting which will be important in a little bit this is followed by another round of four cords with extended harmonies played with great intensity [Music] then we return to the B section which is aside from some added harmonies in the first phrase nearly identical to its first appearance [Music] and just as the second phrase ends on the G chord it moves to this F major seven chord that ends the piece in a perfectly unresolved way [Music] [Applause] [Music] the biggest takeaways for the piece right now are the tonality often uncertain and fluid and the form how and where each section is placed however as rich and thoughtful the piece is I'd like to spend the rest of this video talking about how it's used in and how it enhances the movie it belongs to [Music] one summer's day appears four times throughout spirited away the opening is chihiro and her family are driving to their new home when she Hiro and Haku are outside the Pigpen where her parents are being stored when Chihiro decides to journey to you Baba's sister's house to convince her not to pursue an injured Haku and the ending where Chihiro says goodbye to Haku reunites with her parents and leaves for their new home what's interesting is that when viewed against the plot as a whole these scenes function as turning points or starts of a new act chihiro's car rides setting off act 1 Chihiro outside the pen starting act 2 Chihiro planning to season Eva starting act 3 and tahira leaving the town marking the ending so in that sense one summer's day is used in the film to signal a major change in the story but why is it this piece specifically that's used in these scenes are there any commonalities in these scenes that would help us understand not only why this piece is used but also understand more about the piece itself let's dig in was that another pig pun the opening scene features Chihiro holding a bouquet from a friend in the back of her parents car as they move to a new place her mom and dad are optimistic but Chihiro really isn't having it eventually the dad realizes he took a wrong turn but decides to cut through what he believes to be a shortcut which leads him to the tunnel so what's going on in the scene well there's chihiro's apprehension to this new change so there's the theme of journey change identity in a new place her parents also play a big part in the scene so the idea of family - specifically her parents tell her that she'll enjoy this new place but not in an especially reassuring way more like we're doing this whether you want to or not finally regarding the piece itself it gets to the end of the first B section before transitioning into this more tea energetic section almost as if chihiro's dad is taking over the piece from Chihiro herself or whoever the performer may be at this point in the film Chihiro has become stuck in this new world she's taken a job in the bathhouse under you baba had her name taken from her and the the big thing too after arriving to the pen and not being able to spot her parents she sits with Haku who gives her back the card from her friend at the start of the movie and tells her not to forget her name or she'll never make it home he also gives her food to restore her strength and comforts her as she cries a moment of kindness and fragility shared between lilo from lilo and stitch and Max goof Chihiro heads back to work while noticing that oh hey Haku is a dragon and not noticing oh hey no face is creepin so with the card identity is again a present theme also family since this is the first time Chihiro has been able to see or at least try to see her parents I'd like to point out that the piece is played the longest in this scene all the way up to the second B section I mentioned the transporting feeling that one section gave which happens to play just as Haku is what what's the what's the word oh yeah flying away in addition the end of that transition the one that sounded really confident plays just as Chihiro goes back to the bathhouse ready to work but no face is creeping perhaps the music reflects this duality chihiro's confidence shown through performance intensity contrasting with the uncertainty of this strange guest shown through the odd tonality after a rough encounter with some paper planes and you Baba's twin sisters and Eva Chihiro gives a badly injured Haku food from the river spirit he spits out a gold seal which he had taken from z'n Eva Chihiro decides to go to Sunita herself hoping to ease the rift between the two but also risking herself and haku's well-being now here's the thing the theme of journey is clear since G hero is making plans to go on one but what about identity and especially family Chihiro his parents are rolling around in mud but she's gonna go talk to some witch but this scene is a big shift for Chihiro as a character she's learning to take matters into her own hands and not let someone like her parents or Haku or the boiler man make choices for her in other words by putting the journey to save her parents on holt to help Haku Chihiro is making a huge leap forward with her sense of self her identity and it's here where the piece becomes a theme of identity more than anything else so the last time a section from one summer's day is heard is just as Chihiro with both her and haku's names restored says goodbye to him crosses the field and leaves for her new home with her parents I say a section from because the piece that plays here isn't called one summer's day parts of it play but it's actually called the return and while some sections are carried over the changes are clear listen to this bit where the a section melody comes up [Music] so what could that mean well simple just like the piece chihiro's changed though the memory of her journey is there she's grown as a person and thus the music reflects this there's one last thing I'd like to bring up about spirited away and that is this movie is weird not in a bad way it's it's a phenomenal movie but it's weird chihiro's parents become pigs Chihiro it gets stuck to the ground at some point for some reason and Haku says a bunch of random stuff and then he's like camp and she just does this shadow thing called no face just kind of wanders into the bathhouse making gold and eating people and then he ends up puking it all out before riding a train with Chihiro the seal Haku spits out comes with his cartoony look and select that Chihiro tries to step on and she does and she's all like one of the guests in the bathhouse is this giant sledge beast that they clean and then it turns out it's a River spirit with a knife in its side so you Baba summons a rope and everybody pulls and a lot of random stuff comes out and then the spirits like it's all good and then flies away this movie is weird and at the same time none of its explained there's no scene where you Baba sits down and just explains the lore in the back story of this whole world it's just presented to you and a hero for what it is and in that sense one summer's day is the perfect theme for this movie it's ever-changing sense of tonality the abrupt shifts in performance intensity the fact that it takes so many harmonic risks seemingly without reason and yet it still sounds absolutely gorgeous the piece reflects the world Chihiro and these characters inhabit to a tee and they both leave a lasting impression change is inevitable change is painful change is necessary a new home in a new school it is a bit scary [Music] you [Music]